Key indices hovered in negative terrain in mid-morning trade as investors across the globe sought safe harbors amid tensions in North Korea and Syria. At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 157.66 points or 0.53% at 29,630.69. The Nifty 50 index was down 50.80 points or 0.55% at 9,186.20. Auto stocks were mixed. Power stocks dropped.
The Sensex rose 50.47 points or 0.16% at the day's high of 29,838.82 in opening trade, its highest level since 7 April 2017. It fell 238.61 points or 0.8% at the day's low of 29,549.74 in morning trade, its lowest level since 30 March 2017. The Nifty gained 9.40 points or 0.1% at the day's high of 9,246.40 in opening trade, its highest level since 7 April 2017. It fell 75.20 points or 0.81% at the day's low of 9,161.80 in morning trade, its lowest level since 31 March 2017.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.26%. The decline in this index was lower than the Sensex's fall in percentage terms. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.72%. 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. 1,830 shares fell and 713 shares rose. A total of 60 shares were unchanged.
Auto stocks were mixed. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (down 0.68%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.09%), Bajaj Auto (down 0.09%) and TVS Motor Company (down 1.16%) declined. Ashok Leyland (up 0.61%), Eicher Motors (up 1.42%), and Hero MotoCorp (up 0.4%) gained.
Shares of power generation and power distribution companies edged lower. Torrent Power (down 1.33%), GVK Power & Infrastructure (down 1.31%), NHPC (down 0.46%), NTPC (down 0.66%), Adani Power (down 4.84%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.18%), Reliance Infrastructure (down 1.76%) and Reliance Power (down 2.43%) declined.
Tata Power Company dropped 0.94% after the company announced that the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 11 April 2017, conveyed its judgment on the Compensatory Tariff mailer on the Mundra Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP). The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2017.
The order verbally conveyed set aside the previous favourable order of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) which had allowed compensatory tariff on account of "Forced Majeure" conditions at Indonesia. It did not mention about the use of Regulatory Powers of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) in adjudicating compensatory tariff as per previous order.
The final order has got uploaded in the evening and the company is studying the same. The company will continue to pursue all alternatives options at Coastal Gujarat Power (CGPL), including sourcing of competitive coal from other relevant geographies as also use low grade and blended coal options to contain the onslaught of under recovery at Mundra UMPP.
Shares of state run coal mining major Coal India rose 0.19% to Rs 289.70. The stock had hit high of Rs 290.50 and low of Rs 288 in intraday trade.
Reliance Defence & Engineering fell 2.92% after the company reported net loss in Q4 March 2017. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 11 April 2017. Reliance Defence & Engineering reported net loss of Rs 139.92 crore in Q4 March 2017 compared with net profit of Rs 102.44 crore in Q4 March 2016. Net sales jumped 140.6% to Rs 227.89 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016.
Pincon Spirit rose 2.49% after the company said that its board of directors at a meeting held yesterday, 11 April 2017, approved a proposal to raise funds through issue of up to 57.06 lakh equity share warrants on preferential basis to Monoranjan Roy, Aptex Enterprises, K.D. Liquor & Fertilizer, Majestic Bottlers, Priya Purnima Credits, Westwell Iron & Steel, Maa Tarini Natural Resources, Sudarshan Commtrade, Ecospace Infotech and Pincers Commodities. The announcement was made 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.
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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