The market closed in the red on the back of a slowdown in the country’s first quarter economic growth and continuing paralysis of the Parliament. Receding expectations of any new initiatives by the US Federal Reserve to spur growth also weighed on investors. Yesterday we mentioned that if the Nifty manages to close in the positive today it may bring some relief on the bourses. However, today the index made a lower high and a lower low and ended at the 50 day moving average. We may now see the index heading further down unless it manages to make a higher high and higher low. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a higher volume of 60.24 crore shares and an advance-decline ratio of 701:950.
The market opened lower than yesterday ahead of the release of India’s GDP (gross domestic product) data for the June quarter. Subdued performance in the global markets also weighed on the sentiments. The Nifty slipped 15 points to open trade at 5,298 and the Sensex started off at 17,558, up 16 points over its previous close.
The opening figure on the Sensex was its intraday high while the Nifty scaled its high in late morning trade with the index touching 5,303. In the interim, trade was lacklustre with the indices staying in the negative on selling pressure in IT, power and realty stocks.
India’s GDP growth for the first quarter ended June 2012 stood at at.5%, from 8% in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The decline was on account of the subdued performance of manufacturing, mining and farm sectors, government data showed.
Political instability, as the standoff in Parliament entered the eighth day, added to investors’ woes in the second half of trade as well. Even the European market trading in the positive in early trade did not help matters.
The indices fell to their lows a few minutes after 2.00pm as selling got more intense. At the lows, the Nifty went back to 5,239 and the Sensex dropped to 17,338.
The market closed off the lows on buying in select stocks towards the end of the session. The Nifty closed 57 points (1.06%) lower at 5,259 and the Sensex settled at 17,430, a cut of 112 points (0.64%) from its previous close.
The broader indices outperformed the Sensex as the BSE Mid-cap index added 0.07% and the BSE Small-cap index rose 0.07%.
The BSE Healthcare index (up 0.01%) was the lone gainer in the sectoral space. The top losers were BSE Metal (down 1.39%); BSE Power (down 1.33%); BSE Oil & Gas (down 1.31%); BSE Realty (down 1.27%) and BSE Auto (down 1.23%).
Only five of the thirty Sensex ended in the positive today; they were Cipla (up 1.64%); HDFC (up 1.31%); Bharti Airtel (up 1.22%); State Bank of India (up 0.26%) and ONGC (up 0.16%. The top losers on the index were Hindalco Industries (down 2.21%); Coal India (down 2.15%); BHEL (down2.10%); Hero MotoCorp (down 2.02%) and Sterlite Industries (down 1.99%).
The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Biocon (up 4.49%) and MMTC (up 3.92%).
The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—GMR Infrastructure (down 4.70%) and IFCI (down 4.04%).
The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—DMC Education (up 18.11%) and Shalibhadra Finance (up 14.71%).
The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Saboo Sodium Chloro (down 11.72%) and TCI Developers (down 10.45%).
The top gainers on the Nifty were Bharti Airtel (up 1.50%); Cipla (up 1.13%); SAIL (up 0.83%); HDFC (up 0.66%) and Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 0.64%). The key losers were Hero MotoCorp (down 3.88%); BPCL (down 3.74%); Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 3.27%); IDFC (down 3%) and BHEL (down 2.92%).
Markets in Asia closed mostly lower as expectations of new initiatives from the US Federal Reserve receded. Disappointment in corporate earning for the first half of the year pulled the Shanghai index lower.
The Shanghai Composite declined 0.25%; the Hang Seng dropped 0.36%; the Nikkei 225 tanked 1.60% and the Seoul Composite fell by 0.07%. Among the gainers, the Jakarta Composite climbed 0.86%; the Straits Times gained 0.45% and the Taiwan Weighted advanced 0.35%.
At the time of writing, the key European indices were up between 0.33% and 1.31% and the US stock futures were in the positive, indicating a firm start to the US markets on the day when Fed chief Ben Bernanke makes his speech at the central bankers’ meeting at Jackson Hole, Wyoming later today.
Back home, institutional investors—both foreign and domestic—were net buyers in the equities segment on Thursday. While foreign institutional investors pumped in a huge Rs2,306.10 crore, domestic institutional investors brought in Rs328.11 crore.
Vijaya Bank has slashed interest rates on MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) loans by up to 1% across the board, effective from 1 September 2012. Also, in order to encourage MSME units to go in for rating by accredited external credit rating agencies, it has offered them incentives by way of a further reduction in the rate of interest ranging from 0.25% to 1% depending upon the ratings obtained. The bank settled at Rs46.35 on the NSE, down 1.38%.
Diamond and jewellery manufacturing firm Shrenuj & Company has drawn up a capital expenditure plan of Rs200 crore over three years until 2014-15. The company had projected a 25% growth in sales at the start of the financial year but has now revised it down to 15% mainly because of tardy growth in the first few months of the year. The stock jumped 4.36% to close at Rs57.50 on the NSE.
