Gains in European stocks and US index futures aided gains for Indian stocks, with the 50-unit CNX Nifty regaining the psychological 8,000 level. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was provisionally up 127.04 points or 0.47% at 26,879.94. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. Brent crude oil prices extended its decline to a third day. Falling crude oil prices augur well for India as the country imports 80% of its crude oil requirement. However, a slide in rupee against the dollar will restrict the benefit of falling crude oil prices.
Ranbaxy Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries jumped after Ranbaxy reported a turnaround Q2 results. Lupin declined on profit taking after announcing strong Q2 results. Shares of PSU banks extended Monday's gains triggered by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's comments in a newspaper interview that the government intends to bring down its stake in PSU banks to about 52% to enable PSU banks to raise capital to meet the Basel-III norms. Shares of private sector banks declined.
Meanwhile, Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Corp. and Indian e-retailer Snapdeal today, 28 October 2014, announced definitive agreements under which the SoftBank Group will become the largest investor in Snapdeal, through a total investment of $627 million. Separately, SoftBank Corp. and ANI Technologies -- which runs the popular Ola Cabs taxi booking service in India -- announced a definitive agreement under which SoftBank Group will lead an investment of $210 million in Ola along with existing investors. Both Snapdeal and ANI Technologies are not listed on the bourses.
The Indian government issued a statement today, 28 October 2014, stating that Chairman and CEO of SoftBank, Mr. Masayoshi Son told the Minister for Communications and Information Technology and Law & Justice Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad that SoftBank would like to invest approximately $10 billion in India in the coming years. Son met Prasad in New Delhi last evening. Son placed it on record that India is the top most priority for SoftBank. He further expressed immense faith in the great eCommerce potential of India. He estimated it to become a $0.5 trillion business in the next 10 years, the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology said in a statement.
In overseas markets, European stocks rose as investors weighed company earnings and awaited US data to gauge whether the Federal Reserve will end its bond purchases this month. Asian stocks fell after American data overnight fell short of estimates and investors awaited a Federal Reserve decision on its stimulus program.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar.
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Brent crude oil prices extended its decline to a third day on ample global oil supplies.
Indian stocks may remain volatile in near future as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month October 2014 series to November 2014 series. The near month October 2014 derivatives contract expire on Thursday, 30 October 2014.
As per provisional figures, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 127.04 points or 0.47% at 26,879.94. The index jumped 154.24 points at the day's high of 26,907.14 in late trade. The index rose 11.25 points at the day's low of 26,764.15 in early afternoon trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 36.30 points or 0.45% at 8,028, as per provisional figures. The index hit a high of 8,037.80 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 7,995.05 in intraday trade.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2755 crore, higher than turnover of Rs 2613.97 crore on Monday, 27 October 2014.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 8.12 points or 0.08% at 9,600.21, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 83.15 points or 0.78% at 10,725.84, outperforming the Sensex.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,510 shares rose while 1,366 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.
Shares of PSU banks extended Monday's gains triggered by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's comments in a newspaper interview that the government intends to bring down its stake in PSU banks to about 52% to enable PSU banks to raise capital to meet the Basel-III norms. Union Bank of India (up 1.63%), Bank of India (up 0.64%), Andhra Bank (up 0.65%), UCO Bank (up 0.36%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.22%), Oriental Bank of Commerce (up 5.82%), and State Bank of India (up 2.67%), edged higher. Canara Bank (down 0.5%) Dena Bank (down 1.1%), and Indian Overseas Bank (down 0.16%) declined.
Meanwhile, the government yesterday, 27 October 2014, said it has decided to finalise a new process for selection of CMDs/EDs of public sector banks for all future vacancies. The government has decided that a fresh process for selection will be implemented for filling-up vacancies for eight posts of CMDs and fourteen posts of EDs of public sector banks for the year 2014-15 wherein the Governor, Reserve Bank of India or his nominee of the rank of Deputy Governor should be a part of the selection process.
State Bank of Mysore jumped 10.34% after net profit surged 238.76% to Rs 101.90 crore on 12.61% growth in total income to Rs 1900.52 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. The bank's ratio of gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to gross advances stood at 5.07% as on 30 September 2014 as against 5.13% as on 30 June 2014 and 5.96% as on 30 September 2013. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 2.94% as on 30 September 2014 as against 2.72% as on 30 June 2014 and 3.69% as on 30 September 2013.
Shares of private sector banks declined. Axis Bank (down 0.47%) and HDFC Bank (down 0.29%), Yes Bank (down 0.23%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.53%), and IndusInd Bank (down 0.68%) declined.
ICICI Bank rose 1.76% on reports that a foreign brokerage has maintained buy on the stock. The foreign brokerage reportedly said that profitability of ICICI Bank has improved sharply over past 5 years and under a best case scenario it can double in three to four years. ICICI Bank's return on equity is expected to rise from 14% to 18% by FY 2018, the brokerage added.
Lupin declined on profit taking after announcing strong Q2 results. The stock was off 2.61% to Rs 1,357.65. From a recent low of Rs 1318.45 on 16 October 2014, the stock had jumped 5.73% to Rs 1,394.05 on 27 October 2014. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 55.1% to Rs 630 crore on 18.9% increase in total revenue from operations to Rs 3173.40 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. The result was announced during market hours.
Lupin's operating profit jumped 26.2% to Rs 832.60 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. The operating profit margin (OPM) edged up to 26.7% in Q2 September 2014, from 25.1% in Q2 September 2013. The company said it continues to enjoy debt free status.
Lupin said its revenue expenditure on R&D for Q2 September 2014 amounted to Rs 284.80 crore or 9.1% of net sales as against Rs 217.20 crore or 8.3% of net sales in Q2 September 2013. Revenue expenditure on R&D for six months ended 30 September 2014 stood at Rs 528.70 crore or 8.3% of net sales as against Rs 412.80 crore or 8.2% of net sales in six months ended 30 September 2013.
Ranbaxy Laboratories jumped 6.11% after the company reported a turnaround Q2 results. The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 477.75 crore in Q2 September 2014, as against net loss of Rs 454.16 crore in Q2 September 2013. Total income rose 15.91% to Rs 3277.87 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013. The result was announced during market hours. Ranbaxy Laboratories' sales rose 17% to Rs 3218 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013, primarily due to exclusivity sales of Valsartan in the US market during Q2 September 2014.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries surged 4.31% after Ranbaxy Laboratories reported a turnaround Q2 results. In April 2014, Sun Pharma acquired Ranbaxy in $4 billion landmark transaction.
ABB India fell 0.52% to Rs 1,149.65. The stock hit high of Rs 1,179 and low of Rs 1,085.10. The company's net profit rose 18.27% to Rs 44.98 crore on 3.31% growth in total income to Rs 1846.02 crore in Q3 September 2014 over Q3 September 2013. The Q3 result was announced during market hours today, 28 October 2014. ABB India said that revenue grew across all divisions and exports continued to remain in focus.
ABB India said it maintained a healthy double digit growth in earnings for the quarter demonstrating benefits from improved execution, better productivity and continued savings from operational excellence initiatives. Tight market liquidity conditions and high cost of capital continue to weigh on earnings, ABB India said in a statement.
ABB India's order intake declined 19.35% at Rs 1421 crore in Q3 September 2014 over Q3 September 2013. Order intake during the quarter remained subdued as few large orders were awarded and some are awaiting contract closure, ABB India said in a statement. The company's order backlog stood at Rs 7666 crore as on 30 September 2014, as compared to Rs 8252 crore as on 30 September 2013.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.34, compared with its close of 61.31 during the previous trading session.
Brent crude oil prices extended its decline to a third day on ample global oil supplies. Brent crude for December delivery was off 23 cents at $85.60 a barrel. The contract had lost 30 cents to settle at $85.83 a barrel during the previous trading session.
The government's decision this month to decontrol diesel prices and a sharp decline in global crude oil prices recently will help India in containing its fiscal deficit. The fall in global crude oil prices will also help India in containing its current account deficit and fuel price inflation. India imports 80% of its crude oil requirement. A slump in Brent crude since the end of June contributed to consumer-price index slowing to 6.46% last month, the least since 2012.
However, a slide in rupee against the dollar will restrict the benefit of falling crude oil prices.
European stocks rose today, 28 October 2014, as investors weighed company earnings and awaited US data to gauge whether the Federal Reserve will end its bond purchases this month. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were up 0.4% to 1.47%.
Asian stocks fell today, 28 October 2014, after American data overnight fell short of estimates and investors awaited a Federal Reserve decision on its stimulus program. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan were off 0.33% to 0.46%. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were up 1.63% to 2.07%.
Data from China's statistics bureau showed profit at China's industrial companies grew 0.4% last month, compared with a 0.6% drop in August.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could gain 77 points at the opening bell today, 28 October 2014. US stocks ended mostly higher on Monday, 27 October 2014, with gains limited by weak economic data.
Data yesterday, 27 October 2014, indicated uneven economic growth in the US. Contracts to purchase previously owned homes rose less than forecast in September, showing housing will take time to gain momentum. Another release showed growth in services activity slowed this month, while the Dallas Fed's gauge of regional manufacturing fell.
A two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on US monetary policy review begins today, 28 October 2014. The Fed is expected to announce the end of quantitative easing after the meeting. Investors will be looking to see if the Fed drops the "considerable period" language in referencing its plans keeping rates low, at the two-day policy meeting, which concludes tomorrow, 29 October 2014. As several Fed officials have come out with dovish comments recently, investors largely expect that guidance to be reiterated.
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