Indian indices snapped their six day rally as markets stayed below the dotted line throughout the trading session, amid mixed international markets. While the BSE Sensex closed lower by 171 points, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 46 points. The S&P BSE Mid Cap and the S&P BSE Small Cap too finished on a negative note and were lower by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. Barring metal sector, all the sectoral indices finished in red. Losses were largely seen in capital goods and IT stocks.
Most shares in Asia finished flat or higher, helped by a surprise interest-rate cut by New Zealand. The Nikkei 225 gained 1.26%, while the Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng 2.02% and 0.06% respectively as a data showed the China's consumer inflation picked up in February with the consumer price index rising 2.3% from a year earlier. European markets are lower today with shares in London off the most. The FTSE 100 is down 0.21% while Germany's DAX is off 0.07% and France's CAC 40 is lower by 0.02%.
Oil prices were trading at US$38.12 a barrel in the afternoon session. The rupee was trading at 67.05 against the US$.
Shares of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) surged more than 2% today after it was reported that the company will raise Rs 5.25 billion through debt instruments on a private placement basis. HDFC will issue secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on March 11, 2016 to raise the required sum. The debt instruments to be maturing for April 2019 carry a coupon rate of 8.72%.
HDFC offers a whole gamut of products like loans to individuals, loans to corporates, construction finance, and lease rental discounting. The financial conglomerate has subsidiaries and associates in insurance (general and life), asset management, education finance, venture funds and banking services.
The object of the issue is to increase the long-term resources of the corporation. The proceeds of the present issue will be utilized for financing (Subscription Required) or refinancing the housing finance business requirements of the corporation. In our recent edition of Vivek Kaul's Diary, Vivek explains how black money helps Indian banks finance real estate.
Power stocks finished the day on a negative note with CESC and Gujarat Industries Power bearing the majority of the brunt. According to a leading financial daily, the Board of Directors of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited(PGCIL) have approved the investment for transmission system strengthening in Indian System for transfer of power from Mangdechhu hydroelectric Project in Bhutan' at an estimated cost of Rs 8 billion. The project is scheduled to commission 22 months from the date of approval with best efforts to match with the completion of the transmission line with the commissioning of 1st unit of Mangdechhu hydroelectric plant.
Moreover, the company's board also approved augmentation of Transformation Capacity at Mainpuri & Sikar at an estimated cost of Rs 765 billion, with commissioning schedule of 24 months from the date of investment approval. The script of Power Grid Corporation of India finished the trading day on a flat note.
In an important judgement, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has reaffirmed and facilitated the ability of PGCIL and other transmission licensees (Transcos) to curtail power supply to discoms on non-payment of transmission charges. PGCIL reported a robust revenue and profit growth of 24.2% YoY and 31.3% YoY respectively for the quarter ended December 2015.
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