The barometer index ended with modest losses after plunging sharply in early trades, as buying resumed late at the lower levels. Local bourses were gripped by acute volatility, but at the end were able to outperform their global peers. Weakness around global markets made its way on to the domestic bourses right from the word go.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 52.49 points (0.38%), at 13,619.7. It had opened lower, at 13,538.71, and slumped to a low of 13,423.64, tracking weak global markets. However, the barometer index begun retrieving lost ground and had even touched a high of 13,658.11, after buying resumed.
The S&P CNX Nifty declined 13.95 points (0.35%), to 3,997.65.
The market stayed weak as selling continued in the late-afternoon session of trades. However, strong buying began in the late-afternoon, helping the market wipe out the earlier sharp losses.
Global markets underwent a steep correction. All European as well as Asian indices were trading with losses.
The market-breadth, an indication of the market's health, was weak as well. A host of stocks from the smallcap and mid-cap space faltered. For 1,341 stocks that declined on BSE, 1,179 advanced. In morning trade, the breadth was weak, but had recovered to unity. However, the breadth collapsed once again later. A total of 97 scrips have remained unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap Index settled at 5,652.08 while the BSE Small-Cap Index closed at 6,905.29, both without much of a change.
The BSE cash turnover was Rs 4,158.52 crore while the total market wide turnover was Rs 45893.6 crore.
Among the 30-Sensex pack, 16 advanced while the rest declined.
Cement major ACC was down 4.16% to Rs 782.75, despite reporting a surge of 54.5% in net profit for Q1 March 2007. ACC was the top loser, clocking volumes of 8.07 lakh shares. The cement firm reported a surge in net profit in the March 2007 quarter to Rs 363.75 crore from Rs 235.42 crore in the March 2006 quarter. Net sales surged 26.1% to Rs 1674.83 crore from Rs 1327.52 crore. Firm prices of cement, a key construction commodity, boosted the company's results, which trickled in some time back. The company's board also approved sale and transfer of RMX Business, to ACC Concrete, a new, wholly-owned, subsidiary which has been incorporated for the purpose.
HDFC (down 2% to Rs 1563.50), Bajaj Auto (down 2.08% to Rs 2445), Bhel (down 1.82% to Rs 2507.50) and ONGC (down 1.49% to Rs 892) were the other losers.
Frontline software stocks slipped on profit-booking. The BSE IT Index was the top-loser among sectoral indices. It lost 75 points (1.5%). Infosys (down 1.82% to Rs 2040), Wipro (down 0.38% to Rs 584), Satyam Computers (down 2.56% to Rs 449.80) and TCS (down 0.16% to Rs 1244.95) dropped.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) gained 0.39% to Rs 1666, on reports that the company had plans for facilities in China. The facilities being planned are for machines, switchgear, valves, tyre-curing and pressing and coal gassification. Larsen & Toubro plans to source the raw material required for forgings and castings for its manufacturing bases in India. Further, the firm is planning an initial investment of $ 11 million to introduce new products in the Chinese market.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.24% to Rs 1490, on a volume of 13.87 lakh shares. The scrip had recovered from a low of Rs 1462, and surged to a high of Rs 1499.50, an all-time high. RIL has scheduled a meeting of the board of directors on 26 April 2007, to consider the unaudited financial results for the quarter & year ended March 2007. Also, as per a report in a newspaper, RIL has discovered significant quantities of gas in an offshore block in Saurashtra, Gujarat. RIL is the operator of the block with a 70% stake, while Oil India has the remaining 30% stake.
Gujarat Ambuja Cements was the top-gainer, up 1.81% to Rs 115, on a volume of 17.18 lakh shares.
State-run State Bank of India (SBI) gained 1.70% to Rs 1053, on a volume of 9.05 lakh shares. The state-run lender had surged sharply from a low of Rs 1014, to a high of Rs 1062.40. The Cabinet today approved changes in a banking law to impart greater operational freedom to SBI's subsidiaries, a government spokeswoman said. After the news, shares of three such SBI subsidiaries - State Bank of Mysore (up 10%), State Bank of Travancore (up 5%) and State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (up 1.49%) advanced. Four other subsidiaries were not listed on the stock exchanges. It may be recalled that in May 2006, the government moved a bill in Parliament proposing the reduction of State Bank of India's stake in its seven subsidiaries to 51% each from the mandated level of 55%. Amendments were also proposed to ease restrictions on fund-raising and individual share ownership. There was also a move to raise the voting rights of investors in SBI's subsidiaries from the existing 1% to 10%.
Helped by SBI and ICICI Bank, the BSE Bankex settled 0.6% higher, at 6,848.85.
Cigarette major ITC advanced 1.24% to Rs 159, on volumes of 15.32 lakh shares.
Auto counter Hero Honda (up 1.10% to Rs 656) and Maruti Udyog (up 1.47% to Rs 779) were the other gainers.
ICICI Bank moved higher by 1.52% to Rs 910.55, and recovered from an initial 2.98% drop to Rs 870.10. According to a news report, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to permit Temasek and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) to raise their stakes in the private bank to 10% each. Temasek holds 7.41% stake in ICICI Bank and Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) 2.29%. The two cannot currently buy more shares of ICICI Bank since their combined stake already stands at almost 10%, the limit for a single foreign institutional investor (FII) in one company.
Advanta India settled at a premium, at Rs 850.05, on high volumes of 58.80 lakh shares on BSE. It was listed on BSE at Rs 640, and had retreated sharply to a low of Rs 591, before a U-turn to strike a high of Rs 992.90. Advanta India, a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, had fixed Rs 640 per share as the issue price.
Shares of tyre makers surged after MRF reported a surge of 511.9% in net profit in the March 2007 quarter. MRF surged 6.55% to Rs 3640 on high volumes of 8,887 shares. JK Industries (up 12.70% to Rs 130), CEAT (up 9.83% to Rs 138), and Goodyear India (up 6.26% to Rs 152) advanced. A sharp fall in natural rubber prices also aided the surge in tyre scrips. Tokyo September 2007 rubber futures tumbled by the daily 10-yen limit to 286.9 yen ($2.42) per kg.
MRF's net profit jumped 511.9% to Rs 35.74 crore in Q2 March 2007 from Rs 5.84 crore in Q2 March 2006. Net sales surged 23.1% to Rs 1083.52 crore from Rs 879.60 crore. As per recent reports, tyre makers plan to import some natural rubber this year to ensure adequate supplies and keep a check on domestic prices.
Punj Lloyd rose 1.59% to Rs 185.40, after it won a $ 44.9 million pipeline contract in Qatar. The new contract with extension involves the engineering, procurement and construction of fuel farm, fuel receiving station, jet fuel hydrant system, ground service equipment fuel system, ground service equipment washing system, portable water station and operation office, parking facility for hydrant dispenser vehicles, triturator facility, special fuel system equipment, special systems in building / facilities (BMS/CCTV). The project will be completed by December 2008.
MNC associate bearings manufacturer, SKF India, surged 6.39% to Rs 354.45 on expectations of strong Q1 March 2007 results. It unveils Q1 March 2007 results on 26 April 2007.
Apollo Tyres gained 5.7% to Rs 300.40, after a sharp fall in natural rubber prices, a key raw material in the manufacture of tyres.
Sterling Biotech rose 3.57% to Rs 172.65. It was the fifth-biggest gainer from the 'A' group. The stock rose for the second day in a row. It had risen 16.1% on Wednesday (18 April) to Rs 166.70. The company today reported 25.8% growth in net profit in March 2007 quarter to Rs 38.05 crore (Rs 30.23 crore).
Deccan Aviation jumped 5% to Rs 114.10, on news that the company was close to finalising a deal for raising $75 - 100 million. The company has given a mandate to Edelweiss Capital to raise these funds to finance its fleet expansion, build on-ground infrastructure, and strengthen its training and engineering capabilities. The funds are likely to come from private equity investors, news papers reported on Thursday. The diversified Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group and Texas Pacific Group are among the potential investors.
Kirloskar Brothers lost 1.53% to Rs 363, even as the company bagged an order worth Rs 336 crore. Kirloskar Brothers said on Thursday it had received an extension for the Gandikota Lift Irrigation Scheme and the new project was worth Rs 336 crore.
Network services company, GTL rose 0.37% to Rs 164.70, as its board decided to consider a buy-back of shares on 25 April 2007.
Tata Chemicals gained 2% to Rs 214.80, after the company said on Thursday a tribunal of the central excise had set aside an order of excise commissioner, Haldia, Kolkata, seeking duty and penalty of Rs 557 crore. The tribunal passed its order overruling the excise commissioner's directive on 27 March 2007, the company said in a statement.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 2.30%, while the Nikkei 225 Index had lost 1.67%.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 4.52%, to end at 3,449.01, after hitting an intraday low of 3,358.93. It was the biggest daily drop in the index since 27 February 2007, when it fell nearly 9% -- unsettling global markets. Chinese shares plunged with a heavy turnover on Thursday on concerns that the Chinese government may raise interest rates to cool its rapidly growing economy.
Traders noted fears among investors that China's macroeconomic data for March might suggest the economy was overheating, which could prompt a rate hike from its central bank.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter grew 11.1% from a year earlier, compared with a 10.4% annual rise in the fourth quarter of 2006.
The government on Thursday decided to exempt services exports from service tax and boost merchandise exports by fixing a target of $160 billion for 2007-08.
Announcing the annual supplement of the Foreign Trade Policy, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said the export target of $125 billion for 2006-07 had been met and the government hoped to achieve $160 billion in the current financial year.
"Besides merchandise exports, the country also exported services worth $76.10 billion," he said.
The government has also extended the popular Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme for exporters till March 2008. A new scheme to replace DEPB would be finalised by then.
According to the Meteorological Department, India's annual June-September monsoon rains are likely to be 95% of the long-term average, as per weather office statement. The monsoon is the main source of water for agriculture in India.
Global crude oil futures rose slightly Wednesday on energy stockpiles report. Light, sweet crude for May delivery added 3 cents to 63.13 US dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for June delivery rose 11 cents to 66.04 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. The Energy Department reported on Wednesday that its crude inventories fell by 1 million barrels last week, while its gasoline stockpiles fell 2.7 million barrels.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at an all-time high on Wednesday, as stronger-than-expected profits from JP Morgan Chase & Co eased on concerns about the impact of the subprime lending crisis on big banks. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 30.80 points, or 0.24%, to close at a record 12,803.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.02 points, or 0.07%, to finish at 1,472.50. But the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 6.45 points, or 0.26%, to close at 2,510.50.
FII inflows have picked up after Infosys gave a strong guidance for FY 2008 in dollar terms, setting to rest concerns about the impact of a slowdown in the US on India's IT sector. FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 788.30 crore on Monday (16 April), the day when the Sensex had surged 312 points in a global rally. They were net buyers to the tune of Rs 648.50 crore on Tuesday (17 April). FII inflows for the first few days of April 2007, stand at Rs 3804.30 crore (till 17 April).
As per provisional data, FIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 465 crore on Wednesday (18 April). Domestic institutional investors were net buyers to the tune of Rs 19 crore on the same day.