A close below 5,735 on the Nifty may see some change in trend

The market snapped its four-day winning steak and closed lower on pressure from technology, healthcare and banking stocks. A brief halt in trading on the NSE after erroneous orders executed by Emkay Global Financial Services also weighed on the sentiments. A technical mishap brought down the indicators, however the Nifty recovered from it to close 41 points down at 5747. The benchmark may continue its uptrend, however, look out for the level of 5,735 after which the index may see some reversal. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a volume of 96.80 crore shares and an advance decline ratio of 563:1237.

The Indian market opened in the green following the reforms announcement made by the government after market hours on Thursday. Positive comments from European Central Bank president Mario Draghi that the central bank is ready to buy bonds of debt-ridden countries also supported the sentiments.

The Nifty opened 27 points higher at 5,815 and the Sensex resumed trade at 19,116, up 58 points over its previous close. Stocks of auto, fast moving consumer goods, realty and capital goods sectors were in demand in initial trade.

However, the benchmarks could not sustain the gains as profit booking after four straight days took the indices into the red in a few minutes.

A freak trade at 9.50am on the NSE Nifty saw the index plunging nearly 900 points after which trade on the exchange was halted for 15 minutes. While the National Stock Exchange (NSE) blamed ‘abnormal’ orders placed by stock broker Emkay Global in multiple trades of various stocks at low prices for the crash, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India is looking into all aspects of the incident. However, trade at the BSE functioned without any hitch but the Sensex also plunged to its intraday low at the same time. At the lows the Nifty slumped to 4,888 and the Sensex dipped to 18,757, both going below their psychological levels of 5,000 and 19,000 respectively.

Select buying after the freak incident helped the market emerge into the green a short while later and hit its intraday high. The Nifty rose to 5,815 and the Sensex jumped to 19,137 at the highs.

Selling in technology, banking, oil & gas and capital goods stocks pushed the indices lower once again in mid-morning trade. A mild recovery was seen in noon trade following a positive opening of the European markets but the gains lagged strength which kept the indices in the red.

Snapping its four-day winning streak, the market closed lower today as investors had already factored the latest round of FDI reforms announced on Thursday. The Nifty settled 41 points lower at 5,747 and the Sensex dropped 120 points to end the session at 18,938.

The broader indices underperformed the Sensex today as the BSE Mid-cap index declined 0.79% and the BSE Small-cap index dropped 0.90%.

The top sectoral gainers were BSE Consumer Durables (up 0.66%); BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (up 0.61%); BSE Auto (up 0.55%); BSE Capital Goods (up 0.43%) and BSE Oil & Gas (up 0.41%). The major losers were BSE TECk (down 1.65%0; BSE IT (down 1.62%); BSE Healthcare (down 1.40%); BSE Bankex (down 1.09%) and BSE PSU (down 0.32%).

Thirteen of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The major gainers were Tata Motors (up 2.24%); Hindustan Unilever (up 1.60%); Mahindra & Mahindra (up 1.16%); ONGC (up 1.09%) and Hindalco Industries (up 0.89%). HDFC (down 4.89%); Sun Pharma (down 2.48%); Wipro (down 2.41%); Infosys (down 1.84%) and ICICI Bank (down 1.57%) settled as the top losers on the index.

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Essar Oil (up 15.46%) and Indiabulls Real Estate (up 5.52%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Shree Cement (down 6.70%) and Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers (down 5.63%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Swasti Vinayak Art & Heritage Corporation (up 19.81%) and Vinayak Polycontainers (up 19.32%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Bio Green Industries (down 12.32%) and K-Lifestyle Industries (down 11.11%).

Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 14 stocks settled in the positive. The key gainers were Tata Motors (up 2.62%); HUL (up 1.63%); M&M (up 1.23%); Hindalco Ind (up 0.93%) and ONGC (up 0.88%). The main losers were HDFC (down 5.08%); Reliance Infrastructure (down 2.76%); Jaiprakash Associates (down 2.64%); Wipro (down 2.59%) and Sun Pharma (down 2.55%).

Markets in Asia closed higher on positivism exhibited by ECB president on Thursday. Investors are now awaiting the key employment report from the US, hoping that job creation in September will ease the slowdown concerns.

The Hang Seng gained 0.31%; Jakarta Composite surged 0.93%; the Nikkei 225 rose 0.44%; the Straits Times climbed 0.69%; the Seoul Composite added 0.12% and the Taiwan Weighted closed 0.11% up. Bucking the trend, the KLSE Composite lost 0.07%. Markets in China were closed for trade today.

At the time of writing, the three European markets were up between 0.45% and 0.98% and the US stock futures were trading marginally higher.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares amounting to Rs944.53 crore on Thursday while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of stocks totalling Rs818.55 crore.

Oriental Bank of Commerce has cut the deposit rates on maturities between one and three years by 10 basis points to 9% per annum. The move has come in the wake of softening interest rates in the system and comfortable liquidity. The stock fell 0.37% to close at Rs292.85 on the NSE.

Wind turbine maker Suzlon today said it has bagged a contract from Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) to set up an 8.4MW project in Gujarat. The company will have to set up, operate and maintain the 8.4MW project, which comprises of four units of Suzlon's S95-2.1 MW turbines. The stock tanked 2.23% to close at Rs17.50 on the NSE.

Essel Group on Thursday pared its stake in IVRCL with sale of shares worth nearly Rs68 crore, around six months after it had expressed interest in raising its holding in the infrastructure firm. Essel Group, which had acquired 10.2% in IVRCL in March 2012, through secondary market transactions and subsequently increased it to 12.27%, had said that the group is keen to increase its stake. IVRCL tumbled 5.77% to close at Rs44.95 on the NSE.