The market indices went up after three days of decline but the trend is down

Easing of the November headline inflation pushed the market higher on hopes that the RBI will cut interest rates at next week’s policy meeting. Although the market indices went up after three days of decline the trend is still down as the benchmarks are struggling to find direction. The National Stock Exchange saw a volume of 73.16 crore traded on the exchange and advance-decline ratio of 795:909.

The domestic market opened on a cautious note ahead of the release of the headline inflation numbers for November. Uncertainty over the US budget deal, which pulled the US markets down on Thursday, also weighed on the sentiments.

The Nifty resumed trade five points down at5,847 and the Sensex opened at 19,218, a cut of 11 points from its previous close. Intense volatility saw the benchmarks fluctuating between red and green in early trade as chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council C Rangarajan hinted that the Reserve Bank of India, in its monetary policy review on 18^th December, will not change interest rates.

The indices touched their intraday lows in the first hour of trade with the Nifty going down to 5,839 and the Sensex falling to 19,193.  A fall in the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation to 7.24% in November from 7.45% in the previous month gave the market a much-needed boost, which pushed the benchmarks into the positive in late morning trade.

The gains pushed the indices to their intraday highs in noon trade. At the highs the Nifty touched 5,886 and the Sensex rose to 19,349. However, profit booking saw the indices paring part of their gains subsequently.

The market touched its previous closing level once more in the post-noon session as selling intensified. However, a smart recovery in late trade resulted in the market closing near the day’s high. The Nifty gained 28 points (0.48%) to 5,880 and the Sensex finished trade at 19,317, up 88 points (0.46%).

Among the broader indices, the BSE Mid-cap index gained 0.60% and the BSE Small-cap index rose 0.08%.

The top sectoral gainers were BSE Metal (up 2.31%); BSE Bankex (up 1.27%); BSE Realty (up 1.01%); BSE IT (up 0.73%) and BSE PSU (up 0.60%). The losers were BSE Consumer Durables (down 1.23%); BSE Healthcare (down 0.29%) and BSE Power (down 0.23%).

Fourteen of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The chief gainers were Sterlite Industries (up 3.57%); Hindalco Industries (up 3.54%); State Bank of India (up 2.58%); Jindal Steel & Power (up 2.48%) and Tata Steel (up 2.33%). The main losers were Bharti Airtel (down 1.52%); BHEL (down 1.38%); Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (down 0.99%); Tata Power (down 0.90%) and Cipla (down 0.60%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Muthoot Finance (up 7.94%) and Jaypee Infratech (up 4.45%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering (down 3.28%) and TTK Prestige (down 2.88%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Polar Industries (up 20%) and Wheels India (up 20%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Taksheel Solutions (down 19.95%) and GTL Infrastructure (down 19.94%).

Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 32 stocks settled in the positive. The major gainers were Bank of Baroda (up 3.75%); Hindalco Industries (up 3.71%); Sesa Goa (up 3.40%); Tata Steel (up 2.92%) and SBI (up 2.77%). The key losers were Bharti Airtel (down 1.86%); Power Grid Corporation (down 1.48%); Jaiprakash Associates (down 1.36%); BHEL (down 1.29%) and Siemens (down 1.24%).

Markets in Asia settled mixed with a negative bias. The China HSBC Flash Factory PMI for December rose to 50.9, up for the fifth month in a row while the tardy progress of the US budget talks concerned investors.

The Shanghai Composite soared 4.32%; the Hang Seng climbed 0.71% and the Straits Times gained 0.38%. On the other hand, the Jakarta Composite declined 0.26%; the KLSE Composite and the Nikkei 225 fell 0.05% each; the Seoul Composite dropped 0.39% and the Taiwan Weighted tanked 0.75%.

At the time of writing, the CAC 40 of France was down 0.07%; DAX of Germany was up 0.20% and UK’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.11% lower. At the same time, US stock futures were trading with small gains.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of stocks totalling Rs1,256.57 crore on Thursday while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of equities amounting to Rs665.66 crore.

Diversified tiles manufacturer Asian Granito India has decided to sett up a chain of Asian Tiles World (exclusive) retail stores across the country. The company, which currently has 20 exclusive outlets, expects to have a chain of 50 stores across top cities by next year. The stock rose 0.11% to settle at Rs45.50 on the NSE.

Drug major Suven Life Sciences on Thursday said it received grant of five product patents from China and Korea for its new chemical entities for treatment of disorders related to neurodegenerative diseases. With these new patents, Suven now has a total of eight granted patents from China and ten from Korea. Suven Life Sciences declined 2.59% to close at Rs32 on the NSE.