A bout of volatility was witnessed as key indices trimmed losses after extending losses in mid-morning trade. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was currently off 125.18 points or 0.45% at 27,832.32.
FMCG stocks were mixed. JSW Steel declined after the company reported muted growth in crude steel production in April 2015. Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC dropped after the company reported muted growth in Q4 net profit.
Foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs 211.42 crore during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 May 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 237.62 crore on Friday, 22 May 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Indian stocks may remain volatile this week as traders roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month May 2015 series to June 2015 series. The near month May 2015 F&O contracts expire on Thursday, 28 May 2015.
In overseas markets, Chinese stocks rallied for a fifth straight day today, 25 May 2015, leading Asian markets mostly higher. US stocks ended modestly lower during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 May 2015, after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she still expected the central bank to raise interest rates sometime this year.
At 12:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 125.18 points or 0.45% at 27,832.32. The index lost 156.70 points at the day's low of 27,800.80 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 21 May 2015. The index fell 54.21 points at the day's high of 27,903.29 in early trade
The CNX Nifty was down 29.75 points or 0.35% at 8,429.20. The index hit a low of 8,414.95 in intraday trade, its lowest level since 21 May 2015. The index hit a high of 8,441.95 in intraday trade.
The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 41.27 points or 0.39% at 10,661.08. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 27.92 points or 0.25% at 11,235.58. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive in early afternoon trade. On BSE, 1,159 shares fell and 1,118 shares rose. A total of 92 shares were unchanged.
FMCG stocks were mixed. Britannia Industries (up 2.01%), Marico (up 1.55%), Jyothy Laboratories (up 1.56%), Dabur India (up 0.47%), Tata Global Beverages (up 0.51%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care (up 0.17%) and Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 0.05%) edged higher. Godrej Consumer Products (down 1.86%), GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (down 1.61%), Hindustan Unilever (down 1.14%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.61%) and Nestle India (down 0.95%) edged lower.
Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC dropped after the company reported muted growth in Q4 net profit. The stock was off 2.53% at Rs 320.15. ITC's net profit rose 3.65% to Rs 2361.18 crore on 1.66% increase in total income to Rs 9663.15 crore in Q4 March 2015 over Q4 March 2014. The result was announced after trading hours on Friday, 22 May 2015.
ITC said that its performance in Q4 March 2015 was adversely impacted by steep increase in excise duty and VAT on cigarettes and weak demand environment. In a press release, ITC said that the muted growth in revenue and profits in Q4 March 2015 reflects, inter alia, the continuing impact of the steep hike in taxation on cigarettes, sluggish demand conditions in the FMCG industry, start-up costs of the juices category, lack of trading opportunities in agri-commodities and costs relating to rationalisation of safety matches manufacturing operations. Financials for the quarter include Rs 58 crore towards costs associated with rationalisation of safety matches manufacturing operations.
Excluding expenditure on Corporate Social Responsibility/Social Investment programmes, profit before tax for the quarter grew by 6.4% and net profit for the quarter grew by 7.8% on a comparable basis, ITC said.
ITC said that the legal cigarette industry in India continues to be impacted adversely by a punitive taxation and discriminatory regulatory regime. The operating environment for the legal cigarette industry in India was rendered even more challenging in 2014-15 with two rounds of sharp increase in excise duty -- in July 2014 and February 2015. This includes a cumulative increase of 115% on filter cigarettes of 'length not exceeding 65 mm', which has widened the price differential between legal and illegal cigarettes and made it extremely difficult for the legal cigarette industry to counter the unabated growth of illegal cigarettes in the country, ITC said. Notwithstanding the challenging regulatory and taxation environment, the company strengthened its product portfolio across segments to reinforce its leadership position in the industry during 2014-15, ITC said.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) was off 1.2% at Rs 231.15. The company during market hours today, 25 May 2015, announced that the company has brought a turnaround in the hydro power sector by commissioning 6 hydro sets aggregating to 736 megawatts (MW) during fiscal 2014-15. This is also the highest hydro capacity addition in a single year by Bhel in the last decade. The feat was achieved by successfully commissioning projects of three major central utilities - NTPC, NHPC and SJVNL, Bhel said in a statement. Bhel is presently executing hydro power projects of around 4,600 MW, which are under various stages of implementation.
JSW Steel declined after the company reported muted growth in crude steel production in April 2015. The stock was off 0.78% at Rs 913.35. The stock hit a high of Rs 927 and a low of Rs 911 so far during the day. JSW Steel's crude steel production rose 2% to 10.11 lakh tonnes in April 2015 over April 2014. Production of flat rolled products declined 1% to 7.65 lakh tonnes in April 2015 over April 2014. Production of long rolled products fell 19% to 1.33 lakh tonnes in April 2015 over April 2014.
In overseas markets, Chinese stocks rallied for a fifth straight day today, 25 May 2015, leading Asian markets mostly higher. Key indices in Japan, Singapore and Taiwan were up 0.07% to 0.74%. In Indonesia, Jakarta Composite index was off 0.5%. Korean and Hong Kong markets were closed for the Buddha's Birthday holiday.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index was up 2.56%. China's Ministry of Finance today, 25 May 2015, announced that it would cut import duties on cosmetics, shoes and clothes by 50% on average, as part of a plan to boost domestic consumption and sustain economic growth.
US stocks ended modestly lower during the previous trading session on Friday, 22 May 2015, after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she still expected the central bank to raise interest rates sometime this year. Yellen said in a speech delivered in Providence, R.I., discussing the US economic outlook on Friday, 22 May 2015, that the central bank is on track to raise interest rates this year but will likely proceed cautiously because the job market hasn't fully healed, inflation is low and growth has again disappointed.
The US stock market remains closed today, 25 May 2015, for the Memorial Day Holiday.
In Europe, risks regarding a potential Greek exit from the euro zone remained in the backdrop after the country's interior minister, Nikos Voutsis, threatened to default on loan repayments due to the International Monetary Fund.
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