Key benchmark indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. Weakness in Asian stocks weighed on sentiment. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 59.43 points or 0.28%, off about 65 points from the day's high and up about 20 points from the day's low.
Most metal and mining stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Shares of private sector banks declined. AXIS Bank extended Thursday's losses as the bank's bad loans rose in Q3 December 2013. Shares of other PSU OMCs rose as Brent crude dropped as concerns over a rise in supply from Libya and Iran dragged on prices. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) rose on reports a panel of ministers has approved sale of a 10% government stake in IOC to ONGC and OIL India through a block deal on the stock exchanges.
Key benchmark indices edged lower amid initial volatility on weak Asian stocks. After regaining positive terrain for a brief period, the key benchmark indices once again slipped into the red in morning trade. Key benchmark indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade.
At 11:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 59.43 points or 0.28% to 21,205.75. The index declined 79.66 points at the day's low of 21,185.52 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 15 January 2014. The index rose 4.93 points at the day's high of 21,270.11 in morning trade.
The CNX Nifty was down 10.35 points or 0.16% to 6,308.55. The index hit a low of 6,301.90 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 6,327.10 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,092 shares fell and 971 shares rose. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.
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Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 22 stocks rose and rest fell. Coal India (down 9.18%), TCS (down 4.74%) and HDFC (down 2.39%) declined.
Shares of other PSU OMCs rose as Brent crude dropped as concerns over a rise in supply from Libya and Iran dragged on prices. Brent for March settlement slid 24 cents to $105.51 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The February contract expired yesterday after losing 4 cents to $107.09.
Lower crude oil prices and gains in rupee against the dollar will reduce underrecovery of PSU OMCs on domestic sales of diesel, kerosene and LPG at government controlled prices.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) rose 4.13% after Oil Minister Veerappa Moily was quoted by media as saying on Thursday, 16 January 2014, that a panel of ministers has approved sale of a 10% government stake in IOC through a block deal on the stock exchanges. State exploration firms ONGC and Oil India will buy the stake, Oil Secretary Vivek Rae was quoted as saying. The transaction is likely within the next week or so, Rae said.
ONGC rose 0.8%. Oil India declined 0.5%.
Metal and mining stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Sesa Sterlite (up 1%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.09%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.75%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.8%), Tata Steel (up 0.85%), Sail (up 0.52) and National Aluminum Company (up 0.14%) gained. Hindustan Copper (down 0.65%), JSW Steel (down 1.08%) and Bhushan Steel (down 0.38%) declined.
Shares of private sector banks declined. AXIS Bank extended Thursday's losses as the bank's bad loans rose in Q3 December 2013. The stock shed 1.15%. AXIS Bank's net profit rose 19.06% to Rs 1604.11 crore on 9.94% increase in total income to Rs 9433.55 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012. The result was announced during trading hours on Thursday, 16 January 2014.
The bank's gross non-performing assets increased to Rs 3008.20 crore as on 31 December 2013, from Rs 2734.47 crore as on 30 September 2013 and Rs 2275.30 crore as on 31 December 2012. The ratio of net non-performing assets to net advances stood at 0.42% as on 31 December 2013, compared with 0.37% as on 30 September 2013 and 0.33% as on 31 December 2012. The ratio of gross non-performing assets (NPA) to gross advances stood at 1.25% as on 31 December 2013, compared with 1.19% as on 30 September 2013 and 1.10% as on 31 December 2012.
Provisions and contingencies fell 47.65% to Rs 202.49 crore in 31 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012. Provisions and contingencies declined 70.54% on sequential basis
HDFC Bank fell 1.92% ahead of its Q3 results today, 17 January 2014. ICICI Bank dropped 0.21%.
The Reserve Bank of India on 15 January 2014 announced new rules for setting incremental provisioning and capital requirements for bank exposures to entities with unhedged foreign currency exposures. The provisioning rule requirements will be calculated as per the ratio of likely loss due to foreign exchange movement to a company's earnings before interest and depreciation (EBID), the RBI circular said on Wednesday, 15 January 2014. "These guidelines have been framed keeping in view the domestic borrowers' vulnerability to the foreign currency exposure," the central bank said. Banks have to monitor unhedged forex exposures on a monthly basis and calculate the incremental provisioning and capital needs at least once a quarter. However, during periods of high rupee volatility, it may be done at monthly intervals, the RBI said. The new rules take effect from 1 April 2014.
Aksh Optifibre rose 1.38% after the company said it has been awarded a Rs 200 crore plus order for Package B of ambitious National Optic Fibre Network backbone project. The company made this announcement after market hours on Thursday, 16 January 2014. Aksh Optifibre said it has been awarded a Rs 200 crore plus order for Package B of ambitious National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) backbone project. The project is aimed at providing connectivity to over 250,000 gram panchayats across the country for better e-governance, e-health services and educational services, Aksh Optifibre said.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar, tracking gains of other regional currencies against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.35, compared with its close of 61.535/545 on Thursday, 16 January 2014.
Bond prices rose as data released by the government this week showed inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) eased to a five-month low in December 2013, raising hopes that the central bank won't raise interest rates at its next monetary policy review later this month. The sentiments were also boosted by the absence of fresh supplies of gilts with deferring the bond auction scheduled for the current week. The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper, 8.83% GS 2023, was hovering at 8.5853%, lower than its close of 8.6157% on Thursday, 16 January 2014. Bond yield and bond prices are inversely related.
The Reserve Bank of India's Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 is scheduled on 28 January 2014. The RBI kept its main lending rate viz. the repo rate unchanged after its last policy review in December and said at that time that it expected inflation to ease in the following months.
On the political front, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said at meeting of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) today, 17 January 2014, that the Congress party is ready and prepared for the 2014 Lok Sabha battle. "This election will be a battle for India as was conceived by our forefathers," Sonia Gandhi said. She also said the decision of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on not naming Rahul Gandhi as the party's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections is final.
Asian stocks fell on Friday, 17 January 2014, as US bank earnings disappointed and investors waited for Chinese economic data due next week. Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan were down 0.08% to 0.71%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.82%. Japan's Nikkei Average rose 0.13%.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could advance 23 points at the opening bell on Friday, 17 January 2014. US stocks ended lower on Thursday, 16 January 2014, snapping a two-day rally, after disappointing results from Best Buy Co. Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The Nasdaq Composite edged higher.
In economic news, the number of Americans who applied last week for unemployment benefits fell slightly and is now back to a level that prevailed shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday. Separately, US consumer prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in December, led by higher energy and shelter costs, the Labor Department said.
Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart, who doesn't vote on monetary policy this year, said yesterday that he expects inflation that's been "too low" will accelerate toward the Fed's 2% target.
During an interview with Liaquat Ahamed, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the response to the financial crisis and said stock market valuations are within historic range. Commenting about the central bank's bond purchases, known as quantitative easing, he said: "The problem with QE is that it works in practice but it doesn't work in theory." Meanwhile, in a paper delivered at a Brookings Institution seminar on US monetary policy, San Francisco Fed President John Williams warned of "nagging concerns that large-scale asset purchases carry with them particular risks to the economy or the health of the financial system that we still don't fully understand." He also said the central bank's new forward-guidance tool seems "overly simplified and prone to misinterpretation."
The Senate cleared for President Barack Obama's signature a bipartisan $1.1 trillion bill to finance the US government through Sept. 30, making a debt ceiling increase the next potential fiscal showdown. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 72-26 in favor of the spending measure a day after the Republican-led House passed it, 359-67. The bipartisan cooperation marks a turnaround from the Tea Party-fueled discord that caused a 16-day partial government shutdown in October.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day monetary policy meeting on 28 and 29 January 2014. By a 9-to-1 vote, the Fed on 18 December 2013 decided to trim its asset-purchase program by $10 billion to $75 billion per month starting in January 2014.
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