Key benchmark indices pared gains after a firm start triggered by higher Asian stocks. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 97.82 points or 0.53%, off close to 80 points from the day's high and up about 10 points from the day's low. Index heavyweight and cigarette maker ITC edged higher in early trade. Another index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was slightly higher. The market breadth was strong. Except BSE Oil & Gas index and the BSE Power index, all the other sectoral indices on BSE were in the green.
Tata Steel edged higher and Tata Metaliks surged after the announcement of merger of the latter with the former. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) declined after the company said that there has been a stoppage of work at the company's Igatpuri plant due to tool down strike by the union.
Tata Motors jumped after the company's British luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Wednesday, 10 April 2013, reported surge in sales in March 2013. Jindal Stainless gained after the company on Wednesday said that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with POSCO to mutually cooperate with each other for long-term joint business opportunities.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 40.22 crore on Wednesday, 10 April 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 9:30 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 97.82 points or 0.53% to 18,512.27. The index jumped 180.67 points at the day's high of 18,595.12 in early trade. The index rose 90.07 points at the day's low of 18,504.52 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 23.40 points or 0.42% to 5,582.10. The index hit a high of 5,610.60 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 5,580.40 in intraday trade.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 544 shares rose and 137 shares fell. A total of 21 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 22 stocks gained while rest of them fell.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.05% at Rs 781.45. Shares of Reliance Communications rose 2.52%. RIL's telecom unit Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Communications (RCom) on 2 April 2013 announced the signing of a definitive agreement for approximately Rs 1200 crore as one time indefeasible right to use (IRU) fees for sharing RCom's nationwide inter-city fiber optic network infrastructure. Reliance Jio Infocomm will utilize multiple fiber pairs across RCom's 1.2 lakh kilometres inter-city fiber optic network to provide a robust and future proof backbone for rolling out its state-of-the-art 4G services. As per the agreement, RCom will in turn have reciprocal access to optic fiber infrastructure to be built by Reliance Jio Infocomm in the future.
The agreement provides for joint working arrangements to be put in place immediately for upgradation of the optic fiber network to ensure seamless delivery of next generation services.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose 0.35% to Rs 285.55. The stock had hit record high of Rs 310.75 on 4 February 2013. The government raised the excise duty on cigarettes by about 18% on all cigarettes except cigarettes of length not exceeding 65 mm in Union Budget 2013-14, which was unveiled on 28 February 2013.
Tata Steel rose 0.93% after the company said after market hours on Wednesday, 10 April 2013, that the committee of directors of Tata Steel (TSL) and the board of directors of Tata Metaliks (TML) and Tata Metaliks Kubota Pipes (TMKPL), a 100% subsidiary of TML, have approved the proposal of merger of TML and TMKPL with TSL through a scheme of amalgamation to be sanctioned through court approval process. Shares of Tata Metaliks surged 6%.
The scheme, inter alia, envisages synergies through aligning the activities of a single chain with one legal entity, Tata Steel said in a statement. TSL along with its wholly owned subsidiary holds 50.09% stake in TML and the shares held by them in TML shall get extinguished and the public shareholders of TML shall be issued shares in TSL in the ratio of 4 shares of TSL for every 29 shares held in TML.
Separately, Tata Steel also said after market hours on Wednesday, 10 April 2013, that the committee of directors of Tata Steel (TSL) has approved the amalgamation of KICL, a 100% subsidiary of TSL, with TSL with effect from 1 January 2013.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) declined 0.8% after the company said after market hours on Wednesday, 10 April 2013, that there has been a stoppage of work at the company's Igatpuri plant due to tool down strike by the union. This is post the suspension of two workmen on disciplinary grounds, one of them being an union office bearer. The company is in constant dialogue with the union for an early solution of the issue. The company has currently sufficient stock of engines for production of its vehicles, M&M said in a statement.
Tata Motors jumped 4.24% after the company's British luxury car unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on Wednesday, 10 April 2013, said its global sales rose 16% to a record 53,772 units in March 2013 over March 2012. JLR's global sales rose 17% to a record 115,504 units in Q1 March 2013 over Q1 March 2012.
JRL said the Jaguar brand demonstrated strong growth with sales of 9,856 in March up 28% and sales for the quarter of 20,210 up 31%. Land Rover meanwhile delivered the best single month and quarter in its 65 year history with March sales of 43,916, up 14% and quarter one sales of 95,294, up 15% versus 2012, JLR said.
Commenting on the global sales data, Phil Popham, Group Sales Operations Director for Jaguar Land Rover said: "Jaguar Land Rover has had a record breaking start to the year reflecting the continued interest in our two great brands and our commitment to delivering desirable products that resonate with customers across the globe. Jaguar Land Rover is seeing continued year on year growth following the introduction of new models, engines and drivetrains with the Jaguar XF Sportbrake, new Range Rover and Range Rover Evoque amongst our top selling models."
ONGC declined 0.55%. The company has entered into of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals (CFCL) and the state government of Tripura for setting up a urea fertilizer project in Tripura. The plant with 1.3 MMTPA of urea capacity would utilize 2.4 MMSCMD of gas and entail an investment to the tune of Rs 5000 crore. ONGC had earlier made a gas discovery in the border state which has poor infrastructure.
Jindal Stainless gained 1.36% after the company announced after market hours on Wednesday, 10 April 2013, that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with POSCO to mutually cooperate with each other for long-term joint business opportunities. The said MOU is applicable for 3 years and can be extended by mutual agreement.
The MOU calls for long term supply of 200 series stainless steel products of the company to POSCO or its subsidiaries. The two companies will also review joint establishment and exploration for nickel smelter process in Indonesia. The two companies will also review joint co-operation in Jindal Stainless' Odisha project. The two companies have also mutually agreed to co-operate on reviewing overseas joint projects including but not limited to the establishment of service centers and cold rolling mills.
The upside on the domestic bourses may be capped as reduction of promoter stake to meet the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) mandated minimum public shareholding of 25% for private companies and 10% for state-run firms will result in supply of equity in the market over the next few months. As per the Sebi mandated minimum public shareholding rule, private-sector companies must cut founders' stake to adhere to the rules by 30 June 2013, while the deadline for state-run firms is 31 August 2013. PSU divestment will also add to share sale glut in FY 2014. The government has set a target of Rs 40000 crore from divestment of government stake in state-run firms and Rs 14000 crore from divestment of stake in non-government companies for FY 2014.
The Q4 March 2013 corporate earnings season begins this week. Infosys announces Q4 results tomorrow, 12 April 2013. Reliance Industries (RIL) announces Q4 results on 16 April 2013. TCS announces Q4 results on 17 April 2013. IndusInd Bank announces Q2 results on 18 April 2013. Wipro announces Q4 results on 19 April 2013. Cairn India announces Q4 results on 22 April 2013. UltraTech Cement announces Q4 results on the same day.
HDFC Bank announces Q4 results on 23 April 2013. Axis Bank will announce its Q4 March 2013 results on 24 April 2013. ICICI Bank and Maruti Suzuki unveil Q4 results on 26 April 2013. IDFC announces Q4 results on 1 May 2013. HDFC announces Q4 results on 8 May 2013. Ranbaxy announces Q1 March 2013 results on the same day. Dr. Reddys Laboratories announces Q4 results on 14 May 2013.
On the macro front, the government will unveil industrial production data for February 2013 tomorrow, 12 April 2013. Industrial production is seen declining 1.5% in February 2013, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. Industrial production had risen 2.4% in January 2013, as against a contraction of 0.5% in December 2012.
The government will unveil data on the combined consumer price index for urban and rural India for March 2013 on 12 April 2013. Inflation based on the combined consumer price index for urban and rural India had edged up to 10.91% in February 2013, from 10.79% in January 2013.
The government will unveil data on the wholesale price index (WPI) for March 2013 on 15 April 2013. WPI inflation is projected to ease to 6.4% in March 2013 from 6.84% in February 2013, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. WPI inflation had edged up to 6.84% in February 2013 from 6.62% in January 2013.
The India Meteorological Department will issue its initial forecast of 2013 southwest monsoon in this month.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D. Subbarao on 6 April 2013 said that the high fiscal deficit is a problem because it exacerbates inflation and impedes monetary policy transmission. The RBI will announce the Monetary Policy Statement 2013-14 on 3 May 2013. The RBI cut its key policy rate viz. the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% after a mid-quarter monetary policy review on 19 March 2013. The key macroeconomic priorities are to raise the growth rate, restrain inflation pressures and mitigate the vulnerability of the external sector, RBI said at that time. Even as the policy stance emphasises addressing the growth risks, the headroom for further monetary easing remains quite limited, the RBI said. The RBI said it will continue to actively manage liquidity through various instruments, including open market operations (OMO), so as to ensure adequate flow of credit to productive sectors of the economy.
The second half of the Budget session of the Parliament begins on 22 April 2013. The government has lined up a number of key bills for consideration and passing during the Budget session of the parliament, which include The Forward Contracts (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2010, The Pension Fund Regulator and Development Authority Bill, 2011, The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, The National Food Security Bill, 2011 and The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008. The Budget Session of the Parliament ends on 10 May 2013.
Assembly elections will be held in Karnataka on 5 May 2013 and the counting of votes and results of the election will be declared on 8 May 2013.
Asian stocks rose for a fourth day on Thursday, the longest winning streak in three months, as the yen neared 100 to the dollar after the Bank of Japan said it will maintain stimulus and loan growth in China topped estimates. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan rose by 0.09% to 1%.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank will take all steps necessary to meet a 2% inflation target even as he indicated policy adjustments are unlikely every month.
Australia's unemployment rate climbed in March to the highest level in more than three years as employers shed more workers than economists estimated, sending the local dollar and bond yields lower. The jobless rate rose to 5.6% from 5.4%, the statistics bureau said in Sydney today.
US stocks climbed on Wednesday after minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting quelled fears that the central bank will slow its monthly bond purchases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 both ended at record high levels.
The Fed minutes showed several Fed members advocated that the central bank start to taper its quantitative-easing program later in the year, with the goal of halting it altogether by year-end. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said on April 8 that economic conditions were far from where he would like them to be.
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