Key benchmark indices hovered between gains and losses near the flat line in early trade. Weakness in Asian stocks weighed on investor sentiment adversely. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 14.41 points or 0.06%, up about 30 points from the day's low and off close to 25 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive.
Tata Motors fell after the company reported dismal sales figures in April. Ashok Leyland declined after the company reported weak sales in April. Reliance Communications' (RCom) dropped on weak Q4 results.
Asian stocks fell on Monday after a private gauge of Chinese manufacturing contracted for a fourth month, missing market estimates.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 386.95 crore on Friday, 2 May 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 9:30 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 14.41 points or 0.06% to 22,389.48. The index shed 49.44 points at the day's low of 22,354.45 in early trade. The index rose 10.40 points at the day's high of 22,414.29 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was down 2.85 points or 0.04% to 6,691.95. The index hit a low of 6,680.45 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 6,694.45 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 19.66 points or 0.27% to 7,377.12. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 12.47 points or 0.17% to 7,545.28. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 544 shares gained and 370 shares fell. A total of 54 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 stocks gained and rest of them fell. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (down 1.69%), ICICI Bank (down 0.85%) and Hindustan Unilever (down 0.6%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Canara Bank fell 0.12% ahead of its Q4 results today, 5 May 2014.
Grasim Industries dropped 0.61%. The company's consolidated net profit after minority interest (before exceptional item) rose 11% to Rs 679 crore on 10% growth in revenue to Rs 8419 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. The Q4 result was announced after market hours on Friday, 2 May 2014.
There was an exceptional gain of Rs 204 crore on the sale of Grasim's stake in Alexandria Carbon Black and Thai Carbon Black in Q4 March 2013.
Grasim Industries' consolidated net profit (before exceptional item) declined 17.12% to Rs 2072 crore on 5% growth in revenue to Rs 29324 crore in the year ended 31 March 2014 (FY 2014) over the year ended 31 March 2013 (FY 2013).
Despite the prevailing economic slowdown during the year, volumes have been augmented in all the businesses viz. VSF, Chemical and Cement, driven by the commissioning of new capacities, Grasim Industries said. An overcapacity in the VSF business globally and Cement business in India has impacted the realisations and profitability, the company said in a statement.
With regard to its future business outlook, Grasim Industries said that in the VSF sector, margins are likely to remain under pressure in the near term due to overcapacity in China. The slowdown of new capacity additions in China should lead to improvement in industry utilization, the company said. With additional capacity coming on stream, the company is well equipped to further consolidate its leadership position in the industry, it added. In Cement, the demand growth for the industry should gradually recover to 8% on improvement in the economic environment, Grasim Industries said in a statement.
Grasim Industries' board of directors at its meeting held on Friday, 2 May 2014, recommended dividend of Rs 21 per share for FY 2014.
Tata Motors shed 1.05% after the company reported dismal sales figures in April. The company's total sales (including exports) of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles fell 34% to 33,892 vehicles in April 2014 over April 2013. The company's domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles declined 36% to 30,670 units in April 2014 over April 2013. The company's sales of commercial vehicles in the domestic market fell 36% to 23,229 units in April 2014 over April 2013. LCV sales fell 43% to 14,804 units in April 2014 over April 2013, while M&HCV sales declined 16% to 8,425 units in April 2014 over April 2013. Sales of passenger vehicles were lower by 36% to 7,441 units in April 2014 over April 2013. Sales of the Nano/ Indica/ Indigo range were down 37% to 5,653 units in April 2014 over April 2013. The Sumo/ Safari/ Aria/ Venture range sales fell 33% to 1,788 units in April 2014 over April 2013. The company's sales from exports registered a decline of 10% to 3,222 units in April 2014 over April 2013. Tata Motors announced sales figures after market hours on Friday, 2 May 2014.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma) declined 0.47%. The company after market hours on Friday, 2 May 2014, announced that, as a part of its manufacturing consolidation in the US, it has notified the Workforce Development Agency for the State of Michigan regarding its decision to cease manufacturing operations and close the Detroit (Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories,Ltd.) facility located at Elijah McCoy Detroit, Ml, USA. The company has provided the requisite advance written notice of the facility closure to the employee union and all affected employees, Sun Pharma said in a statement.
Sun Pharma said it has ensured that the impacted employees get compensated with more than their regular entitlement under the severance package. They will also receive other support services including outplacement assistance, the company added. The rest of the employees are continuing through mutually consented arrangements, Sun Pharma said in a statement.
Sun Pharma said it has undertaken necessary measures to ensure business continuity of the products being manufactured at this facility. The manufacturing of these products is being transferred to other units and all necessary steps have been taken to avoid market shortage, the company said. Sun Pharma said it expects a negligible impact of this development on its FY 2015 consolidated revenues.
Separately, Sun Pharma after market hours on Friday, 2 May 2014 in a clarification with regard to news item titled "Sun-Ranbaxy merger runs into legal wrangle" said that it was neither served the notice of the hearing nor it was aware of such hearing being held nor it is served with the copy of the court order, so the question of submission of court order to the exchanges doe not arise, Sun Pharma said.
Ranbaxy Laboratories lost 0.44%. Ranbaxy Laboratories after market hours on Friday, 2 May 2014 in a clarification with regard to news item "Sun-Ranbaxy merger runs into legal wrangle" said that the company has neither received any Notice nor appeared/represented before the Hon'ble High Court in regard to aforesaid Court case. Further, the company has also not been served the Order of the Hon'ble Court, Ranbaxy Laboratories said.
Reliance Communications' (RCom) dropped 1.97% on weak Q4 results. The company's consolidated net profit fell 48.51% to Rs 156 crore on 4.78% decline in total income to Rs 5671 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. The company's consolidated net profit rose 55.8% to Rs 1047 crore on 2.5% rise in revenues to Rs 22321 crore in the year ended 31 March 2014 (FY 2014) over FY 2013. The company announced Q4 result after market hours on Friday, 2 May 2014.
The company's consolidated net profit rose 43.9% to Rs 156 crore on 5% rise in revenue at Rs 5671 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) gained 0.4% to Rs 1852 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013. EBITDA margin stood at 32.7% in Q4 March 2014, amongst the highest in the industry, with strong contribution from both India and Global businesses.
Revenue of India operations rose 0.3% to Rs 4649 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013. EBITDA of India operations rose 3.2% to Rs 1659 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013
Revenue of global operations rose 15.7% to Rs 1261 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013. EBIDTA of global operations stood at Rs193 crore in Q4 March 2014, EBIDTA margin stood at 15.3% in Q4 March 2014.
RCom generated operational cash flow (EBITDA) of Rs. 1852 crore in Q4 March 2014, paid net finance charges of Rs 907 crore and invested Rs 467 crore on capex during the quarter. It remains free cash flow (FCF) positive and this is expected to continue, company said.
Among its key performance indicators (KPIs), revenue per minute (RPM) was stable at 43.2 paisa. Voice RPM at 33.0 paisa. During the year, the company has significantly improved RPM with tariff hikes and strong focus on paid and profitable Minutes.
Average revenue per user (ARPU) rose 2.4% at Rs 128 in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013. The total MOUs was up by 0.4% at 102.3 billion in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013.
The total data traffic was up 20.5% to 50,251 million MB in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013. The traffic has increased due to increase in data subscribers and higher data usage per customer
The total data customer base has grown 3.3% to 37.4 million in Q4 March 2014 over Q3 December 2013, including 12.9 million 3G customers in Q4
Ashok Leyland declined 2.67% after the company reported weak sales in April. The company reported 21% decline in total sales to 5897 units in April 2014 over April 2013. Total sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) fell 14% to 4523 units in April 2014 over April 2013. Total sales of light commercial vehicles (LCV) declined 39% to 1374 units in April 2014 over April 2013.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) next undertakes monetary policy review on 3 June 2014. The RBI left its main lending rate viz. the repo rate unchanged at 8% after a monetary policy review on 1 April 2014, as consumer-price inflation eased to a two-year low and as the rupee firmed up against the dollar.
A major near term trigger for the stock market is the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The 36 days long voting process began on 7 April 2014 and will conclude on 12 May 2014. The results will be declared on 16 May 2014 after which India will get a new government. The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on 1 June and the new House has to be constituted by 31 May.
Asian stocks fell on Monday after a private gauge of Chinese manufacturing contracted for a fourth month, missing market estimates. Key benchmark indices in China, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong declined 0.03% to 1.63%. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite rose 0.26%. Markets in Japan and South Korea are closed today and tomorrow for holidays.
China's manufacturing contracted in April for a fourth month, according to a private survey, signaling the risk of a deeper slowdown in an economy already projected to expand this year at the slowest pace since 1990. A purchasing managers' index was at 48.1, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said in a statement today. That compared with 48 the previous month. Numbers below 50 indicate contractions.
Growth in China's services sector accelerated slightly in April as new orders held steady, an official survey showed, an encouraging sign of strength in an economy that otherwise faces a cloudy outlook. The purchasing manufacturing index (PMI) for the services industry edged up to 54.8 last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, up marginally from 54.5 in March. A reading above 50 in PMI surveys indicates growth on a monthly basis, while a number below that threshold points to a contraction in activity.
US stocks eased on Friday as concerns about more violence in Ukraine prompted profit-taking ahead of the weekend and offset optimism about the fastest job growth in more than two years.
The labor market shifted into a higher gear in April with payroll gains showing the most widespread advance in two years, a sign the US economic expansion is on the verge of speeding up. The 288,000 increase in employment marked the biggest upside surprise since February 2012 and followed a 203,000 rise the prior month, Labor Department figures showed in Washington. An index measuring the share of industries hiring climbed to 67, the highest level since January 2012. The jobless rate dropped to 6.3%, the lowest since September 2008.
The Federal Reserve will likely bring its massive bond-buying program to an end in October, and only after that will it consider when to raise rates, a top Fed official said on Sunday. "I personally expect us to end that program in October," Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said in an interview on Fox News. "Then we have to see how the economy is doing, including these broader measures of unemployment and where we stand before we can talk about how we might move the short-term rate," he added.
In Europe, a monthly meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England's (BoE) for monetary policy review is scheduled on Thursday, 8 May 2014.
The European Central Bank (ECB) will hold monetary policy meeting on Thursday, 8 May 2014, in Brussels, Belgium.
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