After witnessing higher opening, key benchmark indices trimmed intraday gains in morning trade. At 10:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 105.73 points or 0.42% at 25,375.37. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 32.60 points or 0.42% at 7,745.65.
The Sensex rose 149.55 points or 0.59% at the day's high of 25,419.19 at the onset of the trading session, its highest level since 31 March 2016. The barometer index rose 52.72 points or 0.2% at the day's low of 25,322.36 in early trade. The Nifty rose 44.55 points or 0.57% at the day's high of 7,757.60 at the onset of the trading session, its highest level since 31 March 2016. The index rose 16.90 points or 0.21% at the day's low of 7,729.95 in early trade.
In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks were mostly higher. Stock markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were closed due to holiday. US stocks registered modest gains on Friday, 1 April 2016, shaking off pressure from low oil prices, after encouraging data on domestic employment and manufacturing.
Closer home, the broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,262 shares rose and 549 shares fell. A total of 84 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.33%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.51%, outperforming the Sensex.
IT stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Tech Mahindra (up 2.03%), Persistent Systems (up 1.28%), Wipro (up 1.29%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.95%) and TCS (up 0.64%) rose.
Index heavyweight and IT major Infosys was up 1.67% at Rs 1,226. Infosys is set to announce its Q4 March 2016 results on 15 April 2016.
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee was currently hovering at 66.345, compared with closing of 66.255 during the previous trading session on Thursday, 31 March 2016.
HCL Technologies rose 1.22% at Rs 830.70 after the company announced on Saturday, 2 April 2016, an agreement to acquire (through demerger) all of the business of Geometric, except for the 58% stake that Geometric owns in the joint venture-3DPLM Software Solutions, with Dassault Systemes. Shares of Geometric were up 17.09% at Rs 229.50. In consideration of this acquisition, HCL will issue 10 equity shares of Rs 2 each to Geometric shareholders for every 43 equity shares of Geometric of Rs 2 each held by them. In total, HCL will issue 1.56 crore equity shares of Rs 2 each. The transaction is expected to be accretive on cash earnings per share, HCL said. Geometric is one of India's leading PLM consulting, mechanical engineering and manufacturing engineering services providers. The acquisition strengthens HCL's presence significantly in the PLM consulting as well as mechanical and manufacturing engineering space. It also significantly strengthens HCL's automotive and industrial practices. The acquisition would take place through a scheme of arrangement which would be subject to the approval of the High Courts at Mumbai and Delhi in addition to the approval of the regulatory authorities, HCL Tech said.
Cement stocks rose. UltraTech Cement (up 0.24%), Shree Cement (up 0.2%) and Ambuja Cements (up 0.09%) edged higher. ACC (down 0.71%) edged lower.
Grasim Industries was up 0.37%. Grasim has exposure to cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
Yes Bank was up 0.74% at Rs 862 after the bank announced lending rates based on marginal cost of funds effective from Friday, 1 April 2016. Yes Bank's Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) for overnight loans will be 9%, for one month will be 9.1% and for three months will be 9.25%. The MCLR on 6-month loans will be 9.4% and for one-year loans the rate would be 9.6%, the bank said. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 April 2016.
Bajaj Auto rose 1.27% at Rs 2,447.90 after the company announced that its total sales rose 22% to 3.05 lakh units in March 2016 over March 2015. Motorcycles sales rose 26% to 2.64 lakh units in March 2016 over March 2015. Sales of commercial vehicles rose 2% at 41,551 units in March 2016 over March 2015. Exports were up 3% at 1.01 lakh units in March 2016 over March 2015. The company announced the monthly sales volume data during market hours today, 4 April 2016.
Hero MotoCorp was up 0.17% at Rs 2,955.95 after the company announced that its two-wheeler sales rose 14% to 6.06 lakh units in March 2016 over March 2015. The company announced the monthly sales volume data after market hours on Friday, 1 April 2016.
The finance ministry after trading hours on Friday, 1 April 2016, announced that as per initial estimates, the fiscal deficit for 2015-16 is expected to be within the target of 3.9% of GDP. It further said that the government remains committed to the path of fiscal consolidation. The government's Plan Expenditure for 2015-16 is expected to be around Rs 4.70 lakh crore, which will be higher than the budget estimate and also higher than the actual plan expenditure in 2014-15.
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