Key benchmark indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, regained the psychological 21,000 mark after falling below that level for a brief period. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive. The Sensex was down 102.71 points or 0.49%, off close to 123 points from the day's high and up about 25 points from the day's low. Weakness in Asian stocks triggered by geopolitical worries over Ukraine dampened sentiment on the domestic bourses. Gains in crude oil prices also weighed on the sentiment on the domestic bourses. India imports two-thirds of its oil consumption. Increase in oil prices raised fears of increase in current account deficit and increase in the government's fiscal deficit.
Shares of two PSU OMCs rose after raising petrol and diesel prices effective midnight Friday, 28 February 2014. Shares of state-run power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) dropped on profit taking after the company announced winning a large order. Voltas rose after the firm said it has executed a pact with Dow Chemical Pacific (Singapore) Pte, for establishing a JV firm in India, to tap the growing water and waste water treatment market in the country. Sahara One Media & Entertainment fell after Subrata Roy, head of Sahara conglomerate, turned himself in to police on Friday, 28 February 2014.
The market edged lower in early trade on weak Asian stocks. Key benchmark indices reversed initial losses in morning trade. Key benchmark indices alternately swung between positive and negative zone near the flat line in mid-morning trade. Key benchmark indices moved into negative zone from positive zone in early afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. The Sensex regained the psychological 21,000 mark after falling below that level for a brief period.
Asian stocks edged lower on Monday, 3 March 2014, amid escalating geopolitical tension over Ukraine and after an official gauge of Chinese manufacturing dropped to an eight-month low. The crisis in Ukraine has deteriorated as Russian President Vladimir Putin won parliamentary backing to send troops into its southern neighbor. Crimea, where Russian speakers comprise the majority, has become the focal point of Ukraine's crisis after an uprising that triggered last month's overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych. Ukraine has put its forces on combat readiness and US President Barack Obama warned Russia not to intervene. Russian forces reportedly are now in complete control of the Crimean peninsula and the diplomatic situation is deteriorating with US and European allies vowing to isolate Russia and punish it for its actions.
The US, the UK and Canada are suspending preparations for a meeting of the Group of Eight industrial nations in Russia in June. Russia may lose its membership of the G-8, while the US is considering imposing sanctions, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday, 2 March 2014.
Russia's central bank unexpectedly raised its policy interest rate sharply to 7% from 5.5% previously, effective Monday morning. The Bank of Russia's move came as the Russian ruble plunged to record low against the dollar as well as euro following Moscow's intervention in Ukraine. "The decision is meant to avoid emerging risks to inflation and financial stability associated with the recently seen increased volatility on the financial markets," the central bank said in a statement. The central bank described the move as "temporary".
Crude oil prices rose amid escalating geopolitical tension between Ukraine and Russia, the world's largest energy exporter. Brent crude oil futures for delivery in April 2014 were up $2.29 a barrel or 2.1% at $111.36 a barrel.
At 13:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 102.71 points or 0.49% to 21,017.41. The index dropped 127.34 points at the day's low of 20,992.78 in afternoon trade. The index rose 19.88 points at the day's high of 21,140 in morning trade.
The CNX Nifty was down 36.55 points or 0.58% to 6,240.40. The index hit a low of 6,233.65 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 6,277.75 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 3.67 points or 0.06% to 6,504.09. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 14.76 points or 0.23% to 6,459.80. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive in afternoon trade. On BSE, 1,265 shares dropped and 1,174 shares rose. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30 Sensex shares, 22 declined and the remaining shares rose. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (down 2.29%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.57%), Tata Motors (down 1.43%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.4%), Cipla (down 1.39%), Sesa Sterlite (down 1.3%), Wipro (down 1.29%), L&T (down 1.23%) and ONGC (down 1.05%), edged lower from the Sensex pack.
ITC (up 0.76%), Hindalco Industries (up 0.67%), Tata Steel (up 0.67%), GAIL (India) (up 0.64%), Tata Power (up 0.51%), Reliance Industries (up 0.48%) and State Bank of India (up 0.26%), edged higher from the Sensex pack.
Coal India fell 0.88%. The company announced during market hours today, 3 March 2014, that the company and its subsidiaries achieved 94% of targeted production at 42.56 million tonnes in February 2014. The company's coal off take at 40.48 million tonnes in February 2014 was also at 94% of the target, the state-run coal major said.
Power Grid Corporation of India fell 0.37%. The company today, 3 March 2014, said its board has approved two projects entailing total investment of Rs 575.29 crore.
Shares of two PSU OMCs rose after hike in price of petrol by 60 paise and diesel by 50 paise per litre effective midnight Friday, 28 February 2014, amid rising crude oil prices and depreciation of rupee against dollar. The hike in price of petrol and diesel is exclusive of local taxes.
HPCL (up 1.38%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.50%), edged higher. Shares of BPCL were down 0.12%.
Meanwhile, the price of jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) has been hiked by 1%. The ATF price at Delhi was hiked by Rs 753.34 per kilolitre (kl) or 1% to Rs 74,825.54 per kl.
Separately, the price of non-subsidized cooking gas (LPG), which customers buy after using up their quota of 12 subsidised cylinders, was cut by Rs 53.50 per cylinder, the second straight reduction in rates since February. The 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder that consumers buy beyond their entitled 12 cylinders at subsidised rates, will now cost Rs 1,080.50, down from Rs 1,134, in Delhi.
State-run Bhel was down 1.91% at Rs 164. Bhel has bagged a prestigious engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for setting up a power project involving three coal-fired supercritical thermal units of 660 megawatts (MW) each. The announcement was made on Sunday, 2 March 2014. Valued at around Rs 7900 crore, the EPC order for setting up NTPC's 1,980 MW North Karanpura Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand State, has been won by Bhel against International Competitive Bidding (ICB).
Significantly, for the first time in India, supercritical sets operating on higher Supercritical Steam Parameters (593 deg C / 593 deg C at 260 ata), resulting in reduced consumption of coal, will be supplied for the project. The machines will also be equipped with Air Cooled Condensers in order to address the issue of water scarcity in the area.
The order reinforces Bhel's leadership status in the execution of supercritical thermal power projects involving supply of state-of-art equipment, suited to Indian coal and Indian conditions. With this contract, BHEL has now won orders for supply and installation of 32 Supercritical Boilers and 27 Turbines of 660 MW, 700 MW and 800 MW ratings.
Bhel's scope of work involves design, engineering, manufacture, supply, construction, erection, testing & commissioning for the EPC Package comprising 3 units of 660 MW supercritical sets. The key equipment for the contract will be manufactured at Bhel's Trichy, Haridwar, Bhopal, Ranipet, Hyderabad, Jhansi and Bangalore plants with the company's Power Sector - Eastern Region to be responsible for civil works and erection / commissioning of the equipment.
Voltas rose 1% after the firm said it has executed a JV pact with Dow Chemical Pacific (Singapore) Pte, for establishing a JV firm in India, to tap the growing water and waste water treatment market in the country. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 28 February 2014.
Voltas said that the proposed new joint venture (JV) company - Voltas Water Solutions will have equal capital contribution from Voltas and Dow Chemical Pacific (Singapore) Pte (Dow). The JV company will market and distribute standard packaged Water Treatment Systems and Waste Water Treatment Systems of capacity up to 20 metre cube/hour, to residential and commercial complexes and light industrial markets in the Indian subcontinent, Voltas said. The entity's operations would include designing, procuring, testing, marketing, selling and servicing of such standard water treatment systems and waste water treatment systems, it added.
Voltas said that the Water and Waste Water Treatment market targeted by the new company is largely catered to today, by unorganized players. The new JV will provide a branded and differentiated product line, with a focus on quality and service delivery, the company said in a statement.
Sahara One Media & Entertainment fell 3.49% to Rs 58 after Subrata Roy, head of Sahara conglomerate, turned himself in to police on Friday, 28 February 2014. The Supreme Court had last week ordered his arrest for failing to appear at a hearing in a long-running dispute with the country's securities regulator. Shares of Sahara Housingfina were up 0.27% at Rs 37.65.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar on risk aversion in global markets triggered by escalating geopolitical tension over Ukraine and after an official gauge of Chinese manufacturing dropped to an eight-month low. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.925, compared with its close of 61.75/76 on Friday, 28 February 2014.
The Indian manufacturing economy showed signs of strengthening in February, with faster increases in output and new orders bolstering the PMI to reach a one-year peak. New export business also rose at a quicker clip, Markit Economics said. Up from 51.4 in the previous month to 52.5 in February, the headline HSBC India Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) signalled a solid and stronger improvement in business conditions across the country's goods-producing sector, Markit Economics said.
Production growth accelerated on the back of a stronger rise in incoming new work. The pace of output expansion was solid and the quickest in one year. New orders increased for the fourth month running and at the most pronounced rate since February 2013. Survey respondents commented on higher demand from both domestic and export clients. Indeed new work from abroad rose in the latest month, with the growth rate climbing to the highest since June last year, Markit Economics said in a statement today, 3 March 2014.
Consumer goods was again the best performing sub-sector of the manufacturing economy in February, leading the rises in both output and new orders. Operating conditions also improved at intermediate goods producers, but were unchanged in the capital goods category.
Reflective of higher production requirements, Indian manufacturers raised their buying activity further in February. Although moderate, the overall expansion in quantity of purchases accelerated to the quickest since April last year. Nonetheless, pre-production stocks fell in the latest month as raw material shortages at vendors' units resulted in longer supplier delivery times.
February data also indicated that manufacturing employment increased, stretching the current period of job creation to five months. That said, payroll numbers rose at a fractional pace that was the weakest in that sequence, Markit Economics said.
Indian manufacturers signalled higher levels of unfinished work in February, as has been the case since August 2012. Capacity constraints were linked by panellists to strong new order growth and, to a lesser extent, shortages of raw materials.
Input cost inflation quickened to its highest in four months during February. Anecdotal evidence pointed to increased metals, chemicals, textiles and energy costs, Markit Economics said. All three monitored market sectors recorded sharp increases in purchase prices. Subsequently, average tariffs were raised further in February. However, survey participants indicated that competitive pressures persisted and limited their pricing power. The rate of charge inflation was, therefore, slight and the weakest in five months, Markit Economics said. Stocks of finished goods increased for the sixth consecutive month in February. Nevertheless, the pace of accumulation was slight and unchanged from that seen in January.
Commenting on the India Manufacturing PM survey, Leif Eskesen, Chief Economist for India & ASEAN at HSBC said: "Manufacturing activity picked up further in February. New order flows have firmed, with the improvement in external demand and the reduction in macroeconomic uncertainty since last summer. This, in turn, has provided a lift to output growth. However, the recovery in activity is still likely to prove protracted given the lingering structural constraints. Moreover, underlying inflation pressures remain potent, which was evident from the jump in the input price component of the PMI survey. This will keep RBI hawkish and likely compel it to raise rates a bit further this year".
As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation after market hours on Friday, 28 February 2014, the Quarterly GDP at factor cost at constant (2004-05) prices for Q3 of 2013-14 is estimated at Rs 14.8 lakh crore, as against Rs 14.1 lakh crore in Q3 of 2012-13, showing a growth rate of 4.7% over the corresponding quarter of previous year. As per the revision policy, quarterly estimates and growth rates of 2011-12 and 2012-13 have undergone revision on account of revision in annual estimates of 2011-12 and 2012-13. However, the growth rates of Q1 and Q2 estimates of 2013-14 have not been revised and would undergo revision only at the time of the release of fourth quarter estimates and Provisional estimates for the year 2013-14 to be released on 31 May 2014. Therefore, Q1 and Q2 GDP estimates given in this release are based on Provisional estimates of 2012-13 released in May 2013, while the Q3 estimates are based on the First Revised estimates of 2013-14 released in January 2014.
The core sector registered a growth of 1.6% in January 2014, data released by the government after trading hours on Friday, 28 February 2014, showed. The eight core industries have a combined weight of 37.90% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Arun Jaitley, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upper house of parliament, said in a TV interview on Sunday, 2 March 2014, that the BJP will consider raising the cap on foreign investment in the insurance sector from the current level of 26% if the party comes to power after elections due by May. He said that the BJP had discussed with Congress leaders ways to break the deadlock over the insurance legislation. "We have worked out various alternatives. Unfortunately, this has (been) too close to the elections," Jaitley said. Jaitley said his party would be looking at the measure as a way to revive investment in an economy that grew just 4.7% last year. The ruling Congress government has repeatedly sought parliament's approval to raise the limit to 49%.
Jaitley, however, said that the BJP continues to oppose foreign direct investment in the retail sector.
Asian stocks edged lower on Monday, 3 March 2014, amid escalating geopolitical tension over Ukraine and after an official gauge of Chinese manufacturing dropped to an eight-month low. Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea were off 0.44% to 1.31%.
China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.92%. China's Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 50.2 in February compared with January's 50.5 reading, the lowest since June, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said March 1 in Beijing. HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, fell to a final reading of 48.5 in February from 49.5 in January, HSBC Holdings PLC said Monday.
A meeting of China's lawmakers to set economic policy and growth targets begins on Wednesday, 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.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could drop 122 points at the opening bell on Monday, 3 March 2014. Most US stocks rose on Friday as some positive economic data boosted the S&P 500 to record levels for a second straight day. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index rose to 59.8 in February, topping expectations, while the final February reading on consumer sentiment from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers also rose more than expected.
Other reports released on Friday suggested an economy that struggles to gain traction. GDP was estimated to have grown at an annual rate of 2.4% in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said. That was below estimates and down sharply both from its estimate last month of 3.2% and the 4.1% rate in the third quarter. Separately, pending home sales rose 0.1% in January, far below expectations for growth of 2%.
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.
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