Key benchmark indices edged lower in early trade as index heavyweights, ITC and Reliance Industries (RIL) fell. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 81.78 points or 0.41%, off close to 80 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. Bharti Airtel edged higher after the company announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE), under which the company will issue 19.98 crore of its new shares to QFE representing a shareholding of 5% in the company, post issuance of the new shares. ACC and Ambuja Cements gained ahead of their Q1 March 2013 results today, 3 May 2013.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1429.94 crore on Thursday, 2 May 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 9:30 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 81.78 points or 0.41% to 19,653.99. The index fell 4.14 points at the day's high of 19,731.63 in early trade. The index declined 84.12 points at the day's low of 19,651.65 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was down 16.55 points or 0.28% to 5,982.60. The index hit a high of 6,000.30 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 5,975.15 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 298 shares advanced and 222 shares declined. A total of 17 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 20 stocks fell while rest of them rose. M&M, HDFC and Hero MotoCorp shed by 1.11% to 1.28%. TCS, Infosys and Hindalco Industries rose by 0.73% to 1.02%.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) declined 0.27% to Rs 800.55. The company said on Tuesday, 30 April 2013, that its telecom unit Reliance Jio Infocomm (India) has joined a consortium of telecom companies building an 8,000 kilometre submarine cable system to link Malaysia and Singapore with the Middle East. The Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG) cable system, which will have connections to India and Sri Lanka, is expected to carry commercial traffic by end of 2014, RIL said.
At the time of announcement of its Q4 results, RIL in mid-April 2013 said that the company is working towards next wave of projects to exploit the undeveloped discovered resources in KG-D6 gas field targeted over the next 3-5 years. RIL has submitted an Integrated Block Development Plan (IBDP) for four discoveries in NEC -25 block (D-32, D-40, D-9 and D-10) proposing for a phased manner development. First gas is expected by mid-2019 subject to timely approvals.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC fell 0.15% to Rs 332.95 on profit booking. The stock had hit record high of Rs 335.90 in intraday on Tuesday, 30 April 2013. The Centre raised the excise duty on cigarettes by about 18% on all cigarettes except cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm in Union Budget 2013-14.
Bharti Airtel advanced 3.14% after the company before market hours today, 3 May 2013, announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE), under which Bharti will issue 19.98 crore of its new shares to QFE representing a shareholding of 5% in the company, post issuance of the new shares. As per the agreement, QFE will subscribe to 19.98 crore new shares of Bharti at a price of Rs 340 per share amounting to a total consideration of $1.26 billion (Rs 6796 crore). The investment will further strengthen the capital structure and provide further flexibility for the company to deliver on its growth strategy, Bharti said in a statement.
ACC gained 1.19% ahead of its Q1 March 2013 results today, 3 May 2013.
Ambuja Cements rose 1.29% ahead of its Q1 March 2013 results today, 3 May 2013.
Reliance Infrastructure dropped 1.05%. The company announced after market hours on Thursday, 2 May 2013, that the company through its special purpose vehicle (SPV) -- Mumbai Metro One (MMOPL) -- has successfully conducted Mumbai Metro's first trial run. The project is at the advance stage of completion and metro is expected to commence commercial operation by the end of this year.
MMOPL is a SPV created to develop, implement and operate Mumbai's first Metro Line on a public-private-partnership (PPP) model. It is a consortium formed by Reliance Infrastructure, MMRDA and Veolia Transport SA of France. The project was awarded to MMOPL for the concession period of 35 years. Mumbal Metro One corridor is 11.40 km long, providing connectivity from Versova (Western Mumbai) to Ghatkopar (Eastern Mumbai).
Grasim Industries declined 0.09%. The company announced after market hours on Thursday, 2 May 2013 that with the commissioning of 20 megawatts (MW) power plant at the company's Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) plant at Harihar (Karnataka), the brownfield expansion of 36,500 tonnes per annum (TPA) of VSF capacity at Harihar unit has since been completed by the company. The Phase I of 18,250 TPA capacity of VSF had become operational in September 2012. The company announces its Q4 results tomorrow, 4 May 2013.
The focus of the market is on Q4 results. Grasim and Jaiprakash Associates will unveil their Q4 results tomorrow, 4 May 2013. HDFC and Lupin unveil Q4 results on 8 May 2013. Ranbaxy announces Q1 March 2013 results on the same day. Asian Paints and Punjab National Bank unveil Q4 results on 9 May 2013. NTPC announces Q4 results on 10 May 2013. Bank of Baroda unveils Q4 results on 13 May 2013. Dr Reddy's Laboratories announces Q4 results on 14 May 2013. Bajaj Auto announces Q4 results on 16 May 2013. BPCL announces Q4 results on 29 May 2013. M&M announces Q4 results on 30 May 2013.
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday, 2 May 2013, said in a report which serves as a backdrop to the Monetary Policy Statement 2013-14 to be announced on Friday, 3 May 2013, that the macro-financial risks require cautious monetary policy stance from the central bank ahead. In view of macro-financial risks that stay significant, headline inflation remaining above the threshold and consumer price inflation remaining high, the space for action for 2013-14 remains very limited, the RBI said. If some of the risks come to fore, policy re-calibration may become necessary in either direction, it said. A slow-paced recovery in the economy is likely during the latter part of 2013-14, contingent on improved governance and concerted action to resolve structural bottlenecks, especially in infrastructure sector, the central bank said. Output gap is likely to reduce, but remain negative, it said.
The headline inflation is likely to remain range-bound in 2013-14, with some further moderation in the first half of the year 2013-14 due to subdued producers' pricing power and falling global commodity prices, before it increases somewhat in the second half of the year largely due to base effects. The RBI's survey of outside professional forecasters shows anticipation of a modest recovery with growth in 2013-14 at 6% from 5% and average WPI inflation to moderate to 6.5% from 7.3%. Surveys show that inflation expectations have moderated slightly, while business expectations remain subdued.
The RBI cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% after a mid-quarter monetary policy review on 19 March 2013.
Inflation based on the monthly wholesale price index (WPI) eased to the lowest level in 40 months at 5.96% in March 2013, and sharply lower than 6.84% in February 2013, data released by the government on 15 April 2013 showed. Non-food manufacturing inflation or core inflation slowed further to 3.41% in March 2013, the data showed.
Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days on Friday as Macquarie Group reported higher earnings and investors awaited the release of US job data. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea rose by 0.05% to 1.81%. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Indonesia and Singapore fell by 0.48% to 0.76%.
US stocks rose on Thursday, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 index to a record high, as the European Central Bank cut its key interest rate and American jobless claims unexpectedly fell. Applications for US unemployment insurance payments fell 18,000 to 324,000 in the week ended April 27, the fewest since January 2008, Labor Department figures showed yesterday.
In Europe, the European Central Bank lowered its benchmark rate to a record low yesterday and President Mario Draghi signaled another reduction is possible. European policy makers cut the main refinancing rate to a record-low 0.5% yesterday from 0.75%, and reduced the marginal lending rate to 1% from 1.5%.
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