A range bound movement was witnessed as key benchmark indices languished in red in early afternoon trade. The barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex, was currently off 81.46 points or 0.29% at 28,452.51. Fears of a default in Greece and an escalating conflict in Ukraine weighed on investor sentiment. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 1%, outperforming the Sensex.
Index heavyweight ITC dropped. Realty stocks gained. India Cements jumped after the company's board of directors approved transfer of IPL team Chennai Super Kings to a wholly-owned subsidiary Chennai Super Kings Cricket. IL&FS Engineering surged after turnaround Q3 results.
Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 371.27 crore yesterday, 11 February 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 147.49 crore yesterday, 11 February 2015.
Earlier, the Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, hit their highest level in almost a week at the onset of the trading session.
In overseas markets, Asian stocks were mixed. US stocks were flat at close yesterday, 11 February 2015, after seeing high intraday volatility as investors eyed negotiations between Greece and its international creditors.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar.
Brent crude oil futures edged higher as conflict in Ukraine escalated.
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At 12:19 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 81.46 points or 0.29% at 28,452.51. The index fell 127.72 points at the day's low of 28,406.25 in early afternoon trade, its lowest level since 10 February 2015. The index jumped 151.91 points at the day's high of 28,685.88 in early trade, its highest level since 6 February 2015.
The CNX Nifty was down 13.65 points or 0.16% at 8,613.75. The index hit a low of 8,599.25 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 8,681.40 in intraday trade, its highest level since 6 February 2015.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 86.25 points or 0.82% at 10,629.36. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 110.09 points or 1% at 11,169.48. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,425 shares rose and 1,060 shares fell. A total of 111 shares were unchanged.
Realty stocks gained. D B Realty (up 0.59%), Unitech (up 1.53%), Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 3.49%), Godrej Properties (up 0.83%), Phoenix Mills (up 0.09%), Anant Raj (up 1.64%), Oberoi Realty (up 1.29%) and Prestige Estates (up 3.48%), edged higher. Sobha (down 1.89%), Parsvnath Developers (down 0.26%), and DLF (down 0.38%) declined.
Index heavyweight ITC dropped 2.56% to Rs 365.55. The stock hit high of Rs 372 and low of Rs 365.30 so far during the day.
Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) dropped 1.65%. The Delhi High Court yesterday, 11 February 2015, reportedly granted relief to JSPL by asking the Centre to review its decision to change end-use norm for the coal blocks allotted to the company. A bench of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva segregated the blocks - Utkal B1 and Utkal-B2 in Odisha and Gare Palma IV/6 in Chhattisgarh - from the auction process on the ground that the Centre, while changing the end-use from steelmaking to power generation, failed to consider the adverse impact on the steel industry. JSPL had been allotted Utkal-B1 for operating a steel unit and Gare Palma IV/6 for a sponge iron industry. The allocations were among the 204 allotments cancelled by the Supreme Court. In its plea, JSPL had contended that change of end-use prohibits the company from bidding for those coal blocks, threatening the company's investments of over Rs 24000 crore to set up units as per the original end-use close to these mines.
IL&FS Engineering & Construction Company hit an upper circuit limit of 20% at Rs 71.45 on BSE after the company reported net profit of Rs 76.46 crore in Q3 December 2014 as against net loss of Rs 58.27 crore in Q3 December 2013. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 11 February 2015. IL&FS Engineering & Construction Company's net sales rose 44.91% to Rs 675.79 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013.
India Cements jumped 14% after the company said the Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held yesterday, 11 February 2015, approved a proposal for reorganisation of Chennai Super Kings Cricket, the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, under which the ownership of the Franchise will be held by shareholders of The India Cements. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 February 2015.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 62.4075, compared with its close of 62.26 during the previous trading session.
Brent crude oil futures edged higher as conflict in Ukraine escalated. Brent for March settlement which expires today, 12 February 2015, was up 48 cents at $55.14 a barrel. The contract had lost $1.77 a barrel or 3.13% to settle at $54.66 a barrel during the previous trading session. Brent for April settlement was up 59 cents at $56.51 a barrel.
Meanwhile, macroeconomic data to be released by the government in the coming days is likely to show deceleration in industrial production growth in December 2014 and acceleration in inflation in January 2015. The rate of inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI) is seen accelerating to 5.5% in January 2015 from 5% in December 2014, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. The government will unveil CPI data for January 2015 at 17:30 IST today, 12 February 2015.
The rate of inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) is seen accelerating to 0.4% in January 2015 from 0.1% in December 2014, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. The government will unveil WPI data for January 2015 at 12.10 noon on 16 February 2015.
Growth in industrial production is seen decelerating to 1.5% in December 2014 from 3.8% expansion in November 2014, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. The government will industrial production data for December 2014 at 17:30 IST today, 12 February 2015. All these projections for CPI, WPI and industrial production are based on the old series data with 2004-05 as base year. It may be recalled that the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation revised the way it measures GDP on 30 January 2015. It brought forward the base year used in national economy calculations by seven years to 2011-12 from 2004-05. It also switched from using production costs to market prices. Changes in the base year are made every five years.
Asian stocks were mixed today, 12 February 2015. Key indices in Singapore, Indonesia, and South Korea were down 0.19% to 0.88%. Key indices in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan rose 0.27% to 1.85%.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 14 points at the opening bell today, 12 February 2015. US stocks ended with small losses yesterday, 11 February 2015, as investors eyed negotiations between Greece and its international creditors.
In Europe, eurozone finance ministers after a meeting held in Brussels, Belgium, yesterday, 11 February 2015, failed to find a clear line on how to deal with Greece's financial issues, according to reports. After more than six hours of negotiations, the ministersalong with the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bankpledged to keep talking in the coming days with the hope of coming up with a plan at their next meeting. In an unusual development for their get-together, the ministers failed to agree on a joint statement. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis reportedly said after the meeting that he still hoped that a deal on new financing for his debt-stricken country could be found by next week.
Meanwhile, a summit meeting of European Union (EU) leaders is scheduled in Brussels today, 12 February 2015.
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