The market settled higher on gains in FMCG, consumer durables and IT sectors. Hike in FDI limits in various sectors, announced by the government last night, also supported the sentiments. Nifty has to break below today’s low for a downtrend to start while a close above 6,015 will be needed for a strong upmove. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a higher turnover of 72.12 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 521:822.
The market opened higher this morning boosted by the government’s announcement to ease FDI caps in various sectors in a bid to woo foreign investments. Markets in Asia were mostly higher ahead of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s address to the US Congress later today. On the other hand, the US markets closed lower overnight on dismal earnings from corporates.
The Nifty opened 17 points up at 5,972 and the Sensex resumed trade at 19,929, a gain of 78 points over its previous close. Support from consumer durables, capital goods, power, fast moving consumer goods and technology stock following the government’s FDI announcement kept the market firm in morning trade.
The government on Tuesday liberalised FDI limits in a dozen sectors, including allowing 100% in telecom and higher limits in “state-of-the-art” defence manufacturing, to boost the sagging economy. The FDI cap for civil aviation was, however, left unchanged at 49%.
The upmove saw the benchmarks hitting their intraday highs at around 1.30pm. The Nifty rose to 5,990 and the Sensex climbed to 19,983 at their respective highs.
However, the market soon pared its gains and slipped into the negative on pressure from realty, banking and capital goods stocks after the RBI on Monday hiked lending rates for banks.
The indices touched their lows in the post-noon session with the Nifty falling to 5,927 and the Sensex slipping to 19,779. However, buying in FMCG, IT and consumer durables sectors in late trade led the market higher.
The benchmarks settled off the highs on the government’s decision to hike FDI limits in a host of sectors. The Nifty added 18 points (0.30%) to 5,973 and the Sensex settled 98 points 90.49%) higher at 19,949.
Among the broader indices, the BSE Mid-cap index fell 0.50% and the BSE Small-cap index fell 0.22%.
Six sectoral indices closed in the positive. BSE FMCG (up 3.39%); BSE Consumer Durables (up 1.10%); BSE IT (up 1%); BSE Oil & Gas (up 0.61%) and BSE Power (up 0.56%) were the top five gainers. The top losers were BSE Bankex (down 2.32%); BSE Metal (down 1.82%); BSE Auto (down 0.77%); BSE Realty (down 0.71%) and BSE PSU (down 0.64%).
Out of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, 15 stocks settled higher. The main gainers were Hindustan Unilever (up 9.86%); NTPC (up 3.18%); Wipro (up 2.96%); ITC (up 2.28%) and Tata Power (up 1.96%). The main losers were Tata Steel (down 3.26%); HDFC Bank (down 2.36%); ICICI Bank (down 2.29%); Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.23%) and Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.03%).
The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Hindustan Unilever (up 9.86%) and Indraprastha Gas (up 5.76%).
The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Union Bank of India (down 7.24%) and Prestige Estates (down 7.17%).
The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Nitco (up 19.99%) and Archidply Industries (up 19.97%).
The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Real Realty Mgmt (down 19.94%) and Nissan Copper (down 19.27%).
Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 20 ended in the in the green. The major gainers were Hindustan Unilever (up 9.13%); Asian Paints (up 3.50%); Ambuja Cements (up 2.97%); NTPC (up 2.48%) and ITC (up 2.32%). The key losers were Tata Steel (down 3.44%); Bank of Baroda (down 3.18%); Axis Bank (down 3.08%); M&M (down 2.79%) and Ranbaxy (down 2.78%).
Markets in Asia closed mostly higher on gains in commodity-related companies and optimism ahead of Fed chief Ben Bernanke’s semi-annual policy report. China's benchmark index fell for the first time in three days despite FDI in June surging over 20% from a year earlier.
The Hang Seng gained 0.28%; the Jakarta Composite advanced 0.75%; the KLSE Composite rose 0.13%; the Nikkei 225 added 0.11% and the Seoul Composite surged 1.13%. On the other hand, the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.01%; the Straits Times declined 0.52% and the Taiwan Weighted shed 0.01%.
At the time of writing, the CAC 40 of France was down 0.40%; the DAX of Germany declined 0.510.46% and UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.46%. At the same time, US stock futures were in the negative.
Back home, institutional investors—foreign and domestic—were net sellers in the equities segment on Tuesday. While FIIs pulled out funds totalling Rs357.40 crore, DIIs withdrew Rs210.55 crore from stocks.
The board of directors of Mawana Sugar has approved to dispose off 23,00,000 equity shares of face value of Rs5 each comprising 5% paid up equity capital held by the company in Ceratizit India Pvt Ltd, a joint venture company, for a total consideration of Rs 16 crore. The stock fell 5.81% to close at Rs7.30 on the NSE.
Piramal Glass’ subsidiary in Sri Lanka, Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC has on July 17, 2013 agreed to sell the balance portion of its land at Rathmalana for a consideration of Sri Lankan Rupees 415 million (equivalent to RsRs187.66 million approximately). The final sale transaction is likely to be completed on or before 30 November 2013. The stock rose 1.10% to close at Rs92 on the NSE.
