Key benchmark indices traded a tad lower for the day in early afternoon trade. The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, was down 12.98 points or 0.06%, up about 100 points from the day's low and off almost equal points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive.
Realty stocks extended their recent strong gains. Pharma stocks declined for the second day in a row. Ranbaxy Laboratories dropped on reports the company has recalled more than 64,000 bottles of the generic version of a cholesterol-lowering drug in the United States after dosage mix-up was detected. Telecom stocks edged higher.
Immense volatility was witnessed in initial trade as the two key benchmark indices -- the BSE Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty -- after opening lower surged to hit fresh record high. Key benchmark indices soon slipped into the red once again later. Key benchmark indices traded a tad lower for the day in early afternoon trade.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 2,577.44 crore on Friday, 7 March 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 12:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 12.98 points or 0.06% to 21,906.81. The index jumped 85.75 points at the day's high of 22,005.54 in early trade, a new record high for the barometer index. The index shed 114.57 points at the day's low of 21,805.22 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was down 0.90 points or 0.01% to 6,535.75. The index hit a high of 6,548.75 in intraday trade, a new record high. The index hit a low of 6,487.35 in intraday trade.
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The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 32.02 points or 0.48% at 6,725.46. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 47.07 points or 0.71% at 6,659.42. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,263 shares gained and 1,209 shares fell. A total of 159 shares were unchanged.
Tata Motors (down 3.18%), Hindalco Industries (down 2.38%), and TCS (down 2.35%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Telecom stocks edged higher. Bharti Airtel (up 1.49%), Idea Cellular (up 1.69%) and Reliance Communications (up 1.86%) rose.
Realty stocks extended their recent strong gains. DLF (up 2.66%), D B Realty (up 0.53%), HDIL (up 2.5%), Sobha Developers (up 3.93%), and Unitech (up 1.32%) gained.
Pharma stocks declined for the second day in a row. Cipla (down 1.04%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.33%), and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.57%) declined.
Ranbaxy Laboratories dropped 2.83% on reports the company recalled more than 64,000 bottles of the generic version of a cholesterol-lowering drug in the United States after dosage mix-up was detected.
Ranbaxy confirmed the recall of select batches of the drug, a generic version of Pfizer Inc's Lipitor, but said the company had not received any product complaints, report said.
Lupin rose 0.96%.
Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals rose 1.37% on reports that the company is in talks to sell its 175 hectares of land in Gujarat to Nirma for about Rs 650 crore to cut its debt. According to a media report, Dishman Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals is also looking at exiting its Shanghai facility.
The company is looking at selling the Gujarat land to reduce its over Rs 800 crore debt, the report suggested, adding that the company plans to pay off a bank debt of Rs 100 crore from proceeds of sale of its Shanghai facility.
Talks with Nirma are in final stages, the report added. Dishman had in 2009 scrapped plans to set up an engineering Special Economic Zone (SEZ) due to global slowdown and merged it with the adjoining pharma SEZ in Bavla, near Ahmedabad. The company is looking at exiting the SEZ business altogether by selling of the land in Gangad and Kalyangadh village near Bavla in Gujarat, the report said.
Dishman Pharma reportedly has a total debt of over Rs 800 crore, including current maturity of long term loans.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar as US jobs data supported bets that the US Federal Reserve will keep trimming its monetary stimulus. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.22, compared with its close of 61.08/09 on Friday, 7 February 2014.
Indian government bond prices dropped as US jobs data supported bets that the US Federal Reserve will keep trimming its monetary stimulus. The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper, 8.83% GS 2023, was hovering at 8.8342%, higher than its close of 8.8113% on Friday, 7 February 2014. Bond yield and bond prices move in opposite direction.
The Reserve Bank of India next undertakes monetary policy review on 1 April 2014. Citing price pressures, 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.
The next major trigger for the stock market is the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Lok Sabha elections will be held between 7 April 2014 and 12 May 2014 in nine phases. The counting of votes will be take place on 16 May 2014. The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on June 1 and the new House has to be constituted by May 31. Along with the Lok Sabha election, Andhra Pradesh (AP), including the regions comprising Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim will go to polls to elect new assemblies. AP, Odisha and Sikkim assemblies come to end on June 2, June 7 and May 7 respectively.
With the election code of conduct coming into force, government authorities will not be able to announce any major policy initiatives. However, they can announce routine or unavoidable policy measures after taking the approval of the election commission.
Asian stocks edged lower on Monday, 10 March 2014, after reports showed an unexpected slump in Chinese exports and slower growth in Japan than economists had projected. Key benchmark indices in South Korea, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan were down 0.07% to 1.9%.
China's exports unexpectedly tumbled in February, swinging the trade balance into deficit and adding to fears of a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy despite the Lunar New Year holidays being blamed for the slide. The sharp drop in exports follows a series of factory surveys since the start of 2014 that point to weakness in economic activity as demand falters at home and abroad.
Exports in February fell 18.1% from a year earlier, following a 10.6% jump in January, the General Administration of Customs said on Saturday, 8 March 2011. Imports rose 10.1%, yielding a trade deficit of $23 billion ($25.4 billion) for the month versus a surplus of $32 billion in January.
Producer prices slid 2%, the most since July, while the inflation rate was 2% for February, reports at the weekend showed. The National People's Congress, an annual meeting of China's lawmakers, continues this week, with People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan speaking tomorrow, 11 March 2014.
Japan's economy expanded less than estimated in the fourth quarter and the current-account deficit widened to a record in January, highlighting risks to Abenomics as a sales-tax increase looms. Gross domestic product grew an annualized 0.7% from the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said today, 10 March 2014, in Tokyo. The current-account deficit widened to 1.59 trillion yen ($15.4 billion), a record in data back to 1985, the finance ministry said.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could drop 56 points at the opening bell on Monday, 10 March 2014. Most US stocks rose on Friday, 7 March 2014, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index closing at a record, as data showing stronger-than-forecast jobs growth overshadowed concern the situation in Ukraine could worsen.
Employers added more workers than projected in February, indicating the US economy is starting to shake off the effects of the severe winter weather that slowed growth at the start of 2014. The 175,000 gain in employment followed a 129,000 increase the prior month that was bigger than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed in Washington. The jobless rate rose to 6.7% from 6.6% as the number of people joining the workforce swamped the quantity of jobs available. The pickup following the weakest two-month hiring gain in more than a year shows employers remain confident the economic expansion will recover after winter storms slowed consumer spending.
Separately, the US trade deficit rose slightly to $39.1 billion in January from a revised $39 billion in the prior month, the Commerce Department said on Friday, 7 March 2014.
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.
Germany's Angela Merkel delivered a rebuke to President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, 9 March 2014, telling him that a planned Moscow-backed referendum on whether Crimea should join Russia was illegal and violated Ukraine's constitution. Putin defended breakaway moves by pro-Russian leaders in Crimea, where Russian forces tightened their grip on the Ukrainian region by seizing another border post.
Russian forces' seizure of the Black Sea peninsula has been bloodless but tensions are mounting following the decision by pro-Russian groups there to make Crimea part of Russia. Putin declared a week ago that Russia had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian citizens, and his parliament has voted to change the law to make it easier to annex territory inhabited by Russian speakers.
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