Key benchmark indices extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was currently above the psychological 21,000 mark, having alternately moved above and below that mark so far during the session. The Sensex was up 72.95 points or 0.35%, up about 80 points from the day's low and off close to 25 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong.
Bharat Heavy Electricals rose after Life Insurance Corporation of India bought 4.66% stake in the company from the Government of India through a bulk deal on BSE on Monday, 3 March 2014. Shares of other capital goods companies also rose. Hindustan Construction Company jumped after the company said it bagged a Rs 903.83 crore order in joint venture with GVPR Engineers from Karnataka Neeravari Nigam.
The market edged higher in early trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex regained the psychological 21,000 mark. It hovered in positive terrain in morning trade. It extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in mid-morning trade.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 198.53 crore on Monday, 3 March 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 11:23 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 72.95 points or 0.35% to 21,019.60. The index rose 97.63 points at the day's high of 21,044.28 in mid-morning trade. The index dropped 6.26 points at the day's low of 20,940.39 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 19.55 points or 0.31% to 6,241. The index hit a high of 6,247 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 6,215.70 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 42.95 points or 0.66% to 6,523.69 and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 45.48 points or 0.71% to 6,494.64. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,237 shares gained and 798 shares fell. A total of 113 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 21 stocks rose and rest of them fell. Hindalco Industries (up 3.13%), GAIL (India) (up 2.67%) and Sesa Sterlite (up 2.58%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Bharat Heavy Electricals rose 0.77% to Rs 163.75 after Life Insurance Corporation of India bought 4.66% stake in the company from the Government of India through a bulk deal on BSE on Monday, 3 March 2014. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Monday, 3 March 2014, bought a 4.66% stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) from the Government of India in a block deal totalling Rs 1889 crore, BSE data showed. LIC bought 11.41 crore shares of Bhel at Rs 165.55 each.
With the block deal, the government's stake in Bhel has come down to 63.05%, from 67.72% earlier.
Shares of other capital goods companies also rose. ABB (up 2.21%), Crompton Greaves (up 1.38%), Punj Lloyd (up 0.09%) and Siemens (up 0.65%) gained. But, L&T fell 0.05%.
Hindustan Construction Company jumped 5.83% after the company said it bagged a Rs 903.83 crore order in joint venture with GVPR Engineers from Karnataka Neeravari Nigam. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 3 March 2014.
Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), in a joint venture with GVPR Engineers, has been awarded a contract worth Rs 903.83 crore from Karnataka Neeravari Nigam. The contract is for diversion of flood water from Sakleshpura (West) to Kolar/Chikkaballapur (East) under Yettinahole Diversion Project-Package-4. HCC's share in the joint venture is 50%. The project will be completed in 36 months.
Karnataka Neeravari Nigam, which has awarded the contract, is Karnataka Governments nodal agency to implement major irrigation projects. Yettinahole is a tributary of Netravati River and the Karnataka Government enterprise is diverting flood water from Sakaleshpur (West) to drought prone areas of Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts.
The scope of work includes Survey, Investigation, Design and Construction of Weir-2, Weir-6, Weir-7, Weir-8, Jack Well cum Pump Houses, Water pipelines at four different locations connecting to common Delivery Chamber-1 (DC-1) and also Delivery Chamber-5 (DC-5) from Weir-2,110 KV electrical substations with mechanical works consisting of vertical turbine pumps designed for a maximum pump head up to 90 meters.
The scope of work also includes operation and maintenance for a period of 5 years after successful commissioning of the scheme and obtaining environmental clearance and other statutory clearances from competent authorities on turn key basis.
Commenting on the prestigious order won, Arun Karambelkar, President and Whole Time Director HCC said, "We are delighted to be associated with this prestigious project that will bring water to parched areas of Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts. HCC as the country's leading company engaged in building infrastructure for India will continue to focus on large magnitude projects in critical sectors like water".
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 62.09, compared with its close of 62.04/05 on Monday, 3 March 2014.
Markit Economics will unveil the result of a monthly survey on the performance of India's services sector for February 2014 tomorrow, 5 March 2014. The HSBC Services Business Activity Index increased from December's 46.7 to 48.3 in January 2014.
Reserve Bank of India next undertakes monetary policy review on 1 April 2014. Citing price pressures, the Reserve Bank of India raised its key lending rates by 25 basis points after Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 28 January 2014.
Asian stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday as investors weighed the crisis in Crimea and ahead of the National People's Congress annual meeting in China starting tomorrow. Key benchmark indices in China, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea were off 0.16% to 0.75%. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong rose 0.22% to 0.51%.
Investors are considering signs of a global economic recovery against tension in the Crimea after Ukraine said Russia has 16,000 troops onto its soil and that Russian forces are threatening to seize its warships. Crimea, where ethnic Russians comprise the majority, has become the focal point of Ukraine's crisis after an uprising triggered last month's ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine has mobilized its army and called for foreign observers after Russian forces took control of the peninsula. Russia, which keeps its Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol, raised its key interest rate yesterday as asset prices plummeted.
A meeting of China's lawmakers to set economic policy and growth targets begins tomorrow, 5 March 2014. The latest meeting of the legislature, the first to be overseen by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, comes as leaders pledge to give markets a "decisive" role in the economy. Investors will be watching the National People's Congress (NPC) meeting for clues to the next steps to fix local-government finances, charge market prices for natural resources, rein in shadow-banking risks, free up deposit rates and open up state businesses to private investment.
Australia's central bank reiterated that it's likely to maintain a period of record-low interest rates and renewed a reference to the currency's strength. Governor Glenn Stevens and his board kept the overnight cash-rate target at 2.5%, saying in a statement that housing prices have increased significantly and the Aussie remains high by historical standards.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could gain 31 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, 4 March 2014. US stocks sank the most in a month, joining a global selloff in equities on Monday, as investors sought havens on concern that Russia's military presence in Ukraine could lead to a larger conflict.
Data in the US Monday showed manufacturing expanded at a faster pace than projected in February, a sign the industry was beginning to overcome bad weather across much of the country. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to 53.2 in February from 51.3 a month earlier. Readings above 50 signal expansion. A separate report indicated consumer spending rose 0.4% in January after a 0.1% gain the prior month.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next undertakes monetary policy review on 18-19 March 2014. After a monetary policy review, the FOMC on 29 January 2014 announced it will reduce monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion to $65 billion.
In Europe, a policy meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) will be held on Thursday, 6 March 2014, in Frankfurt to decide euro zone interest rates. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi recently signaled the central bank's March policy meeting could be critical in determining whether the ECB will provide additional stimulus to shore up the nascent euro-zone economic recovery.
A two-day meeting of Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be held on Wednesday 5 March 2014 and Thursday 6 March 2014 to decide interest rates in UK. Policy rates are expected to remain unchanged at record low. The UK's central bank slashed interest rates to record low of 0.5% at the height of the financial crisis in 2009.
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