Key benchmark indices edged lower in early trade as Asian stocks dropped amid speculation that a meeting of China's top party officials this weekend may struggle to meet market expectations for economic reforms in the world's second biggest economy. The S&P BSE Sensex was down 150.11 points or 0.71%, off close to 70 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative.
Bharti Airtel declined after the company said that it has entered into a definitive agreement with the Warid Group (Warid) to fully acquire Warid Congo SA. Hindalco Industries rose after its US subsidiary Novelis on Monday, 4 November 2013, announced a price increase on its aluminum automotive sheet products in North America.
At 9:35 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 150.11 points or 0.71% to 21,089.25. The index fell 152.87 points at the day's low of 21,086.49 in early trade. The index dropped 80.80 points at the day's high of 21,158.56 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was down 29.50 points or 0.47% to 6,287.85. The index hit a high of 6,293.75 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 6,280.35 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 498 shares fell and 448 shares rose. A total of 59 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 24 stocks fell and rest of them rose. Bajaj Auto (down 1.71%), GAIL (India) (down 1.24%) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.59%), edged lower.
Hindalco Industries rose after its US subsidiary Novelis on Monday, 4 November 2013, announced a price increase on its aluminum automotive sheet products in North America. The stock was up 0.86%. The price increase of $0.11 per pound for 6000-series, 5182-series and 5000-series automotive alloys will be effective for all new orders on or after 1 January 2014, Novelis said in a statement. Novelis fabrication pricing for specified volumes under current contracts will be honored throughout the contract period, the company said. The price increase is in addition to the previously announced pricing adjustment made on 23 April 2013. "This increase reflects the dynamics of the rapidly growing market for aluminum automotive sheet in North America. We officially commissioned our two new automotive sheet finishing lines in Oswego, NY, last month, which will increase our automotive capacity by 240,000 tons per year. That's five times our current automotive capacity in North America and an important milestone as we remain globally positioned to build on our supply and technology leadership in this important market," said Marco Palmieri, Senior Vice President and President, Novelis North America.
In addition to the Oswego expansion, a new automotive sheet finishing plant is under construction in Changzhou, China, which is expected to commence production in mid-2014 and will have a capacity of 120,000 tons. The company also recently certified automotive sheet production at its Gottingen, Germany plant that will ultimately add 40,000 tons of additional capacity. These new locations will join the company's existing automotive facilities in Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Sierre, Switzerland and Nachterstedt, Germany.
Novelis is the world's leading provider of aluminum automotive sheet, used for making structural components and exterior body panels.
HCL Technologies declined 1.03%. The company and Consumers Energy, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy and the 4th-largest US electric and natural gas company, today, 5 November 2013, formally announced the opening of a Global Center of Excellence (GCoE) called Michigan Technology Development Center (MTDC) in Jackson, Mich. The announcement was made during market hours. HCL will provide IT services to Consumers Energy at the new MTDC, which is located in the Commonwealth Commerce Center in Jackson. The two companies work in close collaboration on various innovative IT initiatives. Through its work with Consumers Energy and other local customers, HCL has hired 120 professionals across Michigan.
MTDC will also serve as HCL's center of excellence for application and infrastructure related operations providing significant benefits to HCL's North American and LATAM customer base. The center works with the HCL Global Learning & Development academy to foster their knowledge on global best practices in the technology sector and provide training and development for advanced and emerging next-generation IT technologies including cloud computing, mobility and smart products for its Michigan based employees.
Bharti Airtel declined 0.74% after the company said during market hours that it has entered into a definitive agreement with the Warid Group (Warid) to fully acquire Warid Congo SA. The agreement is subject to regulatory and statutory approvals. The agreement marks the second in-country acquisition by Airtel in Africa. It had acquired Warid's Uganda operations earlier this year. The latest acquisition will make Airtel the largest mobile operator in Congo Brazzaville with around 2.6 million customers. At present, Airtel is the second largest operator in the country with over 1.6 million customers, while Warid is the third largest with around one million customers.
The agreement aims to bring together the strengths of Airtel and Warid in Congo Brazzaville and benefit customers in the form of affordable tariffs, superior 2G/ 3G network, affordable voice and data services and superior customer care. In addition, existing Warid customers in Congo Brazzaville will join Airtel's global network of over 280 million customers and enjoy the benefits of 'One Airtel' network with affordable roaming rates across Africa and South Asia, besides other exciting bouquet of innovative 2G and 3G services.
Speaking on the agreement, Mr. Manoj Kohli, MD and CEO (International), Bharti Airtel said: "This acquisition is in line with our stated strategy of strengthening our market position through in-country acquisitions, as and when suitable opportunities comes along. We are at an advance stage of successfully integrating Waird's Uganda operations with that of Airtel and look forward to a similarly swift transition in Congo Brazzaville as well. As already demonstrated in Uganda, the merger will bring more value for the customers in the form of affordable data & roaming tariffs, innovative products, Airtel Money, world-class networks and customer care. We would like to express our deep gratitude to the Government and look forward to its support to this deal".
Speaking on the agreement Sriram Yarlagadda, Board Member, Warid, Congo Brazzaville said: "This agreement creates a win-win situation for the customers and provide them with an opportunity to be part of one of the largest mobile services providers in the world. The customers can look forward to enjoy affordable voice tariffs and 3G data services on the most extensive network. On this occasion, we would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the Government for its support and look forward to its continued cooperation towards a successful transaction".
Markit Economics will unveil the results of a monthly survey on the performance of India's services sector for October 2013 today, 5 November 2013. The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, slipped from 47.6 in August 2013 to 44.6 in September 2013, its weakest since April 2009. That marked its straight third reading below 50, the threshold between growth and contraction.
Asian stocks fell on Tuesday, 5 November 2013, amid speculation that a meeting of China's top party officials this weekend may struggle to meet market expectations for economic reforms in the world's second biggest economy. Key benchmark indices in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, and South Korea shed 0.12% to 0.56%. Singapore's Straits Times rose 0.36%.
China's leaders will meet in Beijing on November 9-12 to map out economic policies as the country heads for its slowest annual growth in more than two decades.
US stocks settled with modest gains Monday, 4 November 2013, as investors took a cue from upbeat earnings and shook off fears the market is overdue for a correction
At the end of the week, the US will release its nonfarm payrolls figures for October month-a key economic indicator that has been watched closely in recent months to see whether the US Federal Reserve will roll back its bond-buying program.
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