A positive close on the Nifty tomorrow may bring few more days of gains

The market settled in the negative on concerns of a weakening rupee and on selling in healthcare, oil & gas and power stocks. A positive close on the Nifty tomorrow may bring few more days of gains. The National Stock Exchange (NSEA) reported at turnover of 51.08 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 653:718.

The market opened on a weak note on disappointing global cues as uncertainty about the US Federal Reserve’s move on continuing its bond-buying initiative.  The Asian pack was trading in the red in morning on unsupportive cues from the US. The Fed uncertainty dragged the US indices lower in overnight trade. A fall in the value of the rupee to over Rs57 per dollar in morning trade also weighed on the market.

The Nifty opened 29 points down at 5,895 and the Sensex started the day at 19,504, a decline of 64 points over its previous close. Selling pressure from heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC saw the indices moving further down in early trade.

The benchmarks touched their lows in the first hour of trade with the Nifty slipping to 5,955 and the Sensex falling to 19,395.

The benchmarks witnessed a gradual upmove as trade progressed. The market hovered on both sides of its previous closing levels in noon trade. Buying in capital goods, banking and auto sectors helped the indices emerge into the green in post-noon trade. Meanwhile, the key European indices were trading with small gains ahead of policy announcements from the European Central Bank and Bank of England.

The market hit its high shortly after 2.30pm on support from banking and capital goods stocks. The Nifty rose to 5,957 and the Sensex climbed to 19,635 at their respective highs.

However, the benchmarks could not sustain the gains and soon edged lower to finish the session in the negative. The Nifty settled two points (0.04%) down at 5,921 and the Sensex closed at 19,519, a fall of 49 points (0.25%).

Among the broader indices, the BSE Mid-cap index rose 0.11% and the BSE Small-cap index added 0.14%.

BSE Bankex (up 0.83%); BSE Realty (up 0.48%) and BSE Capital Goods (up 0.28%) were the sectoral gainers today. The main losers were BSE Healthcare (down 1.19%); BSE Oil & Gas (down 0.72%); BSE Power (down 0.59%); BSE Metal (down 0.41%) and BSE TECk (down 0.40%).

Out of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, 10 settled higher. The top gainers were ICICI Bank (up 1.70%); Wipro (up 1.38%); Maruti Suzuki (up 1.19%); State Bank of India (up 0.86%) and Larsen & Toubro (up 0.61%).The major loses were Bharti Airtel (down 2.17%); Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.87%); NTPC (down 1.85%); Infosys (down 1.41%) and Tata Steel (down 1.41%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Muthoot Finance (up 4.99%) and UCO Bank (up 4.87%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Container Corporation of India (down 3.72%) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 3.56%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Royale Manor & Industries (up 19.94%) and Cords Cable Industries (down 19.86%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Revathi Equipment (down 18.95%) and Satra Properties India (down 18.31%).

Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 22 ended in the in the green. The main gainers were Reliance Infrastructure (up 3.25%); HCL Technologies (up 2.71%); Axis Bank (up 2.66%); Ambuja Cement Company (up 2.51%) and Bank of Baroda (up 2.34%). The key losers were Bharti Airtel (down 2.53%); Lupin (down 1.86%); Infosys (down 1.75%); Sun Pharma (down 1.70%) and NTPC (down 1.66%).

Markets in Asia closed in the negative on concerns emanating from the US about the continuity of its stimulus programme.

The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.07%; the Hang Seng dropped 1.05%; the Jakarta Composite declined 0.41%; the KLSE Composite fell 0.27%; the Nikkei 225 declined 0.85%; the Straits Times tanked 1.54%; the Seoul Composite settled 1.52% lower and the Taiwan Weighted lost 1.05%.

At the time of writing, the key European markets were trading with gains up to 0.48% and the US stock futures were marginal gains.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of equities amounting to Rs88.49 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of stocks totalling Rs99.75 crore.

Steel maker Mukand today said its Board has approved raising of up to Rs160 crore fund through a rights issue. The Board has also approved the company's raising the authorised share capital to Rs160 crore, from Rs125 crore. The stock fell 1.30% to Rs2.80 on the NSE.

Drug major Cipla today said it has granted the global commercialisation rights for its nasal spray ‘Dymista’ to Swedish partner Meda AB except for certain geographies. The two companies said they have extended an existing partnership for development under which Meda will have full coverage in all growth markets in Latin and South America, West Asia and Africa and Asia, including more than 120 new markets for the nasal spray prescribed for allergic rhinitis. Cipla fell 0.16% to close at Rs374.95.