As suggested yesterday, the Nifty tried to bounce back from the 5955 area. If the benchmark heads higher, it may hit 6,000. However, the trend remains down for now

The market closed lower for the fourth day in succession on weak global cues and selling pressure heavyweights. As suggested yesterday, the Nifty tried to bounce back from the 5955 area. If the benchmark heads higher, it may hit 6,000. However, the trend remains down for now. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a volume of 65.72 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 440:1076.

The Indian market opened weak tracking subdued global cues. Markets in Asia were in the red in morning trade on a dip in US factory orders and fresh concerns from Europe. US markets closed around 1% lower as ratings agencies cut ratings for Chevron and Wal-Mart Stores and lower-than-expected macro-economic indicators.

Back home, the Nifty opened 39 points lower at 5,948 and the Sensex resumed trade at 19,666, down 85 points from its previous close. Selling in realty and metal stocks kept the market lower in early trade.

Across-the-board selling in late morning trade pushed the Nifty to its lows in noon trade with the index falling to 5,947. A mixed opening of the key European indices due to political uncertainty in Spain and Italy also weighed on domestic sentiments. The Sensex fell to its low in the post-noon session with the benchmark at 19,632.

The benchmarks closed off the lows but were down for the fourth day in a row. The Nifty closed 30 points (0.51%) lower at 5,957 and the Sensex declined 91 points (0.46%) to end the session at 19,660.

The broader indices continued to underperform the Sensex. The BSE Mid-cap index decline 0.66% and the BSE Small-cap index dropped 1.01%.

With the exception of the BSE Healthcare index (up 0.86%), all others settled lower. The top losers were BSE Consumer Durables (down 1.57%); BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (down 1.03%); BSE Power (down 0.75%); BSE Metal (down 0.74%)      and BSE Oil & Gas (down 0.65%).

Eleven of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The chief gainers were Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 4.06%); GAIL India (up 1.64%); Bajaj Auto (up 1.49%); Cipla (up 1.18%) and State Bank of India (up 0.57%). The main losers were BHEL (down 3.19%); Bharti Airtel (down 1.93%); Sterlite Industries (down 1.73%); Tata Motors (down 1.64%) and ITC (down 1.58%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Berger Paints (up 4.23%) and Sun Pharma (up 4.06%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Jubilant Foodworks (down 8.24%) and Opto Circuits (down 6.77%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—La Opal RG (up 20%) and Jayaswal Neco Industries (up 19.64%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Camphor & Allied Products (down 15.42%) and Mahavir Impex (down 14.71%).

Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 22 stocks settled in the positive. The major gainers were Sun Pharma (up 3.70%); Ambuja Cement (up 3.05%); ACC (up 2%); UltraTech Cement Company (up 1.56%) and GAIL (up 1.52%).

Markets in Asia, with the exception of the Shanghai Composite, settled lower on fresh concerns from Europe. The Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy faces corruption charges and uncertainty of the outcome of the elections in Italy weighed on investors.

The Hang Seng tumbled 2.27%; the Jakarta Composite fell 0.25%; the KLSE Composite shed 0.07%; the Nikkei 225 tanked 1.90%; the Straits Times declined 0.75%; the Seoul Composite dropped 0.77% and the Taiwan Weighted lost 0.46%. Bucking the trend, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.20%.  

At the time of writing, the key European indices recovered from their early hiccups and were in the green and the US stock futures were in the positive.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyer of equities amounting to Rs856.94 crore on Monday while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of stocks totalling Rs592.32 crore.

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) today cleared global liquor giant Diageo Plc move to launch an open offer to acquire 26% stake from public shareholders of United Sprits. As part of the deal for purchase of 53.4% stake in the Vijay Mallya-led UB group firm, Diageo has made a Rs5,441-crore open offer for purchase of 26% stake in the company from non-promoter shareholders. United Spirits advanced 1.82% to close at Rs1,892 on the NSE.

Mirc Electronics, owner of the consumer durable and electronics brand Onida, is planning to set up a greenfield manufacturing facility in Maharashtra to manufacture air conditioners at an investment of around Rs400 crore. The proposed facility will be the fourth facility for the company in India. The stock declined 2.05% to close at Rs9.55 on the NSE.

Exide Industries has signed a new agreement with Japan’s Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery Company to implement new manufacturing processes for automotive batteries. Under the Technical Licence and Assistance Agreement, Shin-Kobe will provide “extensive technical support” for manufacturing of automotive batteries at Exide’s plants across the country. The stock gained 0.74% to close at Rs122.40 on the NSE.