As Chinese stocks surged, key equity benchmark indices in India extended intraday gains in afternoon trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was currently up 88.04 points or 0.31% at 28,530.75. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. Meanwhile, the finance ministry after trading hours yesterday, 3 December 2014, announced the setting up of a High Level Committee (HLC) to interact with trade and industry on tax laws.
IT and capital goods stocks were mixed. ONGC gained after Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reportedly said yesterday, 3 December 2014, that the government is considering reworking the subsidy-sharing formula for ONGC in a bid to lower its discount burden and boost the state-owned oil firm's profit.
Earlier, key indices had trimmed gains after an initial rally. The 50-unit CNX Nifty had surged to record high in early trade on firm Asian stocks.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 391.07 crore yesterday, 3 December 2014, as per provisional data.
In overseas markets, Asian stocks edged higher amid fresh signs of resilience in the US economy, the world's biggest economy. In the US yesterday, 3 December 2014, big gains in energy, materials and industrials sectors helped propel the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to record levels.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was currently unchanged against the dollar.
Brent crude oil futures rose after a US government-supply report yesterday, 3 December 2014, showed an unexpected decline in US crude inventories last week.
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At 13:16 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 88.04 points or 0.31% at 28,530.75. The index jumped 366.07 points at the day's high of 28,808.78 at onset of the day's trading session, its highest level since 1 December 2014. The index rose 6.24 points at the day's low of 28,448.95 in mid-morning trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 10.35 points or 0.12% at 8,548. The index hit a high of 8,626.95 in intraday trade, a record high for the index. The index hit a low of 8,526.40 in intraday trade.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,383 shares gained and 1,303 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 31.74 points or 0.3% at 10,531.60, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 51.37 points or 0.45% at 11,487.25, outperforming the Sensex.
Capital goods stocks were mixed. ABB India (up 15.64%), Crompton Greaves (up 1.15%) and Siemens (up 5.72%) gained. Havells India (down 1.67%) and L&T (down 0.11%) declined.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) fell 1.58%. Bhel during market hours today, 4 December 2014, said that with the commissioning of the last of the six units of 68 megawatts (MW) hydro generating unit of Rampur Hydro Electric Project (HEP) in Himachal Pradesh, the company has commissioned the 412 MW hydro power plant of SJVN. Bhel said that the company is presently executing hydro power projects of around 5,000 MW which are under various stages of implementation. Significantly, so far, more than 500 hydro generating sets of various ratings have been contracted on Bhel in India and abroad, with a cumulative capacity of more than 26,000 MW, out of which, equipment for about 5,000 MW generating capacity has been contracted outside India, Bhel said.
IT stocks were mixed. TCS (up 0.28%), Tech Mahindra (up 0.02%) and Wipro (up 0.27%) gained. HCL Technologies (down 1.15%) and Infosys (down 0.36%) declined.
Ranbaxy Laboratories declined 0.64%. With respect to news article titled "Germany bars antibiotic drug from Ranbaxy's Madhya Pradesh plant", the company stated that the news item is misleading and clarified that the development pertains only to the company's cephalosporin injectable unit at Dewas in Madhya Pradesh. The European authorities along with those from Australia and Canada carried out an inspection in June 2014 of all the facilities in Dewas. Well before that time, the company had already decided to stop producing cephalosporin injectables at Dewas. Since then, the agencies have approved all its facilities for manufacturing Dosage Forms and APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) at Dewas including that for oral cephalosporins with the only exception of the cephalosporin injectable unit.
The company stated that its decision to discontinue manufacture of Cephalosporin injectables would not have a significant impact on the company's business. The company also said that the current approvals cover all other facilities (Dosage Forms and APIs) at Dewas, including those producing penem API & injections and oral cephalosporins.
ONGC gained 0.66% after Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reportedly said yesterday, 3 December 2014, that the government is considering reworking the subsidy-sharing formula for ONGC in a bid to lower its discount burden and boost the state-owned oil firm's profit. State run upstream oil and gas companies share a part of the under recoveries of state-run oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) on sale of petroleum products by allowing discount in the prices of crude oil, PSD kerosene, and domestic LPG based on the rates of discount communicated by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
The government has already finalised 5% stake sale in ONGC.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee was currently unchanged against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.91, unchanged from its close in the previous trading session.
Brent crude oil futures rose after a US government-supply report yesterday, 3 December 2014, showed an unexpected decline in US crude inventories last week. Brent for January settlement was up 37 cents a barrel at $70.29 a barrel. The contract had slipped 62 cents a barrel to settle at $69.92 yesterday, 3 December 2014.
The finance ministry after trading hours yesterday, 3 December 2014, announced the setting up of a High Level Committee (HLC) to interact with trade and industry on tax laws. The HLC will interact with trade and industry on regular basis and ascertain areas where clarity in tax laws is required. The HLC will give recommendations to the CBDT/CBEC for issuance of appropriate clarifications by way of circulars, instructions etc. on tax issues. The CBDT/CBEC will issue the required clarifications, circulars, instructions etc. within a period of 2 months from the date of receipt of recommendations of the HLC, the finance ministry said in a statement. The term of the committee shall be for one year from the date of its constitution, subject to further extensions, as may be considered appropriate by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
The Indian government intends to get the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill that seeks to enhance FDI limit in capital starved insurance sector passed during the winter session of parliament which began on 24 November 2014. The government is also likely to introduce the constitutional amendment bill for the goods & services tax in the winter session of parliament.
Asian stocks edged higher today, 4 December 2014, amid fresh signs of resilience in the US economy, the world's biggest economy. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea were up 0.3% to 0.85%.
Chinese stocks surged on prospects a jump in trading will boost profits at brokerages. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index jumped 4.31% to settle at 2,899.46, its highest closing level since May 2011. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 1.72%.
In Japan, the result of polls by Japanese news organizations today, 4 December 2014, showed that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is poised for a landslide victory in Dec. 14 parliamentary elections in Japan. The poll results come despite some disappointing economic news recently for Abe and his pro-growth Abenomics platform built on measures such as monetary easing and measures such as labor-market liberalization. All the polls cautioned that many voters have yet to make up their minds, meaning the final outcome could change. All the polls predicted that the Japan Communist Party, which currently has eight seats, would make gains.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could rise 12 points at the opening bell today, 4 December 2014. Big gains in energy, materials and industrials sectors, following a rebound in oil and gold prices, helped propel the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to record levels yesterday, 3 December 2014.
In economic data, a private report showed hiring in the US topped 200,000 workers for the seventh time in eight months, while the Federal Reserve's Beige Book indicated widespread hiring. Service industries in the US expanded last month at the second-fastest pace in more than nine months.
US government's monthly nonfarm payrolls report for November will be out tomorrow, 5 December 2014.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher yesterday, 3 December 2014, said that he'd like the US central bank to revisit its recently revised plans for raising borrowing costs in way that could help ease conditions in the bond market. In remarks in Dallas, Fisher, who will retire from the Fed next March, said he'd like the central bank to think again about its current plan to stop reinvesting the proceeds of maturing Treasury and mortgage bonds into new holdings only after it begins to raise short-term interest rates. The Fed's ongoing reinvestment process is designed to keep its $4.5 trillion balance sheet size steady. If it didn't buy new securities with the proceeds of its maturing holdings, the balance sheet would automatically begin to shrink. In a plan updated in September, the Fed said the reinvestment process would stop only after the Fed begins to raise short-term rates.
In Europe, the European Central Bank (ECB) reviews interest rates today, 4 December 2014, amid speculation policy makers will add to stimulus measures to ward off deflation.
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