Power generation stocks witness mixed trend

Key benchmark indices further extended gains in early afternoon trade buoyed by encouraging India's manufacturing data in March. At 12:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 196.76 points or 0.66% at 29,817.26. The Nifty 50 index was up 38.30 points or 0.42% at 9,212.05. Positive sentiment in Asian equities also helped domestic market upmove.

The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.62%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.16%, outperforming the Sensex.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1,861 shares rose and 743 shares declined. A total of 113 shares were unchanged.

Pharma stocks edged higher. Ipca Laboratories (up 1.4%), Strides Shasun (up 1.11%), Divi's Laboratories (up 0.71%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 0.19%), Lupin (up 0.12%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.09%) and Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.09%) gained. GlaxoSmithkline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.64%) and Cipla (down 0.2%) edged lower.

Power generation and power distribution stocks were mixed. Reliance Power (up 4.38%), Adani Power (up 2.13%), Reliance Infrastructure (up 1.59%), JSW Energy (up 1.51%) and GMR Infrastructure (up 1.25%) edged higher. Torrent Power (down 3%), Tata Power Company (down 0.94%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 1.19%), CESC (down 0.39%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 0.38%) and NTPC (down 0.27%) edged lower.

Among economic data, Markit data released during market hours today, 3 April 2017 showed that the health of India's manufacturing sector improved for the third straight month in March, and to the greatest extent since October 2016. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Manufacturing PMI increased to a five-month high of 52.5 in March, from 50.7 in February.

The output of eight core industries comprising nearly 38% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose at moderated pace of 1% in February 2017, compared with 3.4% growth recorded in January 2017. The data was released by the government after market hours on Friday, 31 March 2017.

Another data released after market hours on Friday, 31 March 2017 showed that India's external debt stock fell by $29 billion (6%) to $456.1 billion, at end-December 2016 over the level at end-March 2016. The decline in external debt during the period was due to the fall in long-term external debt, particularly the fall in NRI deposits reflecting the redemption of FCNR (B) deposits and decline in commercial borrowings with fall in both commercial bank loans and securitized borrowings. On a sequential basis, total external debt at end-December 2016 declined by $28.1 billion (5.8%) from the end-September 2016 level.

Overseas, Asian shares were mostly higher as traders eye news ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the US.

US stocks closed lower on Friday, 31 March 2017, as investors digested a slew of economic data. In economic news, personal income rose 0.4% in February, while consumer spending rose 0.1%.

Among global developments, US President Donald Trump was quoted as saying that the US will take unilateral action to eliminate nuclear threats from North Korea, unless China, one of the hermit state's closest ally, intensifies pressure on Pyongyang. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday in Florida.

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