Key indices continued to languish in negative terrain in early afternoon trade in line with drop in most of the other Asian stocks as investors across the globe sought safe harbors amid tensions in North Korea and Syria. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 147.33 points or 0.49% at 29,647.59. The Nifty 50 index was down 44 points or 0.48% at 9,193. Telecom stocks declined. Cement stocks were mixed.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.18%. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's fall in percentage terms. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.5%. The decline in this index was higher than the Sensex's fall in percentage terms.
The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,834 shares fell and 806 shares rose. A total of 110 shares were unchanged.
Telecom stocks declined. Reliance Communications (RCom) (down 2.39%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.24%), Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 1.61%) and Idea Cellular (down 1.36%) declined.
Shares of Bharti Infratel rose 0.84%. Bharti Infratel is a provider of tower and related infrastructure and is a unit of Bharti Airtel.
Cement stocks were mixed. ACC (up 0.28%), Ambuja Cements (up 0.79%), and UltraTech Cement (up 0.11%), gained. Shree Cement declined 0.48%.
Grasim Industries shed 1.36%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement. Aditya Birla Nuvo gained 0.11%. The shareholders of Grasim, Aditya Birla Nuvo (ABNL) and Aditya Birla Financial Services (ABFSL) at their meetings held on 6 and 10 April 2017, respectively have approved the scheme of amalgamation of ABNL with Grasim followed by the demerger and listing of the financial services business, in line with the NCLT order and the Sebi requirements. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2017.
Shriram City Union Finance fell 1.2% after the central bank has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 20 lakh on Shriram City Union Finance for violation of directions/orders issued by Reserve Bank of India from time to time. RBI made the announcement after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2017.
A scrutiny of sample loan accounts of the company was conducted in November 2015. It was observed that the company has violated various provisions of the Fair Practices Code guidelines issued by RBI under Section 45 L of the RBI Act, 1934. On account of various contraventions to RBI directions as observed during the scrutiny, the company was issued a Show Cause Notice (SCN) on 1 August 2016 for imposition of penalty. The company's response to the SCN was not found to be satisfactory.
The company was also accorded a personal hearing by RBI on 14 February 2017. After considering the facts of the case and the company's reply, as also, personal submissions made during the hearing, RBI came to the conclusion that the violations as observed during scrutiny were substantiated which warranted imposition of monetary penalty on the company. Accordingly, a penalty of Rs 20 lakh has been imposed on the company.
Goa Carbon jumped 16.38% after net profit surged 1139.02% to Rs 5.08 crore on 13.16% rise in total income from operations (net) to Rs 76.37 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2017.
Overseas, most Asian stocks traded lower as a drumbeat of alarming geopolitical news compelled investors to move money out of risky assets. North Korea warned yesterday, 11 April 2017, of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of aggression, as a US Navy strike group steamed toward the western Pacific - a force President Donald Trump described as an "armada".
At the same time, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in Moscow to denounce Russian support for Syria's Bashar al-Assad, raising the stakes in the Middle East. Political uncertainty in France also weighed on sentiment as hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon surged in the polls ahead of the May Presidential election.
On data front in Asia, China's consumer inflation rebounded slightly in March after slipping to a more than two-year low in the previous month, official data showed. China's consumer price index increased 0.9% in March from a year earlier, compared with a 0.8% gain in February, the National Bureau of Statistics said. China's producer price inflation cooled for the first time in seven months in March. China's producer price index (PPI) rose 7.6% in March from a year earlier, still elevated but in line with expectations and easing from 7.8% in February.
Japanese core machinery orders rose in February, the government said, a sign that companies are investing more for growth despite continuing global political and economic uncertainty. Core machinery orders, a leading indicator of business investment, increased 1.5% from the previous month, following a drop of 3.2% in January, the Cabinet Office said.
US stocks finished slightly lower yesterday, 11 April 2017, as rising geopolitical tensions lured investors out of risky assets like stocks and into the perceived safety of treasuries, gold and the Japanese yen.
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