Key benchmark indices moved in a narrow range in mid-morning trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 35.48 points or 0.17%, off close to 15 points from the day's high and up about 65 points from the day's low. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive.
Steel shares were in demand. Telecom stocks were mixed. Bajaj Electricals gained after the company's engineering and project business unit bagged power distribution projects worth Rs 757 crore under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna scheme. Visaka Industries tumbled after the company reported a reverse turnaround in Q2 September 2013. Wockhardt surged after the UK health regulator allowed its Kadaiya, Nani Daman facility to manufacture and supply most of the products approved to be produced at the unit.
A bout of initial volatility was witnessed as key benchmark alternately swung between positive and negative terrain. Volatility continued in morning trade. Key benchmark indices moved in a narrow range in mid-morning trade.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 271.70 crore on Wednesday, 6 November 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
At 11:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 35.48 points or 0.17% to 20,930.13. The index rose 49.35 points at the day's high of 20,944.29 in morning trade. The index fell 28.06 points at the day's low of 20,866.88 in early trade.
The CNX Nifty was up 9 points or 0.14% to 6,224.15. The index hit a high of 6,232.15 in intraday trade. The index hit a low of 6,207.35 in intraday trade, its lowest level since 29 October 2013.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1,091 shares rose and 861 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 16 stocks rose and rest of them fell. Sesa Sterlite (up 2.41%), Hindalco Industries (up 1.99%) and TCS (up 1.25%), gained.
Steel shares were in demand. Sail (up 3.6%), JSW Steel (up 1.47%), Bhushan Steel (up 0.85%) and Tata Steel (up 2.11%), gained. But, Jindal Steel & Power fell 0.45%.
Telecom stocks were mixed. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) was flat. MTNL (up 0.32%), and Reliance Communications (up 0.66%), edged higher. Idea Cellular (down 0.06%) and Bharti Airtel (down 0.91%), declined.
The Telecom Commission -- the government's top telecommunications policy-making body -- on Wednesday, 6 November 2013, recommended new rules on acquisitions of cellular companies. The Telecom Commission recommended that any company acquiring an Indian cellular company be asked to pay a fee to the government on top of what it pays for the company. The fee will be connected to the current value of the bandwidth which the target company holds. The commission's recommendations, which are likely to become policy after final approval from a panel of ministers, included a suggestion that India increase the minimum price for bandwidth by 15% to 25% for an airwave auction scheduled for January. It also recommended that merged telecommunications companies be allowed to control up to 50% of the market zones in which they operate. That cap, set to encourage competition, had earlier been 36%.
Wockhardt surged 9.68% after the UK health regulator allowed its Kadaiya, Nani Daman facility to manufacture and supply most of the products approved to be produced at the unit. The announcement was made after market hours on Wednesday, 6 November 2013.
Wockhardt said that UK's Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (UKMHRA) has allowed the company to manufacture and supply most of the products manufactured at the company's facility at Kadaiya in Nani Daman and assessed to be critical to public health. As a result the net impact on the annualised consolidated revenue is expected to be less than 1 million pounds, out of the total annual consolidated revenue of approximately 18 million pounds from the said facility, Wockhardt added.
Last month, UKMHRA had imposed restrictions on import of medicines made at Wockhardt's Kadaiya unit for violation of norms.
Bajaj Electricals gained 4.85% after the company's engineering and project business unit bagged power distribution projects worth Rs 757 crore under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna scheme. The company announced the orders win after market hours on Wednesday, 6 November 2013.
Visaka Industries tumbled 9.62% after the company reported a reverse turnaround in Q2 September 2013. The company reported a net loss of Rs 1.56 crore in Q2 September 2013, compared with net profit of Rs 9.01 crore in Q2 September 2012. The Q2 result was announced after market hours on Wednesday, 6 November 2013. Visaka Industries' total income from operations declined 7.96% to Rs 180.83 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee hit one-month low against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 62.535, compared with its close of 62.39/40 on Wednesday, 6 November 2013. The rupee had declined sharply on Wednesday on sustained dollar demand from state-run banks, leading to speculation that they were buying on behalf of oil refiners.
Asian stocks fell on Thursday, 7 November 2013, before US economic reports and the European Central Bank's policy meeting. Key benchmark indices in Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea shed 0.06% to 0.83%. Key benchmark indices in Indonesia and Singapore rose 0.04% to 0.74%.
China's leaders will meet in Beijing on November 9-12 to map out economic policies as the country heads for its slowest annual growth in more than two decades.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 6 points at the opening bell on Thursday, 7 November 2013. Most US stocks rose on Wednesday, 6 November 2013, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching another record close, as investors bought into optimism that the Federal Reserve would continue its stimulus longer than thought, ahead of economic reports this week on the economy and the labor market.
Data on US GDP growth for Q3 September 2013 is due for release today, 7 November 2013. The GDP grew 2.5% in Q2 June 2013.
The US government will tomorrow, 8 November 2013, release nonfarm payrolls figures for October 2013. The job data is a key economic indicator that has been watched closely in recent months to see whether the US Federal Reserve will roll back its bond-buying program.
In Europe, the European Central Bank (ECB) holds a monetary policy meeting today, 7 November 2013. The ECB is seen retaining its key policy rate at a record-low 0.5%. The Bank of England will also announce its monetary policy decision today, 7 November 2013.
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