A range bound movement was witnessed as key benchmark indices hovered near the day's low in mid-morning trade. At 11:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 145.72 points or 0.56% at 25,692.42. The Nifty 50 index was currently down 41.65 points or 0.53% at 7,857.65. Weakness in Asian stocks spoiled investors' sentiment. Asian shares edged lower as investors awaited central bank meetings in the United States and Japan this week.
The Sensex fell 157.50 points, or 0.61% at the day's low of 25,680.64 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 18 April 2016. The barometer index rose 52.89 points, or 0.2% at the day's high of 25,891.03 in early trade. The Nifty fell 45.45 points, or 0.58% at the day's low of 7,853.85 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 18 April 2016. The index rose 11.70 points, or 0.15% at the day's high of 7,911 in early trade.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. On BSE, 1,205 shares fell and 948 shares rose. A total of 119 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently down 0.08%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.13%. The decline in both these indices was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
In overseas stock markets, Asian shares edged lower as investors awaited central bank meetings in the United States and Japan this week. US stocks finished mixed during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 April 2016, as earnings misses in the previous session from Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet slackened optimism on Wall Street. The US Federal Reserve holds a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, 26 April 2016 and Wednesday, 27 April 2016. As per market expectations, the Fed is likely to hold rates steady this week and instead will opt to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points in its June meeting to 0.5-0.75% in what will be the second in its first series of rate rises in nearly a decade.
In Japan, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) holds a two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, 27 April 2016 and Thursday, 28 April 2016. Market participants are becoming more confident in their expectations of further easing from the Bank of Japan. The BOJ in January decided to begin charging 0.1% interest on some bank reserves parked with the institution, in a bid to kick-start the economy and pull it out of two decades of deflation.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries edged lower after announcing Q4 March 2016 results after trading hours on Friday, 22 April 2016. The stock was currently off 2.38% at Rs 1,014. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,044.90 and a low of Rs 1,012.75 so far during the day. RIL's consolidated net profit rose 15.93% to Rs 7398 crore on 10.95% fall in total income to Rs 62010 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. Strong operating performance from refining and petrochemicals businesses coupled with favorable exchange rate movement was partially offset by lower contribution from Oil & Gas business. The decline in revenue was led by the 41.4% decline in benchmark oil price which averaged at $30.4 per barrel in Q4 March 2016 as compared to $51.9 per barrel in Q4 March 2015. Based on standalone performance, the gross refining margin (GRM) increased to $10.80 per barrel in Q4 March 2016 from $10.10 per barrel in Q4 March 2015.
RIL did not specify when exactly it would start commercial roll out of telecom business. RIL said that the commercial roll out is expected in coming months. Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) launched full-scale service offerings for the RIL group employees, partners, vendors and associates on a trial basis on 28 December 2015. RIL's telecom business is being carried out through its subsidiary RJIL.
Index heavyweight and housing finance major HDFC was down 1.27% to Rs 1,117. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,130 and a low of Rs 1,112 so far during the day.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC was down 1.11% to Rs 322.10. The stock hit a high of Rs 325.50 and a low of Rs 321.85 so far during the day.
Metal shares edged lower. Vedanta (down 3.48%), Hindalco Industries (down 3.12%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 3.08%), Bhushan Steel (down 2.82%), Tata Steel (down 2.15%), Hindustan Zinc (down 1.89%), Steel Authority of India (down 1.52%), JSW Steel (down 1.12%), NMDC (down 0.9%), National Aluminium Company (down 0.79%) and Hindustan Copper (down 0.71%) edged lower.
Copper price edged lower in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for May 2016 delivery was currently down 0.20% at $2.26 per pound on the COMEX.
Most IT stocks edged lower. Persistent Systems (down 3.54%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.26%), MindTree (down 0.66%), Infosys (down 0.56%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.37%), edged lower. HCL Technologies (up 0.07%), MphasiS (up 0.17%) and Hexaware Technologies (up 0.48%), edged higher.
Wipro was down 0.21% to Rs 556.55. The company after market hours on Friday, 22 April 2016, announced that it has fixed 6 May 2016 as the record date for the purpose of buyback of equity shares. Wipro's board of directors recently approved a proposal to buyback up to 4 crore equity shares of the company for an aggregate amount of up to Rs 2500 crore, being 1.62% of the total paid up equity share capital. The buyback will be through the tender offer route at Rs 625 per share. The promoters of the company have indicated their intention to participate in the proposed buyback.
TCS was up 0.86% to Rs 2,438. The company after market hours on Friday, 22 April 2016, announced the launch of Mobile Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Management framework for anytime-anywhere NFV monitoring and management for Red Hat OpenStack Platform. The TCS framework enables the Network administrators to securely and flawlessly monitor and manage critical operations with Red Hat OpenStack Platform.
Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services rose 3.57% after consolidated net profit rose 12% to Rs 411 crore on 13% growth in total income to Rs 1905 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The result was announced on Saturday, 23 April 2016. The company's board of directors at its meeting held on Saturday, 23 April 2016, approved the increase in the borrowing limits of the company from Rs 50000 crore to Rs 55000 crore. The board approved the issue of secured/unsecured non-convertible debentures including subordinated debentures on a private placement basis, within the overall borrowing limits of the company.
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