After languishing in red in morning trade, key benchmark indices reversed direction in mid-morning trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, scaled record high. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. The Sensex was currently up 83.72 points or 0.28% at 29,654.76. Asian stocks were mixed. Trading in index futures indicated a higher opening of US stocks later in the global day as Apple Inc. reported stronger-than-expected results for the fiscal first quarter ended 27 December 2014.
Metal and mining stocks declined. Telecom stocks fell after the government postponed until 4 March 2015, the auction of mobile phone airwaves which was earlier slated to start on 25 February 2015.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 953.50 crore yesterday, 27 January 2015, as per provisional data.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar.
Brent crude oil futures dropped after an industry report showing a larger-than-expected rise in weekly US crude inventories bolstered speculation that a global glut will persist.
Indian stocks may remain volatile in the near future as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month January 2015 series to February 2015 series. The near month January 2015 derivatives contracts expire tomorrow, 29 January 2015.
In overseas markets, Asian stocks were mixed. US stocks edged lower yesterday, 27 January 2015, following a surprise drop in durable-goods orders and disappointing earnings from Microsoft Corp. and Caterpillar Inc.
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At 11:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 83.72 points or 0.28% at 29,654.76. The index gained 102.83 points at the day's high of 29,673.87 in mid-morning trade, a record high for the index. The index fell 95.81 points at the day's low of 29,475.23 in morning trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 39.45 points or 0.44% at 8,949.95. The index hit a high of 8,950.30 in intraday trade, a record high for the index. The index hit a low of 8,889.10 in intraday trade.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. On BSE, 1,201 shares declined and 1,156 shares rose. A total of 90 shares were unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 84.30 points or 0.78% at 10,864.77. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 38.68 points or 0.34% at 11,463.16. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1467 crore by 11:15 IST, compared with turnover of Rs 902 crore by 10:15 IST.
Index heavyweights were in demand. ITC (up 0.46%), TCS (up 1.54%), HDFC (up 0.89%), ICICI Bank (up 0.63%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.49%) edged higher.
Metal and mining stocks declined. Sesa Sterlite (down 1.6%), JSW Steel (down 0.76%), Tata Steel (down 1.55%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (down 0.63%), NMDC (down 0.67%), Hindustan Copper (down 0.36%), National Aluminium Company (down 1.15%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.7%) and Hindalco Industries (down 0.63%) edged lower. Hindustan Zinc rose 0.35%.
Telecom stocks fell after the government postponed until 4 March 2015, the auction of mobile phone airwaves which was earlier slated to start on 25 February 2015. Reliance Communications (down 0.06%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.53%) and MTNL (down 0.18%) edged lower.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) in a circular dated 27 January 2015 said that it has postponed until 4 March 2015 the auction of mobile phone airwaves which was earlier slated to start on 25 February 2015. The last date of submission of applications by mobile operators has also been moved to 16 February 2015 from 6 February 2015.
Meanwhile, as per reports, the Union Cabinet is likely to consider today, 28 January 2015, the reserve price for spectrum auction in the 2,100 MHz band, which is being used for providing 3G mobile services.
Bharti Airtel lost 1.3% at Rs 388.30. The stock was volatile. The stock hit a high of Rs 394.45 and a low of Rs 382.70 so far during the day. According to reports, Emirates Telecommunications Corp., the United Arab Emirates's largest phone company by market value, received offers from Vodacom Group and Bharti Airtel to acquire Emirates Telecommunications' controlling stake in Zanzibar Telecom. Zanzibar Telecom is a joint venture between Emirates Telecommunications Corp. which holds 65% stake, the Government of Zanzibar which owns 18%, and Meeco International of Tanzania which owns 17%.
Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel said before market hours today, 28 January 2015, that the company has commissioned Nokia Networks to expand its 4G presence to six new circles using Nokia Networks' radio network. The deal marks India's first FDD-LTE deployment on 1800 MHz that will witness the launch of super-fast mobile broadband in 6 circles. Nokia Networks, already a supplier of Bharti Airtel's TD-LTE network, will also deploy TD-LTE on the 2300 MHz in 2 other circles.
Idea Cellular fell 0.08%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 64% to Rs 767.06 crore on 21.87% increase in total income to Rs 8150.09 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q3 December 2013. The company announced Q3 results after market hours yesterday, 27 January 2015.
On a consolidated basis, Idea Cellular's net profit rose 1.48% to Rs 767.10 crore on 5.91% increase in total revenue to Rs 8017.50 crore in Q3 December 2014 over Q2 September 2014. Consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization) rose 10.52% to Rs 2752.70 in Q3 December 2014 over Q2 September 2014. EBITDA margins increased to 34.3% in Q3 December 2014 compared with 32.9% in Q2 September 2014.
During the quarter, Idea carried 170.7 billion minutes on its network, registering 5.1% sequential quarterly growth and 46.1 billion Megabytes of Mobile data on its 2G+3G platform, at 16.9% quarterly expansion, with both lines of business delivering strong performance. The 'Value Added Service' (VAS) contribution has improved sharply to 23.1% of service revenue, an unprecedented gain of 7% in last one year.
Due to competitive pressures and increased contribution from new service areas, the Voice realisation remained under pressure and has fallen sequentially by 0.6 paisa to 35.6 paise per minute in Q3 December 2014. However, 18.4% quarterly jump in Mobile Data revenue, contributing 15.7% to service revenue, helped Idea improve its 'ARPM' at 46.3p in Q3 December 2014 (vs 45.9 paise in Q2 September 2014).
As the technology cycle shortens, the company on prudent basis reviewed and reduced the estimated useful life of core network equipments from present 10 to 9 years. Consequently, this quarter the depreciation charge has risen by Rs 262.50 crore.
On a standalone basis, the strong cash profit of Rs 2028.60 crore in Q3 December 2014 (year-on-year growth of 29.5%) has helped company reduce net debt to Rs 11089.10 crore. The net debt to annualised EBITDA ratio now stands at 1.12, lowest in the industry, providing company sufficient head room to participate in the forthcoming license renewal spectrum auction.
The mobile data subscriber base on 2G+3G platform has risen by 8.6 million in CY 2014 to 34.2 million. This quarter Idea held on its data rates (bended 2G+3G) - 'Average Realisation per MB' (ARMB) at 26.9 paise (vs 26.5 paise in Q2 September 2014). The blended Data ARPU (2G+3G) has improved by Rs 35 in CY 2014 to Rs 126 as 'Usages per Data Subscriber' has grown to 470 MB per user in Q3 December 2014 from 309 MB in Q3 December 2013. The 3G (Voice+Data) customers have grown steadily this quarter to 16.1 million but still represents only 10.7% of Idea's total subscriber base. Idea continued to expand its 3G footprint with incremental investment of 7,840 3G sites in CY 2014 taking the overall 3G sites count to 27,744.
As mobility market services expand, Indian Telecom business offers exciting growth opportunities in Mobile broadband & rural voice telephony. Brand Idea with growing consumer affinity, strong cash flows, expanding 2G & 3G network footprint and competitive spectrum profile, reaffirms its ability to overcome current short term uncertainties, emerge stronger and consolidate its market position to tap emerging telecom and mobile banking opportunities.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.44, compared with its close of 61.41 during the previous trading session.
Brent crude oil futures dropped after an industry report showing a larger-than-expected rise in weekly US crude inventories bolstered speculation that a global glut will persist. Brent for March settlement was off 54 cents at $49.06 a barrel. The contract had gained $1.44 a barrel or 2.99% to settle at $49.60 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday, 27 January 2015, said that there is huge curiosity and interest in India especially among domestic and foreign investors. The Finance Minister said that in order to make best use of this opportunity, India has to address two major concerns i.e. quick decision making & stability in policy matters and reforms in tax structure and administration. The Finance Minister made these comments in his speech at the Investiture Ceremony to honour the officers of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) for their excellent performance and International Customs Day function organised by CBEC. Jaitley said that that the government's revenue collection which was affected due to low manufacturing in the last 2-3 years is turning around and that the government hopes to meet its fiscal targets. Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said that there is need for more transparency in tax administration and need to build data base for authentic and valid information.
Asian stocks were mixed today, 28 January 2015. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, China, and South Korea were up 0.01% to 0.47%%. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia were off 0.05% to 0.36%.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could rise 92 points at the opening bell today, 28 January 2015. US stock markets fell heavily yesterday, 27 January 2015 following a string of disappointing financial results from big bellwether companies, including Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar, Microsoft and Pfizer.
A two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concludes today, 28 January 2015. In its last meet in December 2014, FOMC had based on its assessment, judged that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy.
In economic data, US durable goods, which economists treat as a proxy for business investment, dropped 3.4% in December 2014 following a 2.1% fall in November 2014.
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