THE END SESSION ( 19 / 02 )

Sensex, Nifty hit highest closing level in more than a week

A divergent trend among various index constituents resulted in small gains for key benchmark indices. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 59.93 points or 0.25% to settle at 23,709.15. The 50-unit Nifty 50 index rose 19 points or 0.26% to settle at 7,210.75. The two key benchmark indices witnessed intraday volatility during the second half of the trading session. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, hit their highest closing level in more than a week. The two key benchmark indices edged higher for the third straight trading session.

State Bank of India edged higher after the state-run bank said it has raised Rs 3000 crore from issue of Basel III compliant Tier-II bonds. Maruti Suzuki India extended losses registered during the previous trading session triggered by media reports that the company may fail to meet its volume growth target for the year ending 31 March 2017 (FY 2017) because of capacity constraints. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) fell on media reports that a foreign brokerage has maintained its 'sell' rating on the stock and cut its price target as it expects the state-run company to report losses until the year ending 31 March 2018 (FY 2018).In overseas stock markets, European stocks witnessed a mixed trend. Earlier during the global day, most Asian stocks edged lower on continued concerns about global economic slowdown. US stocks closed lower yesterday, 18 February 2016, after mixed economic data.

The Sensex rose 59.93 points or 0.25% to settle at 23,709.15, its highest closing level since 10 February 2016. The index rose 125.26 points or 0.52% at the day's high of 23,774.48. The index lost 140.86 points or 0.59% at the day's low of 23,508.36.

The Nifty rose 19 points or 0.26% to settle at 7,210.75, its highest closing level since 10 February 2016. The index rose 35.10 points or 0.48% at the day's high of 7,226.85. The index lost 45.80 points or 0.63% at the day's low of 7,145.95.

The BSE Mid-Cap index lost 0.12%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.16%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was positive. On BSE, 1,302 shares rose and 1,204 shares declined. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.
Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Basic Materials index (up 0.57%), the BSE IT index (up 0.4%), the BSE Telecom index (up 1.44%) and the BSE Auto index (up 0.87%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Energy index (down 0.57%) and the BSE Oil & Gas index (down 1%) underperformed the Sensex.

Shares of oil exploration and production (E&P) firms edged higher. Cairn India (up 0.42%), ONGC (up 1.1%) and Reliance Industries (up 0.36%) edged higher. Oil India (down 0.59%) edged lower.

Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) declined. BPCL (down 2.76%), HPCL (down 4.98%) and Indian Oil Corporation (down 4.78%) edged lower.
Crude oil prices declined in volatile trade after the latest data showed that crude inventories in the US rose to a fresh weekly high, adding to a persistently stubborn global oil supply glut. Brent for April settlement was currently down 30 cents at $33.98 a barrel. The contract had declined 22 cents or 0.63% to settle at $34.28 a barrel during previous trading session.

IT stocks edged higher on renewed buying. Tech Mahindra (up 2.39%), HCL Technologies (up 0.76%), Wipro (up 1.16%), Infosys (up 0.12%) and TCS (up 0.21%) gained. Oracle Financial Services Software (down 1.33%) edged lower.

Auto stocks gained. Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.29%), Hero MotoCorp (up 3.2%), Bajaj Auto (up 2.14%), Tata Motors (up 1.21%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.9%) and Ashok Leyland (up 1.62%) edged higher. Eicher Motors (down 0.51%) declined.

Maruti Suzuki India fell 2.02% at Rs 3,581.05, with the stock extending losses registered during the previous trading session triggered by media reports that the company may fail to meet its volume growth target for the year ending 31 March 2017 (FY 2017) because of capacity constraints. The stock had lost 2.53% to settle at Rs 3,654.90 yesterday, 18 February 2016. Maruti Chairman R.C. Bhargava was quoted as saying that the company's volume growth will moderate to 8-9% in FY 2017, slower than the double-digit growth expected earlier.

Stocks of public sector banks edged higher. Punjab National Bank (up 5.11%), Union Bank of India (up 3.33%), IDBI Bank (up 2.33%), Bank of India (up 1.75%), Bank of Baroda (up 0.58%) and Syndicate Bank (up 1.15%) gained. Corporation Bank (down 1.76%) and Indian Bank (down 0.35%) declined.

State Bank of India (SBI) rose 3.2% at Rs 164.65 after the bank said it has issued 30,000, Basel III compliant, Tier-II bonds in the nature of debentures aggregating to Rs 3000 crore on private placement basis. The tenure of debentures is 10 years, with a coupon rate of 8.45% per annum and with call option after 5 years. The announcement was made before market hours today, 19 February 2016.

Stocks of private sector banks declined. Axis Bank (down 1.37%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.66%), IndusInd Bank (down 0.48%) and Yes Bank (down 0.14%) edged lower. ICICI Bank (up 1.25%) edged higher.

HDFC Bank was down 0.16% at Rs 988.05. The stock was volatile. The stock hit a high of Rs 993.50 and a low of Rs 974 in intraday trade. The bank before market hours today, 19 February 2016, announced that it has outstanding bonds totaling about $1.20 billion issued from Bahrain branch. These bonds have a dual rating from Standard & Poor's (S&P) of BBB- and Moody's of Baa3. The issuer rating of HDFC Bank by S&P and Moody's is BBB- and Baa3 respectively, HDFC Bank said. On 17 February 2016, S&P lowered its long and short term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on the Kingdom of Bahrain to BB/B (stable) from BBB-/A3 (negative), HDFC Bank said. The rating criteria published by S&P restrict the rating of any bond issued in a jurisdiction to the host country rating, the bank said. 

Consequent to the recent rating action on Bahrain, the bonds issued by HDFC Bank may also be subject to rating action by S&P, the bank added. HDFC Bank said it is in the process of carrying out modifications to the structure of all the issuances done from Bahrain in order to ensure that the bonds issued by the bank are insulated from any rating actions on the host country.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) fell 1.83% at Rs 101.90 on media reports that a foreign brokerage has maintained its 'sell' rating on the stock and cut its price target as it expects the state-run company to report losses until the year ending 31 March 2018 (FY 2018). The foreign brokerage expects Bhel's revenue to remain muted in FY 2017.
The Sensex and the Nifty edged higher for the third straight trading session. The Sensex has risen 517.18 points or 2.22% in three trading sessions from its close of 23,191.97 on 16 February 2016. The barometer index has fallen 1,161.54 points or 4.67% in this month so far (till 19 February 2016). The Sensex has fallen 2,408.39 points or 9.22% in calendar year 2016 so far (till 19 February 2016). From a 52-week low of 22,600.39 on 12 February 2016, the Sensex has risen 1,108.76 points or 4.9%. The Sensex is off 6,315.59 points or 21.03% from a record high of 30,024.74 hit on 4 March 2015.