Nifty may continue to move lower on Monday unless it manages to close above 5,925
 

The market pared its gains in late trade on selling pressure from rate-sensitive sectors, ending in the negative for the second day in a row. The Nifty may continue to move lower on Monday unless it manages to close above 5,925. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a volume of 51.34 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 591:798.

The market witnessed a flat opening on caution ahead of the release of the US jobs report, which is seen as a factor in determining the Federal Reserve’s action on the continuity of its stimulus programme. Markets in Asia were down in morning trade on a strengthening yen, which dampened the outlook for exporters from the region. Wall Street closed higher overnight as the dollar fell against major global currencies on speculations that the jobs data would be lacklustre, forcing the Fed to continue its growth boosting measures.

Meanwhile, the Nifty opened 21 points lower at 5,900 and the Sensex rose three points to resume trade at 19,522. Selling in metal, realty, banking and fast moving consumer goods shares saw the indices moving lower in early trade.

The benchmarks recovered from their lows on buying interest in IT, healthcare and oil & gas stocks. The gains enabled the market venture into the green in mid- morning trade. The benchmarks hit their highs in noon trade wherein the Nifty rose to 5,973 and the Sensex climbed to 19,712.

The market pared part of its gains and traded sideways in the remainder of the noon session amid volatile trade. The benchmarks slipped into negative terrain in the late session pressure from auto and banking sectors.

The selling pressure pushed the indices to their lows in the last half hour with the Nifty touching 5,871 and the Sensex falling to 19,398. The market settled near the lows and in the red for the second day in a row.

The Nifty closed 40 points (0.68%) down at 5,881 and the Sensex ended the day at 19,429, a loss of 90 points (0.46%).

In the broader market space, the BSE Mid-cap index declined 0.56% and the BSE Small-cap index fell 0.10%.

BSE IT (up 1.59%) and BSE TECk (up 0.72%) were the only gainers in the sectoral segment. The main losers were BSE Auto (down 1.39%); BSE Realty (down 0.36%); BSE Bankex (down 1.34%); BSE Power (down 0.32%) and BSE PSU (down 1.26%).

Out of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, eight settled higher. The top gainers were TCS (up 3.48%); Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (up 2.82%); Wipro (up 1.67%); Infosys (up 0.80%) and Tata Power (up 0.57%). The major losers were Bharti Airtel (down 2.40%); Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.27%); NTPC (down 2.12%); Maruti Suzuki (down 2.04%) and Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.91%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (up 4.07%) and TCS (up 3.48%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Adani Power (down 6.75%) and Jain Irrigation (down 4.97%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Vikas Globalone (up 19.9%) and Cerebra Integrated Technologies (up 19.99%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Filatex Fashions (down 18.85%) and Pioneer Distilleries (down 16.42%).

Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 10 ended in the in the green. The main gainers were TCS (up 3.53%); Dr Reddy’s (up 2.68%); BPCL (up 1.45%); Lupin (up 1.02%) and Infosys (up .86%). The key losers were Jaiprakash Associates (down .30%); Axis Bank (down 3.25%); Bharti Airtel (down 2.69%); Bank of Baroda (down 2.61%) and Maruti Suzuki (down 2.36%).

Markets in Asia closed weak as the strengthening yen dragged the Nikkei lower. Other markets in the region also followed the Nikkei as the strengthening yen tapered the outlook for exporters.

The Shanghai Composite dropped 1.39%; the Hang Seng tanked 1.21%; the Jakarta Composite tumbled 2.725; the Nikkei 225 fell 0.21%; the Straits Times declined 0.28%; the Seoul Composite declined 1.80% and the Taiwan Weighted shed 0.01%. Bucking the trend, the KLSE Composite gained 0.34%.

At the time of writing, the key European indices were down between 0.16% and 0.50% and the US stock futures were trading lower.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net sellers of equities amounting to Rs270.47 crore whereas domestic institutional investors were net buyers of shares totalling Rs298.08 crore.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today cut its long-term credit rating on Core Education and Technologies Ltd’s (CORE) to ‘B’ from ‘B+’ with a negative outlook. S&P said, “We lowered the rating on CORE because we believed that the sharp fall in the company's equity prices could negatively affect its access to capital markets and bank funding.” The stock declined 4.63% to close at Rs38.10 on the NSE.

Multiplex chain operator PVR today said its board has approved the merger of Cinemax India and a wholly-owned subsidiary with the company. The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 7 June 2013 approved in-principle the proposed amalgamation of Cinemax India, a Mumbai-based listed firm and Cine Hospitality Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, PVR said in a filing to BSE. PVR closed 3.52%) lower at Rs323.30 on the NSE.

Aban Offshore, the country’s largest offshore drilling contractor, has received a Rs1,050 crore-order from state-owned ONGC. The project is expected to commence during the fourth quarter of this financial year. Aban Offshore lost 0.32% to settle at Rs296 on the NSE.