The market settled flat amid a choppy and range-bound session on new worries from Europe and the absence of any domestic triggers. Today the Nifty moved in a narrow range of 5,888 and 5,920 and ended flat. For the first time in the past 10 trading days (including today) the index made both a lower high and lower low. A close below today’s low would indicate the first sign of weakness. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a volume of 68.83 crore shares and an advance-decline ratio of 913:884.
The market opened with minor gains supported by the Asian markets which were mostly higher in morning trade on positive economic data from China. Hopes of rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its policy review due on 18th December, also aided the upmove.
The Nifty opened nine points up at 5,916 and the Sensex started the week at 19,442, a gain of 18 points over its previous close. Profit booking, amid choppy trade, soon pulled the indices into the negative.
However, buying in select stocks led the market into the green and to its intraday high around 10.30am. At the highs, the Nifty crawled to 5,920 and the Sensex touched 19,478. But continued volatility and selling pressure kept a cap on the gains.
The market dipped into the red in noon trade on selling in oil & gas, consumer durables and technology stocks. A lower opening of the key European indices weighed on investor sentiment in the post-noon session. The losses saw the indices dropping to their lows at around 2.00pm wherein the Nifty touched 5,888 and the Sensex fell to 19,362.
The benchmarks continued to witness lacklustre trade in the remaining part of the trading session in the absence of any domestic triggers.
The market witnessed a flat close with a mixed bias with the Nifty adding 2 points at 5,909 and the Sensex slipping 14 points to settle at 19,410.
The broader indices outperformed the Sensex as the BSE Mid-cap index gained 0.65% and the BSE Small-cap index rose 0.32%.
The top sectoral gainers were BSE Realty (up 1.10%; BSE Healthcare (up 0.89%); BSE Bankex (up 0.31%); BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (up 0.24%) and BSE PSU (up 0.19%). The main losers were BSE Consumer Durables (down 1.52%); BSE TECk (down 0.90%); BSE IT (down 0.89%); BSE Oil & Gas (down 0.72%) and BSE Capital Goods (down 0.33%).
Thirteen of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The chief gainers were HDFC (up 3.15%); Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (up 2.51%); Cipla (up 1.73%); Tata Steel (up 1.35%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.10%). The key losers were TCS (down 2.50%); NTPC (down 1.91%); Bharti Airtel (down 1.46%); Maruti Suzuki (down 1.13%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.90%).
The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (up 5.66%) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (up 5.33%).
The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Pantaloon Retail India (down 5.12%) and Titan Industries (down 3.56%).
The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Radaan Mediaworks India (up 20%) and Revathi Equipment (up 19.99%).
The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Ashika Credit Capital (down 15.51%) and Elantas Beck India (down 12.13%).
Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 23 stocks settled in the positive. The major gainers were Bank of Baroda (up 4.11%); HDFC (up 3.71%); Dr Reddy’s Labs (up 3.02%); Punjab National Bank (up 2.35%) and Reliance Infrastructure (up 2.04%). The main losers were TCS (down 1.99%); Cairn India (down 1.88%); NTPC (down0.185%); Bharti Airtel (down 1.52%) and IDFC (down 1.45%).
Markets in Asia closed mostly higher on optimism of a recovery in the global economy on the back of positive data from China and the US. Chinese exports surged 2.9% in November from a year earlier compared with an 11.6% increase in October. Industrial production climbed 10.1% y-o-y in November from and retail sales growth accelerated to 14.9%, while inflation was 2%. This apart, as per the US non-farm payrolls report, the employers added 146,000 new jobs last month while the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7%, its lowest level since December 2008.
The Shanghai Composite surged 1.07%; the Hang Seng gained 0.39%; the Jakarta Composite rose 0.28%; the KLSE Composite climbed 0.89%; the Nikkei 225 added 0.07% and the Straits Times settled 0.23% higher. The Taiwan Weighted lost 0.43% and the Seoul Composite ended flat with a loss of 0.03 points.
At the time of writing, the key European indices were trading down between 0.31% and 0.75% and the US stock futures were in the negative, indicating a negative opening for the US markets.
Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of stocks totalling Rs648.05 crore on Friday while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of shares amounting to Rs798.48 crore.
Engineering, procurement and construction major KEC International, an RPG Group company, today said it has secured orders worth Rs612 crore in last one month from various customers across the world. The orders comprise various business segments, including transmission, power systems, cables and water businesses. The stock declined 0.53% to close at Rs65.60 on the NSE.
Public sector defence major Bharat Electronics on Monday said the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Israel Aerospace Industries. According to the MoU, both the partners will work together on the future of Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) ship defence system projects. BEL gained 0.32% to settle at Rs1,200 on the NSE.
Diversified global conglomerate Punj Lloyd Group today said it has bagged a contract worth Rs 528 crore in Singapore to construct a new prison headquarter. The project is expected to be completed over a period of 24 months. When completed, the headquarters will provide office facilities, a multi-purpose hall, club house and an auditorium. The stock climbed 1.58% to close at Rs61.15 on the NSE.
