Sensex, Nifty end marginally lower

[Editor: Today as expected, the stocks from the two sectors Banks and Infrastructure, moved up in late trade, after recovering from their earlier losses--Allahabad Bank Ltd (Rs.89.10), Bank of India Ltd (Rs.209.40), Axis Bank Ltd (Rs.120.05), IVRCL Ltd (Rs.13.75), etc. closed near day's high]

27-Nov-13: Key benchmark indices ended a tad lower for the day in what was a lacklustre trading session. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 4.76 points or 0.02%, up 72.20 points from the day's low and off 62.41 points from the day's high. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative.

The Sensex has fallen 744.26 points or 3.52% in this month so far (till 27 November 2013). The Sensex has garnered 993.55 points or 5.11% in calendar 2013 so far (till 27 November 2013). From a 52-week low of 17,448.71 on 28 August 2013, the Sensex has risen 2,971.55 points or 17.03%. From a record high of 21,321.53 on 3 November 2013, the Sensex has fallen 901.27 points or 4.23%.

Coming back to today's trade, index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose. Maruti Suzuki India dropped in choppy trade after the car major announced the recall of a total of 1,492 vehicles for replacing defective steering column. Eicher Motors, Motherson Sumi Systems and Pidilite Industries hit record high. IT stocks declined as the rupee edged higher against the dollar.

The market may remain volatile tomorrow, 28 November 2013, as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month November 2013 series to December 2013 series. The near month November 2013 derivatives contracts expire tomorrow, 28 November 2013.

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 4.76 points or 0.02% to settle at 20,420.26, its lowest closing level since 22 November 2013. The index dropped 76.96 points at the day's low of 20,348.06 in mid-afternoon trade. The index rose 57.65 points at the day's high of 20,482.67 in early trade.

The CNX Nifty lost 2 points or 0.03% to settle at 6,057.10, its lowest closing level since 22 November 2013. The index hit a low of 6,030.30 in intraday trade. The index hit a high of 6,074 in intraday trade.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 1819 crore, lower than Rs 3944.46 crore on Tuesday, 26 November 2013.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,341 shares fell and 1,132 shares rose. A total of 158 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.25%, outperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.14%, underperforming the Sensex.

The BSE Consumer Durables index (up 1.37%), the BSE FMCG index (up 1.03%), the BSE Auto index (up 0.97%), the BSE Metal index (up 0.38%) the BSE Capital Goods index (up 0.22%), the BSE Oil & Gas index (up 0.1%) and the BSE PSU index (up 0.02%) outperformed the Sensex

The BSE Bankex (down 0.09%), the BSE HealthCare index (down 0.48%), the BSE Teck index (down 0.65%), the BSE IT index (down 0.66%), the BSE Realty index (down 0.77%) and the BSE Power index (down 0.88%) underperformed the Sensex.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 17 stocks fell and rest rose. Bharti Airtel (down 1.6%), Cipla (down 0.84%), and Hindustan Unilever (down 0.75%), edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC rose 1.01% at Rs 314. The scrip hit high of Rs 315 and low of Rs 309.50.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) shed 0.48% at Rs 838. The scrip hit high of Rs 849.75 and low of Rs 836. Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Veerappa Moily on Tuesday, 26 November 2013, said that RIL may be allowed to raise gas prices from April 2014 as the company has offered financial guarantees to the government to settle any claims against it over a shortfall in its gas output. In June, the government approved a move to higher, market-related rates for locally-produced gas from April 2014, but the finance ministry later said prices for RIL should be capped because the company's gas production from the offshore D6 block was far below its supply commitment. RIL, which operates the D6 block off India's eastern coast, has reported a sharp decline in gas output since 2010. RIL and partner BP have cited geological complexities for the fall in output, but the oil regulator believes they failed to drill enough wells. Falling output had already prompted the government to disallow proportionate cost recovery to RIL, leading to arbitration proceedings over the issue.

Cairn India rose 0.12% to Rs 324.40, with the stock reversing initial decline. The stock hit a high of Rs 324.50 and low of Rs 316.90. Cairn India after trading hours on Tuesday, 26 November 2013, said its board of directors has approved a proposal for the buyback of equity shares of the company from its existing shareholders, other than the company's promoters, promoter group, persons in control and persons acting in concert. The buyback would be done from the open market through the stock exchanges, at a price not exceeding Rs 335 per share, up to an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 5725 crore, Cairn India said in a statement. The maximum buyback price represents over 4% premium compared to the average of the weekly high and low of the closing share price of the company during the last two weeks, Cairn India said. With the above mentioned limits of the proposed buyback, the indicative maximum number of shares of Rs 10 each that can be bought back would be 17.08 crore shares resulting in the reduction of equity capital by approximately 8.9%, Cairn India said.

The buyback comes on the backdrop of strong cash flows generated by the company through its operational excellence and the World class asset base, Cairn India said. The company is currently producing over 213,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and is on track to meet year-end target of over 225,000 boepd from all producing assets. This proposal is a shareholder reward mechanism through decrease in the equity share capital and a consequent increase in the Earnings per Share of the company, Cairn India said in a statement. The company believes that the buyback will improve shareholder returns while maintaining the current dividend payout ratio as per the approved policy.

Mr Sudhir Mathur, CFO, Cairn India said: We are happy to announce yet another shareholder reward mechanism in addition to the interim dividend declared last month. This comes on the back of strong operational excellence and robust financials. The company continues to work on its $ 3 billion capex program over next three years till FY16 and is well placed to develop its current asset base and monetize the existing exploration opportunities with the objective of strengthening its E&P portfolio.

PSU OMCs were mostly higher. BPCL (up 1.77%) and HPCL (up 0.12%), edged higher. Indian Oil Corporation was down 0.77%. Oil secretary Vivek Rae today, 27 November 2013, said that a delegation from India will shortly visit Iran to discuss the oil payment mechanism. Iran and six world powers reached a deal on 24 November 2013 to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for limited relief from sanctions imposed by the US and European Union (EU) that have slashed Tehran's oil exports. India may look at higher Iranian crude imports in the next fiscal year, depending on the easing of economic sanctions following the deal, Rae said. India, currently Iran's second-largest buyer of crude, remains focussed on importing 220,000 bpd (barrels per day) Iranian oil in 2013/14, the oil secretary said.

NTPC slipped after the company announced the launch of public issue of tax-free secured redeemable non-convertible bonds. The stock shed 1.31% to Rs 146.80. The base issue size of the bonds aggregates Rs 1000 crore, with an option to retain oversubscription up to Rs 750 crore for issuance of additional bonds. The issue will open for subscription on 3 December 2013 and will close on 16 December 2013, the company said.

Maruti Suzuki India dropped in choppy trade after the car major announced the recall of a total of 1,492 vehicles for replacing defective steering column. The stock shed 0.48%. The car major said that the company will inspect the steering column for 1,492 vehicles, which include Ertiga (306 units), Swift (592 units), Dzire (581 units) and A-Star (13 units), manufactured between 19 October 2013 and 26 October 2013. If the steering column is found defective, the company will replace the steering column free of cost, Maruti said. Maruti said that this exercise is limited to vehicles within the above specified range and does not pertain to any other vehicle of the company or any of its exports. Maruti Suzuki dealers will contact owners of all vehicles in the above range. The new steering column has been dispatched to dealer workshops, Maruti said.

Tata Motors rose 2.42% to Rs 399.70. The stock hit a high of Rs 399.90 and low of Rs 392. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 400.70 in intraday trade on 6 November 2013.

Eicher Motors gained 4.21% to Rs 4,500, also its record high.

Motherson Sumi Systems rose 6.66% to Rs 288.45 after hitting record high of Rs 297.70 in intraday trade.

IT stocks declined as the rupee edged higher against the dollar. A firm rupee adversely affects operating profit margins of IT firms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports. Infosys (down 0.45%) and Wipro (down 1.2%) declined.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) shed 0.77%, with the stock reversing initial gains. TCS announced after market hours on Tuesday, 26 November 2013, that Keler, Hungary's Central Securities Depository, has selected the Market Infrastructure solution of TCS BaNCS for modernizing its technology and to set up its capability for T2S settlement. The TCS BaNCS solution will provide Keler with a modern, standards compliant, multi-asset, multi-entity solution that will enable the company to quickly introduce new products and services to its market participants and engage with its stakeholders better through faster reporting and communication.

Metal stocks edged higher in volatile trade. Hindalco Industries (up 0.83%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.18%), Tata Steel (up 0.79%), Sail (up 1.59%) gained. Sesa Sterlite (down 1.02%) and National Aluminum Company (down 0.94%) declined.

LIC Housing Finance fell 2.41% to Rs 202.25. A block deal of 10.75 lakh shares was executed in the counter on BSE at Rs 200.75 per share at 13:48 IST.

Pidilite Industries rose 2.58% to Rs 298.45 after hitting record high of Rs 304.15 in intraday trade.

Bata India gained 1.31% to Rs 1,075. The stock hit a record high of Rs 1,077.50 in intraday trade.

Wockhardt slumped 8.87% to Rs 430.15. The company during trading hours today, 27 November 2013, announced that it has received a warning Letter from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its manufacturing units located at L1, Chikalthana, Aurangabad and B15, Waluj, Aurangabad. USFDA has, however, excluded five products from import alert. Metoprolol XR is under the import alert. The company has already initiated several steps to address the observations made by the USFDA and shall put all efforts to resolve the matter at the earliest, Wockhardt said.

Thermax rose 1.14% after the company said it received an order worth approximately Rs 269 crore from a leading petrochemical company. The announcement was made after market hours on Tuesday, 26 November 2013.

Thermax said it received an order valued approximately Rs 269 crore for the design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of three HRSGs (heat recovery steam generators) from a leading petrochemical company for its proposed captive power plant as a part of its expansion program.

Voltas advanced 4.16% after the company said it bagged three orders worth Rs 1000 crore in the Middle-East. The company made the announcement after market hours on Tuesday, 26 November 2013. The first project is for a 120-bed integrated health centre and workers' hospital in Qatar. The second one is for a sports hall and administrative office in a 5,350-seat indoor stadium being built to host the World Cup Handball Competition scheduled for January 2015 in the country, the company said in a statement. The third project is for a 5-Star hotel, the Kempinski Wave, in Muscat, Voltas said.

Westlife Development dropped 5% to Rs 389.70. Two block deals were executed on the counter on BSE. One block deal was of 6.82 lakh shares at Rs 417.85 per share at 10:31 IST. The second block deal was of 2.39 lakh shares at Rs 417.85 per share at 10:31 IST.

CEAT jumped 8.94% to Rs 277.30 after hitting a 52-week high of Rs 280 in intraday trade.

Shares of sugar companies rose on reports that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has set up a committee under the chairmanship of the agriculture minister to look into how to give help to struggling sugar mills. Bajaj Hindusthan (up 1.98%), Shree Renuka Sugars (up 1.72%) and Sakhti Sugar Mills (up 0.61%) gained. Balrampur Chini Mills lost 4.15%.

Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister of Maharashtra, the biggest sugar producing state, announced the creation of the committee to reporters late on Tuesday, adding it would issue a report in a week. Sugar mills are struggling as the price of the commodity fell below the cost of production due to surplus production in three straight years. A hike in cane prices mandated by federal and state governments -- intended to support farmers facing higher fertiliser and diesel prices -- added to the woes at mills as it made the Indian sweetener uncompetitive in the world market.

Education stocks dropped. CORE Education & Technologies (down 6.13%), Everonn Education (down 8.82%), Educomp Solutions (down 6.75%), Aptech (down 3.13%), NIIT (down 3.78%), and Career Point (down 1.86%) declined.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar on corporate dollar inflows. The partially convertible rupee was at 62.21, compared with its close of 62.50/51 on Tuesday, 26 November 2013.

On the macro front, India's economic growth is seen recovering a bit in Q2 September 2013. The GDP growth for Q2 September 2013 is projected at 4.7%, as per the median estimate of a poll of economists carried out by Capital Market. India's GDP grew at its slowest pace in four years at 4.4% in Q1 June 2013. The government unveils Q2 September 2013 GDP growth data on Friday, 29 November 2013.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announces next Mid-Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 18 December 2013. The Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 is scheduled 28 January 2014.

European stocks edged higher on Wednesday, 27 November 2013, as investors welcomed better-than-expected German consumer-confidence data. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were up 0.15% to 0.19%.

The latest data showed consumer confidence in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, rose to the highest in more than six years, buoyed by a robust jobs market and solid income expectations. The forward-looking GfK consumer-confidence indicator for December came in at 7.4, up from 7.1 in November and beating analyst expectations.

Germany's biggest political parties today, 27 November 2013, agreed on a deal to forge a coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel. After 17 hours of negotiations, Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, its Bavarian Christian Social Union sister party and the Social Democrats agreed to introduce a national minimum wage and toughen labor market rules, as well as boost spending on pensions, education and infrastructure. The coalition isn't a done deal yet. It still must be passed by the entire SPD, which plans a referendum among its roughly 470,000 members.

European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said in Berlin on Tuesday, 26 November 2013, that euro-area recovery is still weak, fragile, uneven.

Most Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, 27 November 2013, as US data later in the global day may signal a mixed recovery in the world's biggest economy that may keep the Federal Reserve from reducing stimulus this year. Key benchmark indices in China, South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan were up 0.31% to 0.82%. Key benchmark indices in Singapore and Japan were off 0.05% to 0.42%.

Thailand's central bank today, 27 November 2013, surprised markets with an interest-rate cut, in a bid to boost weaker-than-expected economic growth. The Bank of Thailand's benchmark rate was cut by 25 basis points to 2.25%, Paiboon Kittisrikangwan, Secretary of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced at a news conference. Six of the committee's seven members voted for the cut, and the remaining member voted for the rate to remain on hold. Mr. Paiboon said that economic growth was slower than in the central bank's previous assessment and there was now greater downside risks compared with the last meeting in October. He also cited the benign inflation outlook and moderate household credit growth as reasons for the committee's decision to ease monetary policy.

The MPC noted that the recovery in exports had not gained traction yet, while there remained downside risks to growth from the delay in government investment and fragile private confidence, partly as a result of ongoing political tensions. Mr. Paiboon said the BOT has lowered its economic growth target for this year to 3%, from its previous projection of 3.7%, and was leaving the door open for further rate cuts because of the political uncertainty in the country.

Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could advance 15 points at the opening bell on Wednesday, 27 November 2013. US stocks finished slightly higher on Tuesday, 26 November 2013, after erasing gains in the final minutes of trading, but the Nasdaq Composite still scored its first close above 4,000 since September 2000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out another record close. The US market is closed tomorrow, 28 November 2013, for the Thanksgiving holiday. The market will close early at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, 29 November 2013.

US home building permits surged more than expected in October to the highest level in five years, the Commerce Department reported. Home prices in the 20 largest cities on the S&P Case-Shiller index rose 13.3 per cent in September from a year ago, topping the 13 per cent average estimate. But consumer confidence fell in November, according to the Conference Board, instead of rebounding from an October plunge amid the partial government shutdown. The Conference Board's confidence index fell to 70.4 in November from a revised 72.4 a month that was stronger than initially estimated, the New York-based private research group said yesterday.

Investors have been keeping watch on economic data in the United States as the Federal Reserve monitors the pace of recovery to gauge when it will begin to reduce monetary stimulus for the US economy, which has been aimed at encouraging growth. The Fed has said improvement in the labor market is a key factor in its policy assessment. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day policy meeting on interest rates in the United States on 17-18 December 2013. The US central bank currently buys bonds worth $85 billion a month in a bid to hold interest rates low and encourage economic growth in the world's biggest economy. Minutes of the Fed's October meeting released on 20 November 2013 showed officials may reduce their $85 billion a month of bond buying if the economy improves as anticipated.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News