Volatility struck bourses in morning trade as the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, trimmed gains after hitting its highest level in more than 15 weeks and the Nifty 50 index came off after hitting its highest level in nearly 16 weeks. At 10:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 71.55 points or 0.28% at 25,887.91. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 16.35 points or 0.21% at 7,931.05.
The Sensex gained 139.98 points or 0.54% at the day's high of 25,956.34 in morning trade, its highest level since 4 January 2016. The barometer index rose 1.17 points at the day's low of 25,817.53 in early trade. The Nifty rose 35.70 points or 0.45% at the day's high of 7,950.40 in morning trade, its highest level since 1 January 2016. The index fell 8.05 points or 0.1% at the day's low of 7,906.65 in early trade.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong. On BSE, 1,270 shares gained and 679 shares declined. A total of 104 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.38%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 0.64%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
In overseas stocks markets, Asian stocks were trading mixed. Chinese stocks declined. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index was currently down 2.55%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was currently down 1.11%. US stocks closed on a mixed note yesterday, 19 April 2016, as a slump in shares of large-cap tech firms offset positive sentiment from stable oil prices and a string of better-than-expected earnings.
Metal and mining stocks surged on recent rally in copper and steel prices in global commodities markets. Vedanta (up 8.17%), JSW Steel (up 1.85%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (up 3.26%), Hindustan Zinc (up 6.44%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 5.05%), Hindalco Industries (up 3.76%), NMDC (up 1.65%) and Hindustan Copper (up 1.72%) edged higher.
High Grade Copper for May 2016 delivery was currently off 0.4% at $2.2145 per pound on the COMEX.
National Aluminium Company (Nalco) lost 3.43% after the company said that due to unavoidable reasons the meeting of board of directors scheduled to be held on 22 April 2016 to consider buyback of shares has been postponed. The new date of board meeting will be informed in due course, Nalco said. The announcement was made yesterday, 19 April 2016, when the stock market was closed for a holiday.
Tata Steel gained 4.3% after the company announced changes in leadership at Tata Steel UK. Bimlendra Jha, an Executive Committee member of Tata Steel Europe has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Tata Steel UK. Jha is currently Executive Chairman of Tata Steel Europe's Long Products Europe business and has successfully led the divestment process that resulted in the signing of a sale and purchase agreement with Greybull Capital on 11 April 2016. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 18 April 2016.
Meanwhile, Tata Steel Europe has appointed Standard Chartered Bank as an additional adviser for the divestment of its entire holding in its British subsidiary Tata Steel UK. On 11 April 2016, Tata Steel Europe announced that the company has commenced the formal process for the divestment of its entire holding in its British subsidiary Tata Steel UK. Tata Steel Europe has decided to sell its entire holding in Tata Steel UK due to the deteriorating financial performance of the UK subsidiary.
Capital goods stocks gained on renewed buying. L&T (up 1.03%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 1.1%), ABB India (up 1.44%), BEML (up 1.52%), Bharat Electronics (up 1.15%), Crompton Greaves (up 7.15%), Siemens (up 1.43%) and Thermax (up 1.88%) gained.
UltraTech Cement rose 0.76% after the company commissioned its grinding unit at Pataliputra, Bihar with a capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). This unit will cater to the markets of eastern India where cement demand growth has remained higher than industry average during the last 2 to 3 years and continues to record double-digit growth. After commissioning of this unit, the company's cement capacity stands at 69.30 mtpa including the overseas operations. Together with this commissioning and those during the year ended 31 March 2016, the company has added 6.1 mtpa through greenfield expansions, UltraTech Cement said. The announcement was made yesterday, 19 April 2016, when the stock market was closed for a local holiday.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan reportedly said in a speech in New York on Monday, 18 April 2016, that the central bank will continue to use currency intervention to reduce volatility in the country's exchange rates. Rajan also said that he was closely watching inflation developments as well as monsoon rain forecasts in terms of impact on monetary policy. Recently, the weather office forecast good rains during the June-September 2016 southwest monsoon season. The RBI cut its benchmark policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5% from 6.75% after a scheduled policy review on 5 April 2016. The RBI next undertakes monetary policy review on 7 June 2016.
India's merchandise exports continued to see decline on year on year basis. Merchandise exports declined 5.47% to $22.71 billion in March 2016 over March 2015. Non-petroleum exports declined 3.49% to $20.63 billion in March 2016 over March 2015. The Ministry of Commerce & Industry said that the trend of falling exports is in tandem with other major world economies. Imports declined 21.56% to $27.78 billion in March 2016 over March 2015. Oil imports dropped 35.3% to $4.79 billion in March 2016 over March 2015. Non-oil imports fell 17.92% to $22.99 billion in March 2016 over March 2015. The trade deficit declined sharply to $5.07 billion in March 2016 from $11.39 billion in March 2015.
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