Key benchmark indices were trading with small gains after witnessing intraday recovery in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 49.37 points or 0.14% at 34,892.88. The Nifty 50 index gained 3.20 points or 0.03% at 10,745.20. Firmness in Asian stocks supported gains on the bourses. Broad market witnessed selling on profit booking.
Trading was restricted within a narrow range around the flat line so far. Indices opened with small gains and hovered in the positive terrain near the flat line till morning trade. Stocks pared losses after slipping into the red in mid-morning trade. The market once again moved into the positive terrain in early afternoon trade.
Among the secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.71%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 1.01%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers for every gainer on BSE. 1,958 shares declined and 807 shares rose. A total of 102 shares were unchanged.
Metal and mining stocks dropped. Bhushan Steel (down 1.74%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.81%), Vedanta (down 1.64%), Tata Steel (down 1.39%), NMDC (down 0.71%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.59%), Steel Authority of India (down 1.7%), JSW Steel (down 0.79%), Hindustan Zinc (down 0.29%) and National Aluminium Company (down 3.64%) edged lower.
In the upcoming budget 2018-19, the metal industry is expecting a push for use of indigenous products, encouraging Make-in-India and increased spending on infra project including housing for all and roads.
Most capital goods stocks also dropped. BEML (down 1.68%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (down 2.12%), Bharat Electronics (down 0.59%), and Siemens (down 1.01%) declined. L&T (up 0.6%) and Thermax (up 0.77%) gained.
TCS rose 3.65% after the company announced the launch of TCS HOBS (Hosted OSS/BSS), a TM Forum certified platform for digital enterprises, on Microsoft Azure. The announcement was made during market hours today, 16 January 2018. The cloud ready TCS HOBS platform will enable customers to get to market quicker and benefit from a pay-as you-use commercial model.
Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals lost 8.24% after the company said that it has indefinitely closed its TDI-II plant at Dahej following leakage. The announcement was made during market hours today, 16 January 2018.
GNFC said that in the morning on 15 January 2018, there has been a sudden leakage at TDI-II plant, Dahej, which called for plant shutdown at Dahej. Due to safety measures already put in place by the company over a period of time, neither there is any property damage nor any loss of life, GNFC said.
However, as a matter of abundant precaution, management has decided to close the plant indefinitely till the root cause is thoroughly analysed, reviewed and necessary further safety measures to be taken are fully evaluated in addition to current safety precautions, the company said.
IMP Powers hit an upper circuit limit of 5% at Rs 125.25 after the company said that it entered into a license agreement for 20 years with Germany's Smart Hydro Power GmbH, establishing an exclusive right for manufacturing turbines under its own brand name in the license territory i.e. India, Laos, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Eastern Africa. Smart Hydro Power has chosen to give the exclusive rights of its proprietary products and technologies to IMP Powers. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 15 January 2018.
BSE fell 4.22% to Rs 939.80 after the company announced that its board approved the buyback proposal for purchase by the company of its fully paid-up equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each, from the shareholders at a price not exceeding Rs 1,100 per equity share through stock exchange. The buyback shall not exceed Rs 166 crore, which represents 9.99% of the aggregate of the company's paid-up equity share capital and free reserves based on the standalone audited financial statements of the company as at 31 March 2017.
At the maximum buyback price and for maximum buyback size, the indicative maximum number of equity shares bought back would be 15.09 lakh equity shares, comprising around 2.80% of the existing paid up equity share capital. If the equity shares are bought back at a price below the maximum buyback price, the actual number of equity shares bought back could exceed the indicative maximum buyback shares.
The public announcement setting out the process, timelines and other statutory details will be released in due course. The announcement was made on NSE after market hours yesterday, 15 January 2018.
Among macroeconomic data, exports rose 12.36% to $27.03 billion in December 2017 over December 2016. Imports rose 21.12% to $41.91 billion in December 2017 over December 2016. The trade deficit for December 2017 was estimated at $14.88 billion as against the deficit of $10.54 billion during December 2016.
Overseas, Asian stocks gained, erasing early losses amid announcements of corporate earnings. US stock markets remained shut yesterday, 15 January 2018, for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Among macro data, the trade surplus in the 19 countries sharing the euro expanded in November to its highest point in eight months. The European statistics office Eurostat said the euro zone's surplus in goods trade rose in unadjusted terms to 26.3 billion euros in November, up from 18.9 billion euros in October. It was also higher than the 23.8 billion surplus recorded a year earlier.
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