Only a close above 5,820 on the Nifty tomorrow will be the first sign of a reversal in downtrend
 

Indian benchmarks closed with losses of over 1.2% as the RBI cut the GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 5.5% and decided not to change its monetary policy. The National Stock Exchange reported a turnover of 58.95 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 311:1023.

The market opened flat on a mixed note as investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) quarterly review of the monetary policy. Hinting at status quo on policy rates, the RBI on Monday said its focus is to stabilise rupee and made a case for calibrated action to contain the current account deficit, which is a major reason for the steep fall in currency.

The Nifty resumed trade at 5,836, up four points from its previous close and the Sensex started the day, down 15 points. The benchmarks inched higher on buying in select blue-chip shares amid volatile trade in the initial session.  But selling in realty, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and power stocks led the indices to their lows a short while later.

The market perked up as the RBI, in its policy review, kept key rates unchanged and reiterated that the recent measures to tighten liquidity would be rolled back “in a calibrated manner as stability is restored in the forex market”. The benchmarks hit their highs shortly after the central bank assured investors that liquidity curbs would be eased. The Nifty rose to 5,861 and the Sensex climbed to 19,673 at their respective highs.

However, the gains were short-lived as the indices soon began a downward journey weighed down by selling in PSU, realty, power and FMCG sectors. The market expanded its losses in noon trade as selling continued unabated.

The benchmarks continued their southward journey in late trade as the rupee breached the 60 per dollar mark in noon trade. The rupee was quoting at Rs60.07 a dollar compared with previous close of Rs59.41 per dollar around 2.00pm.

The indices touched their lows at the fag-end of the trading session with the Nifty falling to 5,748 and the Sensex going down to 19,329. The Nifty settled 77 points (1.31%) down at 5,755 and the Sensex finished at 19,348, a decline of 245 points (1.25%).

The broader indices too settled lower. The BSE Mid-cap index fell 1.96% and the BSE Small-cap index fell 1.98%.

BSE IT (up 0.91%) was the sole sectoral gainer. The major losers were BSE Oil & Gas (down 3.89%); BSE Realty (down 3.60%); BSE Power (down 3.35%); BSE PSU (down 3.11%) and BSE Auto (down 2.06%).

Out of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, eight stocks settled higher. The main gainers were Wipro (up 2.75%); Jindal Steel (up 1.45%); Infosys (up 1.20%);

Larsen & Toubro (up 0.97%) and Sun Pharma (up 0.92%). The main losers were ONGC (down 5.64%); Hindalco Inds (down 4.64%); Tata Motors (down 3.94%); Bharti Airtel (down 3.76%) and Bajaj Auto (down 3.40%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were— Neyveli Lignite (up 6.33%) and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (up 4.42%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were— Jaiprakash Power (down 15.77%) and Havells India (down 12.60%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were— Panasonic Appliances (up 19.93%) and GEI Industrial Systems (up 19.88%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were— Vakrangee Softwares (down 19.98%) and Geometric (down 19.96%).

Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, nine ended in the in the green. The major gainers were IDFC (up 2.53%); Jindal Steel (up 1.95%); HCL Technologies (up 1.58%); Sun Pharma (up 1.36%) and Larsen & Toubro (up 1.05%). The main losers were BPCL (down 8.90%); Reliance Infrastructure (down 7.09%); DLF (down 7.09%); Ranbaxy (down 6.44%) and ONGC (down 5.91%).

Markets in Asia closed mostly higher on China’s fund infusion measures to boost liquidity and a weaker yen which improved the prospects for Japanese exporters.

The Shanghai Composite advanced 0.70%; the Hang Seng rose 0.48%; the Jakarta Composite gained 0.61%; the Nikkei 225 surged 1.53%; the Straits Times rose 0.26%; the Seoul Composite climbed 0.90% and the Taiwan Weighted settled 0.98% higher. On the other hand, the KLSE Composite fell 0.21%.

At the time of writing, the key European markets were trading with minor gains and the US stock futures were in the positive.

Back home, institutional investors, foreign and domestic, were net sellers in the equities segment on Monday. While FIIs sold stocks totalling Rs231.77 crore, domestic investors offloaded shares amounting to Rs101.25 crore.

Pratibha Industries has bagged a Rs 205 crore contract for a water supply project from Public Health Engineering Department, Jaipur. The contract has been awarded for water supply scheme to 161 villages of Phagi Tehsil in Jaipur under Bisalpur Dudu Phagi Water Supply Project. The contract is scheduled to be completed in 30 months from date of commencement. It includes one year defect liability and 10 years operation and maintenance of the system. The stock rose 3.06% to close at Rs23.60 on the NSE.