The market closed in the positive aided by a splendid recovery in the second half of trade, settling higher for the third day in a row. The Nifty has crossed the first target of 5,850. The next target is around 5,940. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a lower volume of 54.49 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 830:653.
The market opened in the negative on profit booking after two straight days of gains. On the global front, US markets closed mostly higher overnight as data on Wednesday showed that private sector companies added 198,000 employees last month. The US government is expected to announce its official non-farm payrolls report on Friday. Markets in Asia were mixed in morning trade as investors await the outcomes of policy meetings of central bankers in Japan, UK and Eurozone.
The Nifty slipped 18 points to open trade at 5,801 and the Sensex resumed trade at 19,222, 31 down 31points from its previous close. The market witnessed a high degree of volatility with the benchmarks moving between red and green in morning trade.
The opening figure on the Nifty was its intraday low while the Sensex in late morning trade with the index touching 19,213. Selling pressure in metal, oil & gas and auto stocks kept the market in the negative in the first half of trade today.
However, a positive opening of the key European indices saw the domestic market paring its losses and emerging into the positive in post-noon trade. The benchmarks hit their highs in the closing moments of trade. The Nifty touched 5,878 and the Sensex climbed to 19,466.
The market closed near the highs on a bounce back which began from the post-noon session. The Nifty gained 44 points (0.77%) at 5,863 and the Sensex surged 161 points (0.84%) to settle at 19,414.
The BSE Mid-cap index advanced 0.48% and the BSE Small-cap index climbed 0.85%.
Except for BSE Consumer Durables (down 0.57%); BSE Metal (down 0.43%) and BSE PSU (down 0.11%) which ended in the negative, all the other sectoral indices closed in the positive. The top gainers were BSE Realty (up 1.68%); BSE IT (up 1.66%); BSE Capital Goods (up 1.59%); BSE TECk (up 1.34%) and BSE Bankex (up 0.86%).
Twenty of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The main gainers were Hero MotoCorp (up 4.05%); TCS (up 2.10%); Larsen & Toubro (up 2.08%); Maruti Suzuki (up 2.07%) and Wipro (up 1.82%). Among the losers were Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.28%); Hindustan Unilever (down 1.69%); Coal India (down 1.25%); Tata Motors (down 1.07%) and Tata Steel (down 0.74%).
The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Bharat Forge (up 7.74%) and Mahindra & Mahindra Finance (up 4.86%).
The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—MMTC (down 5.18%) and MCX (down 3.81%).
The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were— Globus Corporation (up 20%) and Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals (up 19.98%).
The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Vybra Automet (down 19.94%) and VSF Projects (down 19.87%).
Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 31 ended in the green. The key gainers were Hero MotoCorp (up 4.61%); DLF (up 3.67%); Asian Paints (up 2.86%); ITC (up 2.40%) and L&T (up 2.38%). The main losers were JSPL (down 1.99%); HUL (down 1.70%); Coal India (down 1.32%); Ambuja Cements (down 1.09%) and Tata Motors (down 1.02%).
Markets across Asia closed mixed as the Bank of Japan rejected a call for an early start to its open-ended assets purchases, due to begin next year. Speculations that the Chinese banking regulator has tightened its monetary policy also weighed on investors.
The Jakarta Composite gained 0.49%; the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.30%; the Straits Times rose 0.20% and the Taiwan Weighted settled 0.13% higher. Among the losers, the Shanghai Composite tanked 0.98%; the Hang Seng shed 003%; the KLSE Composite slipped 0.06% and the Seoul Composite declined 0.81%.
At the time of writing, the key European markets were around 0.50% higher and the US stock futures were trading with marginal gains.
Back home, inflows from foreign institutional investors in the equities segment on Wednesday were offset by withdrawals by domestic institutional investors. While FIIs invested Rs524.06 crore into stocks, DIIs took away Rs599.99 crore.
Spectrum Foods has informed BSE that the company is setting up a project of salt refinery of capacity 1 lakh TPA & spices along with a wind turbine of 2 MW. For this purpose the company has been sanctioned a term loan of Rs17.4 crore from State Bank of India and to meet the balance fund arrangement the company is re-issuing the forfeited shares on preferential basis to body corporates. The project for wind mill is to be completed by 31 March 2013 and for salt and spices by 31 December 2013. The stock fell 4.94% to Rs76.90 on the BSE.
The “tools down” strike at auto major Mahindra and Mahindra’s Nashik facility has entered the third day even as the company claimed to have suffered a production loss of 500 units due to the ongoing labour unrest. Around 3,000 workers at the Nashik manufacturing facility, which produces Scorpio, Bolero and Xylo models of SUVs and Verito (sedan), are taking part in the agitation demanding revocation of the suspension orders of one of their union leaders Praveen Shinde. The stock was up 1.48% and closed at Rs891 on the NSE.
Aditya Birla Chemicals has commissioned and started commercial production at its brownfield project at Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh, with a capacity to manufacture 145 million tonne per day of caustic soda. The company has incorporated a membrane cell technology at the plant. The stock settled 0.65% higher at Rs84.60 on the NSE.
