The Indian markets continued their choppy run, though once again managed a close of modest gains. Today, the start is likely to remain in green on sanguine global cues. There will be buzz in the market with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) specifying a circuit limit of up to 20% for all publicly traded stocks that are included in any index derivatives. The market regulator said the move is aimed at protecting stocks against excessive volatility risks. There will be some cautiousness too, as the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) on Thursday lowered the GDP projection for the current fiscal to 4.7-4.9 percent due to exchange rate depreciation. Telecom companies are likely to remain buzzing as they have jointly made bids of about Rs 52,700 crore at the end of the fourth day of the spectrum auction, driven by high demand for premium 900 MHz airwaves in the metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta. Also, as the Union cabinet approved a proposal by Vodafone Group Plc to take full ownership of its local unit by paying around $1.6 billion, as UK’s mobile-phone company looks to expand in the country.
Lots of important result announcement slated today will keep the markets ticking. Andhra Bank, Ashoka Buildcon, CESC, Cadila Health, Corporation Bank, Eveready Inds, Godrej Inds, Hexaware Technologies, Jain Irrigation, Jet Air India, Manappuram Finance, PC Jeweller, Reliance Capital, Reliance Comm, RPG Life, Shasun Pharma and Sun TV Network are among the many to announce their numbers today.
The US markets made a good surge in last session and Dow marked its best session of the year, reacting positively to the latest batch of US economic data. Initial jobless claims fell, while on the same time labor productivity rose by 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter. The Asian markets have made a green start with the Japanese Nikkei taking the lead, up by around two percent after yen dropped against the dollar. However, the Chinese market was marginally in red after report that China's services sector grew at its slowest pace in almost 2-1/2 years in January.
Back home, Indian frontline equity indices staged a smart bounce in last leg of trade on Thursday, back after hitting lowest point of trade and recovered around a percentage point to finish in the positive territory with moderate gains. Earlier, the benchmark got off to a positive opening tracking supportive leads from Asian markets. The key gauges touched the highest point in session with the 30-share Sensex even breaching crucial 20,350 levels but sudden bouts of profit booking dragged the indices into the negative territory in late morning trade. Nevertheless, domestic bourses once again staged strong recovery in last leg of trade and regained their green trajectory supported by buying in beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. Firm opening in European markets too supported the sentiments, Asian markets too ended in the green with investors indulging in some bargain hunting after recent steep losses. Back home, some support came from Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s statement that the country can grow at a sustained rate of 8-9 percent annually over the next 10-30 years. Some optimism also came on the buzz that the government will allow 26% foreign investment in activities related to insurance like broking, third party administrators and surveyors and permitted FIIs and NRIs to also invest in insurers within stipulated cap. Meanwhile, Activity in India’s services sector improved marginally in January but still remained in the ‘contraction zone’ for the seventh month running. The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed to 48.3 in January from 46.7 in December. Gains in fast moving consumer goods stocks like ITC and HUL too supported the markets up-move. Telecom stocks viz, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communication, Bharti Airtel remained on buyers’ radar, as the third round of the telecom spectrum auction continued on a warm note on third day on February 5, 2014. Telecom companies bid aggressively for the efficient 900-MHz band available in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles. Select shipping stocks like, Global Offshore, Seamec and Dredging Corp edged higher, as the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved five port related projects involving at least Rs 17,600 crore investments to increase the capacity of the major ports by 150.74 million tonnes per annum. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 49.71 points or 0.25%, to settle at 20310.74, while the CNX Nifty added 13.90 points or 0.23% to settle at 6,036.30.
