Sensex, Nifty hit record high on positive Asian stocks

Key benchmark indices trimmed initial gains triggered by positive Asian stocks. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, hit record high. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 92.74 points or 0.42%, off 56.86 points from the day's high and up 33.67 points from the day's low. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong.

Bank shares rose after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday, 27 March 2014, extended the timeline for full implementation of the Basel III capital regulations to 31 March 2019.

Asian markets edged higher with banks, brokerages and energy shares leading gains.

The market sentiment was boosted by data showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made substantial purchases of Indian stocks on Thursday, 27 March 2014. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 2191.93 crore on Thursday, 27 March 2014, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

At 9:30 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 92.74 points or 0.42% to 22,307.11. The index gained 149.60 points at the day's high of 22,363.97 in early trade, a record high for the barometer index. The index rose 59.07 points at the day's low of 22,214.37 in opening trade.

The CNX Nifty was up 31.05 points or 0.47% to 6,672.80. The index hit a high of 6,684.95 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 6,666.65 in intraday trade.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 869 shares gained and 317 shares fell. A total of 50 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 58.47 points or 0.85% to 6,968.14 and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 39.83 points or 0.58% to 6,956.33. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 238 crore by 09:30 IST.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 24 stocks gained and rest of them declined.

Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 1.38%. RIL spokesperson Umesh Upadhyay after market hours on Thursday, 27 March 2014, said that the FIR relating to gas contracts filed by former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal against the Union Government was completely illegal. The Constitution clearly spells out the division of power between and Centre and State very unambiguously. Mr. Upadhyay said he spoke with constitutional expert and former Secretary General of Lok Sabha, Dr. Subhash Kashyap on the issue.

Dr. Kashyap said that Delhi is a centrally administered Union Territory and the President is supposed to be administering it through the Lt. Governor. As a concession to the political forces in Delhi and to the public opinion, a council of ministers and a legislature was conceded to Delhi. But entirely unlike a state legislature, their powers are very clearly defined and delimited by the Constitution and by the NCT act, Dr. Kashyap said. They do not take away the powers of the Union Parliament and Union Government over the territory of Delhi and even in the State list, the Parliament remains fully authorized to make laws and if there is a contradiction in the laws made by the Parliament and the Delhi Legislative Assembly even in the State list it is the Union law that prevails, Dr. Kashyap said.

Just two days prior to quitting from his position, the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered an FIR with the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Delhi, which reports to him and not Delhi police which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr. Upadhyay said. It is clear that neither he was keen on fighting corruption nor willing to follow due legal process, Mr. Upadhyay said. He had an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Upadhyay said.

Bank shares rose after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday, 27 March 2014, extended the timeline for full implementation of the Basel III capital regulations to 31 March 2019.

Among private sector banks, Axis Bank (up 1.4%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 1.11%), ICICI Bank (up 0.22%), Yes Bank (up 2.68%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.09%) gained.

Among PSU bank stocks, State Bank of India (SBI) (up 2.54%), Punjab National Bank (up 3.42%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.81%), Bank of India (up 3.61%) and Union Bank of India (up 5.41%) gained.

The RBI, in a notification, said that the implementation of Basel III capital regulations may necessitate some lead time for banks to raise capital within the internationally agreed timeline for full implementation of the Basel III capital regulations. Accordingly, the transitional period for full implementation of Basel III capital regulations in India is extended up to 31 March 2019, instead of as on 31 March 2018.

The central bank also said the extension will align full implementation of Basel III in India closer to the internationally agreed date of 1 January 2019.

Basel III is a comprehensive set of reform measures, developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, to strengthen the regulation, supervision and risk management of the banking sector.

Canara Bank gained 3.78%. Canara Bank said after market hours on Thursday, 27 March 2014 that the Tier-II Bonds (Series - II) issue opened and closed on Thursday, 27 March 2014. The Bank has successfully raised Rs 1000 crore under BASEL-III Complaint Tier-II Bonds (Series-II).

Infosys rose 0.73%. Infosys after market hours on Thursday, 27 March 2014 said its US-based subsidiary, Infosys Public Services, Inc., has been selected by Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime Therapeutics), a leading pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), to set up a testing center of excellence (COE) and consolidate the delivery of its application testing services as part of a new three-year contract.

Prime Therapeutics will streamline and optimize its quality assurance (QA) and testing services as well as enhance its competitiveness with Infosys Public Services' expertise and world-class delivery model. Prime Therapeutics also expects to expand the capabilities of its QA organization and gain efficiencies in managing a large scale QA department, the company said in a statement.

"We look forward to bringing our deep experience in the health care industry and pharmacy benefit management in particular as well as globally benchmarked QA and testing service delivery to Prime Therapeutics," said Eric Paternoster, President and CEO, Infosys Public Services, Inc. "This agreement will allow us to help the company sharpen its focus on providing better care and services to their members."

Prime Therapeutics selected Infosys Public Services for its health care and pharmacy benefit management expertise, proven experience with QA and testing COEs, and service delivery capabilities. As part of the contract, Infosys Public Services will consolidate and standardize Prime Therapeutics' QA and testing services, currently provided by multiple service providers. Infosys Public Services will support Prime Therapeutics' QA organization as they deliver across all lines of the business and increase the agility of the QA department.

Prime Therapeutics will be able to improve application and service quality, and reduce IT costs with Infosys Public Services' range of QA and testing frameworks, techniques, tools and accelerators.

"The rapidly evolving health care industry demands faster response and improved information technology quality to ensure Prime Therapeutics' competitiveness, said Jim Graham, Vice President Application Development, Prime Therapeutics. Transforming our testing and QA services will help us achieve that and better meet the needs of health plans, employers, and government programs."

Tech Mahindra (up 0.48%) and United Spirits (up 0.42%) edged higher. Jaiprakash Associates (up 0.91%) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 1.23%) gained.

Tech Mahindra and United Spirits replaced Jaiprakash Associates and Ranbaxy Laboratories in the 50-unit CNX Nifty index effective today, 28 March 2014, as per the changes in Nifty constituents announced by NSE earlier.

Colgate Palmolive (India) rose 0.06%. Colgate Palmolive (India) after market hours on Thursday, 27 March 2014 that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 27 March 2014, has declared a third interim dividend of Rs 9 per share for the financial year ending 31 March 2014. The said interim dividend will be paid on the paid-up equity share capital of Rs 13.60 crore involving a total pay-out of Rs 143.20 crore [including dividend distribution tax].

Further the company has informed that, the said interim dividend declared by the board will be paid on 16 April 2014 to those shareholders whose names appear on the Register of Members of the company on 3 April 2014.

Including the first and second interim dividend of Rs 9 per share each paid in November 2013 and December 2013, respectively, the company has declared a total interim dividend of Rs 27 per share for the year ending 31 March 2014.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed some of the forex hedging rules for importers and exporters, to allow greater operational flexibility, the central bank notified on Thursday, 27 March 2014. Importers and exporters can cancel up to 75% of their hedged forex exposures, as against 25% earlier, the RBI said. In addition, the profit or loss from these cancellations will be borne by the importer/exporter instead of passing it on to the customers as was mandated earlier.

The Reserve Bank of India will announce the First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2014-15 on 1 April 2014. Citing price pressures, the Reserve Bank of India raised its key lending rates by 25 basis points after Third Quarter Review of Monetary Policy for 2013-14 on 28 January 2014.

The next major trigger for the stock market is the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Lok Sabha elections will be held between 7 April 2014 and 12 May 2014 in nine phases. The counting of votes will take place on 16 May 2014. The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on June 1 and the new House has to be constituted by May 31. Along with the Lok Sabha election, Andhra Pradesh (AP), including the regions comprising Telangana, Odisha and Sikkim will go to polls to elect new assemblies. AP, Odisha and Sikkim assemblies come to end on June 2, June 7 and May 7 respectively.

Asian markets edged higher with banks, brokerages and energy shares leading gains. Key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea rose by 0.03% to 1.22%.

Japanese retail sales rose 3.6% in February from a year earlier for the seventh straight month, the government said Friday, as consumers rushed to make purchases before the implementation of the April sales tax increase.

The Japanese core consumer price index rose 1.3% from a year earlier in February, the government said Friday, gaining for a ninth straight month amid an aggressive easing program by the Bank of Japan to overcome more than a decade of deflation.

US stock market extended losses for the second day and finished lower Thursday, amid concerns that improving economic indicators might force the Fed to start raising rates sooner than anticipated.

Government data showed that the economy's growth in the fourth quarter was bumped up to 2.6%, mainly because of higher health-care spending, while weekly unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in four months, offering further evidence that US layoffs have slowed sharply and perhaps a hint that hiring is about to pick up.

Slumping for an eighth month, a guage of pending home sales fell 0.8% in February to the lowest level in more than two years, signaling that upcoming activity may slow, the National Association of Realtors reported.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) next undertakes monetary policy review at a two-day meeting on 29-30 April 2014. The Federal Reserve on 19 March 2014 said after the conclusion of a monetary policy review that it will trim its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $55 billion. The Federal Reserve will end its bond-buying program before the end of the year with an interest-rate increase likely to follow in "around six months," Chair Janet Yellen said on 19 March 2014. Quarterly Fed forecasts on 19 March 2014 showed more officials predicting that the benchmark interest rate, now close to zero, will rise to at least 1% by the end of 2015 and 2.25% a year later.

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