Stronger-than-expected second quarter results from Reliance Industries (RIL), India's second biggest company in terms of market capitalization, aided modest gains for Indian stocks. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 150.32 points or 0.55% to settle at 27,364.92. The 50-unit CNX Nifty rose 36.90 points or 0.45% to settle at 8,275.05. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, attained their highest closing level in more than eight weeks. The two key benchmark indices edged higher for the third straight trading session.
The latest upmove for Indian stocks materialized after the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance announced that it has organized a meeting with the representatives of the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) tomorrow, 20 October 2015, to seek their views on measures to simplify the procedures and documentation for registration of FPIs in India and deepening of corporate bond market. Separately, the Department of Economic Affairs will hold a meeting with domestic financial market participants on 21 October 2015 to seek their views on integration of various segments of the market, increasing retail participation and deepening of corporate bond market.
The Sensex and the Nifty remained in positive zone throughout the trading session.
RIL surged after stronger-than-expected Q2 September 2015 results. Infosys edged higher after announcing a definitive agreement to acquire US based Noah Consulting, LLC, a leading provider of advanced information management consulting services for the oil and gas industry. Pharma stocks rose on renewed buying. Aviation stocks surged after InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of low cost passenger airline IndiGo, announced that its initial public offer (IPO) will open for bidding on 27 October 2015.
The Sensex rose 150.32 points or 0.55% to settle at 27,364.92, its highest closing level since 21 August 2015. The index jumped 173.31 points or 0.63% at the day's high of 27,387.91. The index rose 32.19 points or 0.11% at the day's low of 27,246.79.
The Nifty rose 36.90 points or 0.45% to settle at 8,275.05, its highest closing level since 21 August 2015. The index rose 44.90 points or 0.54% at the day's high of 8,283.05. The index rose 1.05 points or 0.01% at the day's low of 8,239.20.
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The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,565 shares rose and 1,157 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.69%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.77%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2509 crore, lower than turnover of Rs 2729.05 crore registered during the previous trading session.
Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE FMCG index (up 0.83%), BSE Healthcare index (up 1.26%), BSE IT index (up 1.11%), BSE Oil & Gas index (up 1.08%), BSE Realty index (up 2.57%) and BSE Teck index (up 1.35%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Auto index (down 0.36%), BSE Bankex index (down 0.35%), BSE Capital Goods index (down 0.91%), BSE Consumer Durables index (down 0.36%), BSE Metal index (down 0.56%) and BSE Power index (down 0.25%) underperformed the Sensex.
RIL surged after stronger-than-expected Q2 September 2015 results. The stock rose 5.61% at Rs 963.40. The stock hit a high of Rs 965.20 and a low of Rs 941.60 in intraday trade. RIL's consolidated net profit rose 12.52% to Rs 6720 crore on 33.8% decline in turnover to Rs 75117 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q2 September 2014. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 16 October 2015. A strong showing of the refinery business and increase in profit margins of the petrochemicals business led to a stronger-than-expected growth in RIL's bottom line in Q2 September 2015. RIL's gross refining margins (GRM) hit a seven year high of $10.6 per barrel in Q2 September 2015. The GRM was $8.3 per barrel in Q2 September 2014. The profitability of the petrochemicals business improved due to a combination of strong volume growth, product mix improvement and lower energy costs.
Shares of PSU banks were mixed. IDBI Bank (up 4.13%), UCO Bank (up 3.35%), United Bank of India (up 0.89%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 0.27%), Andhra Bank (up 0.58%) and Corporation Bank (up 0.22%) edged higher. State Bank of India (down 0.16%), Syndicate Bank (down 1%), Canara Bank (down 0.8%), Bank of India (down 0.81%), Punjab National Bank (down 0.87%) and Bank of Baroda (down 1.41%) edged lower.
Private sector banks edged lower. ICICI Bank (down 0.97%), IndusInd Bank (down 0.02%), Yes Bank (down 0.39%), HDFC Bank (down 0.32%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.06%) edged lower. Axis Bank (up 0.37%) edged higher.
Pharma stocks gained on renewed buying. Divi's Laboratories (up 3.25%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.68%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.83%), Strides Arcolab (up 1.49%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.57%), Cipla (up 1.18%) and Lupin (up 0.68%) edged higher. Ipca Laboratories (down 1.3%), Wockhardt (down 0.86%) and GlaxoSmithkline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.27%) edged lower.
IT stocks edged higher. MindTree (up 1.77%), TCS (up 0.44%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.56%) and Wipro (up 0.04%) edged higher. Tech Mahindra (down 0.7%) edged lower.
HCL Technologies rose 1.88% at Rs 857.15. The company's consolidated net profit as per US GAAP after making adjustment for provisions for one particular project of a client rose 2.2% to Rs 1823 crore on 3.3% rise in revenue to Rs 10097 crore in Q1 September 2015 over Q4 June 2015. The announcement of Q1 results as per the US GAAP was made before market hours today, 19 October 2015.
HCL Tech's earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 5.3% to Rs 2211 crore in Q1 September 2015 over Q4 June 2015. EBITDA margin edged up to 21.9% in Q1 September 2015 from 21.5% in Q4 June 2015.
HCL Technologies also said that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 19 October 2015 approved a Scheme of Arrangement between HCL Technologies and HCL Comnet (a wholly owned subsidiary of the company). As per the scheme, the India system integration business of the company would be transferred to HCL Comnet on a going concern basis with an objective to have simplified business structure with greater visibility in the performance of individual businesses.
Infosys rose 1.69% at Rs 1,112.20. Infosys during market hours today, 19 October 2015, announced signing a definitive agreement to acquire Noah Consulting, LLC, a leading provider of advanced information management consulting services for the oil and gas industry. Infosys said that the acquisition of 100% stake in Noah Consulting LLC, head quartered in Houston, Texas (USA), was an all-cash deal, with an aggregate purchase consideration of $70 million. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the Q3 December 2015, subject to customary closing conditions.
Noah Consulting helps upstream oil and gas companies, including super majors, independents and oil field service companies plan, architect and deploy information solutions to unlock the value of their oil and gas assets.
Meanwhile, Infosys announced after market hours on Friday, 16 October 2015, a collaboration with IBM, in which Infosys will tap Bluemix, IBM's Cloud platform to rapidly prototype, develop and deploy the next generation of Cloud apps for its global client base.
Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) edged higher after strong showing by Reliance Industries' refining business in Q2 September 2015. BPCL (up 1%), HPCL (up 1.32%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.27%) edged higher.
Meanwhile, global crude oil prices dropped in the global commodities markets as China's economic growth eased in the third quarter. Brent for December settlement was currently off 67 cents at $49.79 a barrel. The contract had risen 73 cents or 1.46% to settle at $50.46 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Aviation stocks surged after InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of low cost passenger airline IndiGo, announced that its initial public offer (IPO) will open for bidding on 27 October 2015. SpiceJet was locked at 10% upper circuit at Rs 47.55 on BSE. Jet Airways (India) surged 8.83% at Rs 417.30. The IPO of InterGlobe Aviation comprises of fresh issue of equity shares aggregating Rs 1272.20 crore and offer for sale of up to 2.61 crore shares by existing shareholders of the company. The price band for the IPO has been set at Rs 700 to Rs 765 per share. The IPO is scheduled to close on 29 October 2015. IndiGo operates as a low-cost carrier or LCC business model and focuses primarily on the domestic Indian air travel market.
Index heavyweight and engineering & construction major L&T fell 1.49% at Rs 1,580.65. L&T has successfully flagged off its first consignment of Cryostat, a part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) fusion reactor facility being built at Cadarache in South of France.
UltraTech Cement fell in volatile after the company announced second quarter results. The stock shed 1.49% to Rs 2,903. The stock hit high of Rs 2,995 and low of Rs 2,886.05 in intraday trade. The company's consolidated net profit rose 3.14% to Rs 427 crore on 4.02% rise in net sales to Rs 5951 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q2 September 2014. The result was announced during market hours today, 19 October 2015. UltraTech Cement's profit before interest, depreciation and tax rose 11.75% to Rs 1103 crore in Q2 September 2015 over Q2 September 2014.
The company said its on-going capital expenditure program is on track. With regard to future business outlook, UltraTech Cement said that with the government's focus on infrastructure development, housing sector, smart cities, roads etc., the company is well positioned across the country to meet the expected rise in the cement demand and participate in the next phase of growth in the country.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) rose 0.24% at Rs 4,460.40. The stock hit a high of Rs 4,477.50 and a low of Rs 4,411 in intraday trade. MSIL after market hours today, 19 October 2015, announced the introduction of a new variant of its popular mid-size sedan Ciaz. The petrol version of Ciaz RS is priced Rs 9.20 lakh ex-showroom Delhi and the hybrid diesel version is priced at Rs 10.28 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.
Earlier, MSIL announced after market hours on Friday, 16 October 2015, that it has introduced all-new Ertiga packed with several new features and technologies. The petrol variant of the vehicle is available from Rs 5.99 lakh to Rs 8.26 lakh while the diesel variants are available from Rs 7.55 lakh to Rs 9.25 lakh ex-showroom Delhi.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) dropped 0.75% at Rs 1,279.50. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,295.15 and a low of Rs 1,275.05 in intraday trade. The company during market hours today, 19 October 2015, announced that its agri business has launched Tur Dal under the brand NuPro Tur Dal for the health conscious Indian consumer. M&M claims that its NuPro Tur Dal takes up to 50% less time to cook as compared to most other Tur Dal currently available in the market. M&M plans to launch other branded pulses under the NuPro brand in the future, M&M said in a statement.
Key indices rose for the third straight trading session. The Sensex has gained 585.26 points or 2.18% in the preceding three trading sessions from its close of 26,779.66 on 14 October 2015. The Sensex has risen 1,210.09 points or 4.62% in this month so far (till 19 October 2015). The Sensex has fallen 134.50 points or 0.48% in this calendar year so far (till 19 October 2015). From a 52-week low of 24,833.54 hit on 8 September 2015, the Sensex has risen 2,531.38 points or 10.19%. The Sensex is off 2,659.82 points or 8.85% from a record high of 30,024.74 hit on 4 March 2015.
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