Indian stocks drifted lower in mid-morning trade as the Japanese central bank's decision to leave its monetary policy unchanged pulled Asian markets lower. At 11:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 132.77 points or 0.51% at 25,931.35. The Nifty 50 index was down 41.65 points or 0.52% at 7,938.25. The Sensex fell below the psychologically important 26,000 mark.
The Sensex fell 161.50 points, or 0.62% at the day's low of 25,902.62 in mid-morning trade. The barometer index rose 36.42 points, or 0.14% at the day's high of 26,100.54 in early trade, its highest intraday level since 4 January 2016. The Nifty fell 49.15 points, or 0.62% at the day's low of 7,930.75 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 26 April 2016. The index rose 12.10 points, or 0.15% at the day's high of 7,992 in morning trade, its highest level since 6 November 2015.
The market may remain volatile today, 28 April 2016, as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month April 2016 series to May 2016 series. The near month April 2016 derivatives contracts expire today, 28 April 2016.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive mid-morning trade. On BSE, 1,116 shares fell and 945 shares rose. A total of 137 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.03%, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.19%. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
In overseas markets, Japanese stocks led losses for Asian stocks after the Bank of Japan left its main policies unchanged at the conclusion of a two-day monetary policy meeting, disappointing market expectations the central bank would take further extraordinary steps to stimulate Japan's economy. The Nikkei 225 Average was currently off 3.32%. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) voted to keep its current level of asset purchases unchanged and rates on hold while announcing a 300 billion ($2.69 billion) lending program to support banks in the region hit by this month's Kyushu earthquake.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could fall 99 points at the opening bell today, 28 April 2016. US stocks closed mostly higher yesterday, 27 April 2016, but the gains were checked by weakness in the technology sector. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged after the conclusion of a two-day monetary policy meeting yesterday, 27 April 2016. The Fed's signal that it was in no rush to raise rates relieved investors.
Capital goods shares were mixed. Bharat Heavy Electricals (down 1.95%), ALSTOM India (down 1.72%), Havells India (down 1.22%), Siemens (down 1.12%), BEML (down 0.59%), SKF India (down 0.52%), Lakshmi Machine Works (down 0.39%), ABB India (down 0.25%), Thermax (down 0.23%), Larsen & Toubro (down 0.22%) and Crompton Greaves (down 0.17%), edged lower. Reliance Defence and Engineering (up 0.10%), Alstom T&D India (up 0.29%), AIA Engineering (up 0.56%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.75%), Punj Lloyd (up 0.75%), Suzlon Energy (up 1.46%), Jindal Saw (up 2.01%) and Praj Industries (up 2.35%), edged higher.
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Power generation stocks edged lower. NHPC (down 1.62%), Torrent Power (down 1.12%), Reliance Power (down 0.94%), CESC (down 0.91%), Tata Power (down 0.64%), Adani Power (down 0.62%), GMR Infrastructure (down 0.4%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 0.21%), NTPC (down 0.18%) and JSW Energy (down 0.15%), edged lower. Reliance Infrastructure was up 0.10%.
Shriram City Union Finance dropped 1.5% after the company's consolidated net profit fell 60.63% to Rs 61.16 crore on 11.79% rise in total income to Rs 1039.24 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The result was announced before market hours today, 28 April 2016.
Ceat was up 1.84% after consolidated net profit rose 11.5% to Rs 104.69 crore on 0.5% decline in net sales to Rs 1450.66 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. Ceat's Managing Director Anant Goenka said that Q4 March 2016 saw the commissioning of the company's green-field facility in Nagpur that will help it meet growing demand in the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments. While volumes across segments have grown during the quarter, Chinese dumping continues to impact the industry and the company's business to some extent, Goenka said. Ceat's Chief Financial Officer Manoj Jaiswal said that the company has been able to strengthen its balance sheet significantly on the back of improved business and cash flows.
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