Key benchmark indices moved in a narrow range in positive zone in afternoon trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 44.65 points or 0.20%, up about 74 points from the day's low and off close to 46 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was positive. The BSE Small-Cap index was up more than 1%. The BSE Mid-Cap index was up nearly 1%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
Shares of Vedanta group firm Sesa Sterlite edged higher while another Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc fell after unveiling production data for Q4 and year ended 31 March 2014.
The Sensex edged higher in early trade after overnight rally in US stocks. The Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, hit record high. A bout of volatility was witnessed as the Sensex regained positive zone after a sudden slide pushed the barometer index into negative zone from positive zone in morning trade. The Sensex hovered in positive terrain in mid-morning trade. Key benchmark indices extended gains in early afternoon trade as Asian stocks rose. Key benchmark indices moved in a narrow range in positive zone in afternoon trade.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1043.86 crore on Wednesday, 9 April 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 13:18 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 44.65 points or 0.20% to 22,746.99. The index jumped 90.15 points at the day's high of 22,792.49 in early trade, a lifetime high for the index. The index fell 29.62 points at the day's low of 22,672.72 in morning trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 15.85 points or 0.23% at 6,812.05. The index hit a high of 6,819.05 in intraday trade, a lifetime high for the index. The index hit a low of 6,781.25 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 68.57 points or 0.94% at 7,353.96. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 75.97 points or 1.02% at 7,503.32. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,490 shares rose and 1,072 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30 Sensex shares, 16 rose and the remaining shares fell. Tata Motors (up 2.71%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 2.39%), State Bank of India (up 2.31%), NTPC (up 1.95%), Wipro (up 1.51%), Axis Bank (up 1.34%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 1.33%), Tata Power (up 1.19%), and Bharti Airtel (up 0.89%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
M&M (down 1.92%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.43%), Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (down 1.29%), ONGC (down 1.04%), Cipla (down 0.81%), Tata Steel (down 0.81%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.79%), ITC (down 0.78%) and Infosys (down 0.57%), edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc fell 0.60% to Rs 132.50. The company announced during trading hours today that its mined metal production dropped 23% to 200,000 tonnes in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. Mined metal production rose 1% to 880,000 tonnes in the year ended 31 March 2014 (FY 2014) over the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013). Production in the second half of FY 2014 was lower than what the company had planned initially due to slower than expected ramp up of underground mining projects and changes in mining sequence, wherein preference was given to primary mine development.
Integrated production of refined metal during the year was highest ever due to operational efficiencies and higher availability of smelters. Full year integrated production of zinc, lead and sliver were higher by 13%, 10% and 4% respectively, the company said in a statement.
Hindustan Zinc is a subsidiary of Sesa Sterlite.
Vedanta group firm Sesa Sterlite edged higher after unveiling production data for Q4 and year ended 31 March 2014. The stock was up 0.89% at Rs 199.35. In Karnataka, the company resumed iron ore mining on 28 December 2013 and optimized its approved annual capacity of 2.29mtpa, which resulted in a production of 1.5mt in FY 2014. However, only 27 kt was sold during the year. At Goa, the company participated in e-auctions of inventory and sold 0.3 million tonnes in Q4 March 2014 but these were not accounted for as sales since the dispatches did not take place during the quarter. These dispatches have commenced in April.
Regarding mining in Goa, the Expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court submitted its second interim report to the Court on 24 March 2014. The Expert committee, in its report, recommended that 27.5mtpa was a sustainable extraction level in the state, but suggested that the ideal permissible limit be 20mtpa until a scientific study is completed within 12 months. The decision of the Supreme Court is awaited on this matter, the company said.
The company said that production of pig iron rose 28% to 133,000 tonnes in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. Production of met coke rose 27% to 119,000 tonnes in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013.
Prodcution of copper cathodes rose 14% to 98,000 tonnes in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. The full year production was 17% lower due to the temporary closure in Q1 June 2013, the comapny said.
Total aluminum production rose 2% to 200,000 tonnes in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. Total aluminum production rose 3% to 794,000 tonnes in FY 2014 over FY 2013.
Total power sales fell 21% to 2,093 million units in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. Total power sales fell 7% to 9,374 million units in FY 2014 over FY 2013.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 60.175, compared with its close of 60.14/15 on Wednesday, 9 April 2014.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) next undertakes monetary policy review on 3 June 2014. The RBI left its main lending rate viz. the repo rate unchanged at 8% after a monetary policy review on 1 April 2014, as consumer-price inflation eased to a two-year low and as the rupee firmed up against the dollar.
The next major trigger for the stock market is Q4 March 2014 and year ended 31 March 2014 (FY 2014) corporate earnings. Investors and analysts will closely watch the management commentary that would accompany the results to see if there is any revision in their future earnings forecast of the company for the year ending 31 March 2015 (FY 2015) and/or for the year ending 31 March 2016 (FY 2016). Indian companies will start reporting their Q4 and full year results from mid-April 2014, with Infosys announcing its results on 15 April 2014. The results season will conclude in end-May 2014.
A major near term trigger for the stock market is the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The 36 days long voting process began on 7 April 2014 and will conclude on 12 May 2014. The results will be declared on 16 May 2014 after which India will get a new government. The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on 1 June and the new House has to be constituted by 31 May.
Polling for 91 seats in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections began today, 10 April 2014. Polling is being held in the sugarcane belts of western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, the drought and hailstorm-hit Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, the Vindhya region of Madhya Pradesh, the plains of Jammu, the politically charged Kerala and the Maoist-affected belts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
European stocks edged higher in early trade on Thursday, 10 April 2014, as minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting eased concern about when interest rates will increase. Key benchmark indices in UK, France and Germany were up 0.42% to 0.56%.
A monthly meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England's (BoE) for monetary policy review is scheduled today, 10 April 2014.
Asian stocks edged higher in choppy trade on Thursday, 10 April 2014, as China's central bank pumped money into the banking system for the first time in nine weeks. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan were up 0.20% to 1.47%. Japan's Nikkei Average ended almost unchanged of the day. In Singapore, the Straits Times index was off 0.15%.
Stocks tumbled in Indonesia after the nation's early legislative vote results showed the opposition party favored by investors failed to win enough support to run for the presidency without forming a coalition. The Jakarta Composite index was off 3.22%.
Chinese exports fell 6.6% in March, extending the steepest drop since 2009 in February and missing the estimate. China's imports plunged 11.3% last month down from growth of 10.1% in February and below the estimates. China's export data have been distorted by inflated numbers in early 2013, when some companies filed fake invoices to disguise capital inflows.
China's Premier Li Keqiang today, 10 April 2014, said China will not take any forceful stimulus measures to counter short-term fluctuations in its economic growth, stressing again that authorities have flexibility in achieving the 2014 growth target. Sustaining healthy growth in China's labour market is most important for the government, Li told an investment forum in China's southern island of Hainan. Whether China's annual economic growth comes in slightly above or below a targeted 7.5% is less important in comparison, he said.
Li said China plans to create conditions that will link the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai to deepen the nation's capital markets.
The Bank of Korea left its key rate unchanged at its first policy meeting under Lee Ju Yeol, as low inflation gives the new governor room to support growth in Asia's fourth-biggest economy. The central bank held the seven-day repurchase rate at 2.5% for an 11th straight month, it said in a statement in Seoul today, 10 April 2014.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could advance 22 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 10 April 2014. US stocks rallied on Wednesday, 9 April 2014, with technology shares gaining the most in two months, as minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting eased concern about the timing of future interest-rate increases.
Several Fed policy makers said a rise in their median projection for the main interest rate exaggerated the likely speed of tightening, according to minutes of their March 18-19 meeting released on Wednesday, 9 April 2014. Federal Reserve officials fretted last month that investors would overreact to policymakers' fresh forecasts on interest rates that appeared to map out a more aggressive cycle of rate hikes than was actually anticipated.
The published rate forecasts of the current 16 Fed policymakers, known as the "dots" charts, suggested the federal funds rate would end 2016 at 2.25%, a half percentage point above Fed officials' projections in December. In minutes of the March 18-19 meeting published on Wednesday, several of the meeting's participants said the charts "overstated the shift in the projections," suggesting the Fed is not as eager to tighten policy as the dots had seemed to suggest. The minutes also showed that officials wanted to emphasize that the official policy statement, and not the dots charts, give a better indication of the likely path of rates.
After its March meeting, the Fed said in a statement that it would wait a "considerable time" following the end of its bond-buying program before finally raising interest rates.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next undertakes monetary policy review at a two-day meeting on 29-30 April 2014. The Federal Reserve on 19 March 2014 decided after the conclusion of a monetary policy review to trim its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $55 billion.
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