Key benchmark indices recouped a lion's portion of intraday losses in mid-afternoon trade as European stocks edged higher in early trade there. The 50-unit CNX Nifty regained psychological 6,000 mark after falling below that mark earlier during the trading session. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 14.33 points or 0.07%, up close to 170 points from the day's low and off about 100 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative.
Maruti Suzuki India rose after the company announced the launch of its compact car, Celerio, with the revolutionary auto gear shift. Shares of two wheelers makers fell. GAIL (India) dropped after announcing interim dividend.
The market edged higher in early trade on firm Asian stocks. Key benchmark indices retained positive terrain in morning trade. A sudden slide pushed key benchmark indices from positive zone to negative zone in mid-morning trade. The 50-unit CNX Nifty fell below the psychological 6,000 mark. The Sensex languished in negative terrain in afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices recouped a lion's portion of intraday losses in mid-afternoon trade as European stocks edged higher in early trade there. The Nifty regained the psychological 6,000 level.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 576.20 crore on Wednesday, 5 February 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 14:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 14.33 points or 0.07% to 20,246.70. The index dropped 181.21 points at the day's low of 20,079.82 in mid-morning trade. The index rose 97.16 points at the day's high of 20,358.19 in morning trade, its highest level since 3 February 2014.
The CNX Nifty was down 3.60 points or 0.06% to 6,018.80. The index hit a low of 5,965.40 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 6,048.35 in intraday trade, its highest level since 3 February 2014.
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The BSE Mid-Cap index was off 9.72 points or 0.15% at 6,300.94 and underperformed the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 7.59 points or 0.12% at 6,313.01 and outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,245 shares fell and 1,149 shares rose. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 17 stocks fell and rest rose. Bhel (down 2.3%), ICICI Bank (down 1.35%), and AXIS Bank (down 1.31%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
GAIL (India) declined 2.62%. The company announced during market hours that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held today, 6 February 2014, has approved payment of interim dividend of 45% or Rs 4.50 per equity share on the paid up equity share capital of the company for the year ending 31 March 2014. The company has fixed 11 February 2014 as record date for interim dividend.
Auto stocks were mixed as the 12th Auto Expo started on the outskirts of New Delhi on Wednesday, 5 February 2014.
Tata Motors rose 0.14%. Tata Motors early this week unveiled two all-new cars -- the classy sedan, ZEST and the sporty, dynamic premium hatchback, BOLT that look to redefine the passenger car market with new design aesthetics, segment-defining drive experience and high-tech Infotainment system, the auto major said in a statement on 3 February 2014. These cars will be launched in 2014 in India and subsequently in other countries. ZEST and BOLT have been designed and developed based on three key fundamental principles, namely, DesigNext, DriveNext, ConnectNext, Tata Motors said. ZEST and BOLT, a result of the collaborative design inputs from the three Tata Motors design studios in Pune, Coventry (UK) and Turin ( Italy), come with several segment first features and a new design language on the exterior and the interior of the car, the company said.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) rose 1.41%. M&M on 1 February 2014 said its total auto sales declined 13.77% to 42,685 units in January 2014 over January 2013. Domestic sales declined 15.71% to 40,324 units in January 2014 over January 2013. Exports surged 42.05% to 2,361 units in January 2014 over January 2013.
The sales of Passenger Vehicles segment declined 25.46% to 19,792 units in January 2014 over January 2013. The four-wheeler commercial vehicle sales rose 4.49% to 15,100 units in January 2014 over January 2013. Three-wheeler sales declined 18.94% to 4,710 units in January 2014 over January 2013.
Separately, the company on 1 February 2014 said its total tractor sales rose 15% to 20,109 units in January 2014 over January 2013. Domestic tractor sales rose 18% to 19,389 units in January 2014 over January 2013. Exports declined 33% to 720 units in January 2014 over January 2013.
Maruti Suzuki India rose after the company announced the launch of its compact car, Celerio, with the revolutionary auto gear shift. The stock was up 1.95%. With fuel efficiency same as the manual transmission, the revolutionary auto gear shift, christened EZ Drive, is all set to redefine the car driving experience on Indian roads, Maruti said in a statement. Auto gear shift on the Celerio is a first for India amongst passenger cars. Celerio offers a fuel efficiency of 23.1 kmpl, for both, auto gear shift and the manual transmission variants, the company said.
Celerio with auto gear shift will be available in two variants, with ex-showroom price of Rs 4.29 lakh and Rs 4.59 lakh in Delhi. Celerio with manual gear will be available in four variants, with price ranging from Rs 3.90 lakh to Rs 4.96 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.
Ashok Leyland fell 0.31%.
Shares of two wheelers makers fell. Bajaj Auto (down 0.56%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.88%) and TVS Motor Company (down 1.07%) declined.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar on global risk-on sentiment. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 62.4925, compared with its close of 62.57/58 on Wednesday, 5 February 2014.
On review of the Government of India's cash position and funding requirement, it has been decided to cancel the deferred auction scheduled on 17 January 2014 for Rs 15000 crore, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Wednesday, 5 February 2014. This would result in decrease in government market borrowing programme for 2013-14 to that extent, it said.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it has partially completed the debt-switching program at Rs 27000 crore with an institutional investor against budget proposal of Rs 50000 crore.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram will present the Vote-on-Account or interim budget on 17 February 2014. The objective of a Vote-on-Account is to get Parliament's nod for expenditure to be incurred in the months prior to elections. The next full-fledged budget will be presented by the new government which comes to power after the Lok Sabha polls in April-May 2014.
The Reserve Bank of India next undertakes monetary policy review on 1 April 2014. Sighting elevated consumer price inflation, the Reserve Bank of India raised its key lending rates by 25 basis points after Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 28 January 2014.
European stocks rose for a second day on Thursday, 6 February 2014, as investors awaited the European Central Bank's rate decision and weighed company earnings. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were up 0.3% to 0.51%.
The European Central Bank (ECB) undertakes monthly monetary policy review today, 6 February 2014, amid speculation the ECB will reinforce its commitment to lower rates. The ECB will probably hold the benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.25% at its policy meeting tomorrow, 6 February 2014, as it faces slowing inflation. After the Jan. 9 policy meeting, ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank "strongly emphasizes" that it will maintain accommodative measures for as long as necessary.
The Bank of England's (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) undertakes monthly monetary policy review today, 6 February 2014, with markets waiting to see if Governor Mark Carney will alter guidance on lifting its record-low interest rate. The MPC is widely expected to keep the BoE's main interest rate at a record-low level of 0.5%. It is widely predicted also to maintain quantitative easing at 375 billion ($613 billion, 454 billion euros), opting against following the US Federal Reserve in tapering stimulus.
Britain's 12-month inflation slowed to 2% in December, recent official data showed, touching the lowest level for more than four years. The BoE's main task is to use monetary policy as a tool to keep annual inflation close to a government-set target of 2%, to preserve the value of money.
Asian shares edged higher on Thursday, 6 February 2014, as investors weighed earnings and US data showing service-industries growth against a private jobs report that missed estimates. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan rose 0.56% to 0.88%. Japan's Nikkei Average fell 0.18%.
Stock markets in mainland China remain closed until tomorrow, 7 February 2014 for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could advance 26 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 6 February 2014. US stocks ended Wednesday's choppy session lower after a weaker-than-expected report on private-sector employment. Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser's comments urging to speed up the tapering reminded investors that quantitative easing is unlikely to come to aid the markets in 2014.
Growth picked up in the US services sector in January, with steady strength in private-sector hiring, suggesting the winter weather that socked the country over the last several weeks had a limited effect on the economy.
Companies in the US boosted payrolls by 175,000 in January, the ADP Research Institute said on Wednesday, 5 February 2014, before the government's monthly jobs data tomorrow, 7 February 2014.
Philadelphia President Charles Plosser, who votes on policy this year, on Wednesday, 5 February 2014, said he expects the economy to expand 3% in 2014 as the jobless rate falls to 6.2% by year-end, warranting a quicker tapering to bond purchases by the central bank. Policy makers made the first two cuts to asset purchases in December and January, slowing to $65 billion a month from $85 billion. While welcoming the trims, Plosser said they may prove to be insufficient if growth keeps accelerating. "My preference is to scale back our purchase program at a faster pace to reflect the strengthening economy," he said in a speech in Rochester, New York. "We must begin to back away from increasing the degree of policy accommodation in a manner commensurate with an improving economy," said Plosser, who has opposed the bond purchases by the Fed. Labor markets will continue to improve and inflation expectations will be relatively stable as price increases move up toward the Fed's 2% goal over the next year, Plosser said. The economy has met the criteria of significant improvement in labor market conditions for ending the quantitative easing program, Plosser said. "Further increases in the balance sheet are unlikely to provide appreciable benefits for the recovery," Plosser said.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next undertakes monetary policy review on 18-19 March 2014. After a monetary policy review, the FOMC on 29 January 2014 announced it will reduce monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion to $65 billion. The Fed also signaled that it is likely to keep reducing bond purchases in the coming months, citing a pickup in US economic activity and improvement in the US labor market.
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