If the Nifty holds above the day’s low, we may see a sideways move. However, the market trend is still down
 

A sell-off in oil & gas, power and consumer durables stocks and weak global cues led the market down today. If the Nifty holds above the day’s low, we may see a sideways move. However, the market trend is still down. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a lower volume of 49.74 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 584:793.

The market opened in the positive on support from Infosys, which continued to rally for the second day after the company’s board on Saturday reappointed NR Narayana Murthy as the executive chairman. On the other hand, the Asian pack was mostly lower on news of a contraction in Chinese HSBC Manufacturing PMI.

The Nifty opened 11 points higher at 5,997 and the Sensex started the day at 19,859, a gain of 99 points over its previous close. The gains in the IT sector helped the benchmarks hit their intraday highs in initial trade itself. The Nifty touched 6,011 and the Sensex inched up to 19,860 at their respective highs.

The benchmarks remained near their previous closing levels in the first hour of trade and trended lower on selling pressure from the auto and power sectors. The HSBC Manufacturing PMI coming in at a 50- month low of 50.1 for May also weighed on investors.

Barring IT and technology, all other sectoral gauges were in the red in late morning trade. Global cues remained weak in the noon session as markets in Asia were in the negative and the key European markets opened with sharp cuts on Chinese concerns and fears that the US Federal Reserve will taper its bond buying programme.

The market continued its southbound journey in the second session of trade on concerns about the pace of domestic economic growth. The Sensex fell to its lows shortly after 2.00pm with the index at 19,542 while the Nifty’s low came in at around 2.15pm as the index touched 5,916.

The benchmarks settled off the lows, but down for the second consecutive day. The Nifty closed 47 points (0.78%) down at 5,939 and the Sensex finished trade at 19,610, a decline of 150 points (0.76%).

The broader indices finished mixed as the BSE Mid-cap index gained 0.26% and the BSE Small-cap index fell 0.12%.

The sectoral gainers were BSE TECk (up 1.11%); BSE IT (up 1.01%); BSE Metal (up 0.38%) and BSE Realty (up 0.33%). The main losers were BSE Oil & Gas (down 1.84%); BSE Power (down 1.02%); BSE Consumer Durables, BSE Capital Goods (down 0.99% each) and BSE Auto (down 0.84%).

Out of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, 10 settled higher. The top gainers were Infosys (up 4.42%); Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.64%); GAIL India (up 1.42%) and State Bank of India (up 1.07%). The major losers were Hero MotoCorp (down 3.65%); Bajaj Auto (down 3.32%); ONGC (down 2.85%); Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.68%) and HDFC (down 2.40%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—CRISIL (up 20%) and GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 6.15%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Suzlon Energy (down 9.96%) and Jaypee Infratech (down 6.99%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Anjani Portland (down 19.89%) and Tirupati Inks (down 19.97%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Williamson Financial Services (down 19.50%) and Eskay Knit India (down 19.05%).

Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 17 ended in the in the green. The main gainers were Infosys (up 4%); Lupin (up 2.35%); Reliance Infrastructure (up 2.26%); JSPL (up 2.13%) and Tata Steel (up 1.97%). The key losers were ONGC (down 3.51%); Asian Paints (down Bajaj Auto (down 3.32%); Hero MotoCorp (down 3.30%) and Ranbaxy (down 3.29%).

Markets across Asia settled lower as China's HSBC’s Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) fell to 49.2 for the month of May, below the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction. An improvement in the growth outlook in the US re-ignited concerns of the Federal Reserve tapering its bond-buying programme, which also weighed on investors’ sentiments.

The Shanghai Composite shed 0.06%; the Hang Seng declined 0.49%; the Jakarta Composite tanked 1.92%); the KLSE Composite fell 0.16%; the Nikkei 225 tumbled 3.72%; the Straits Times dropped 0.61%; the Seoul Composite lost 0.57% and the Taiwan Weighted settled 0.65% down.

At the time of writing, two of the three the key European indices were in the red while the US stock futures were in the green, indicating a firm opening for US stocks later in the day.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net sellers of equities totalling Rs504.02 crore on Friday whereas domestic institutional investors were net buyers of stocks worth Rs203.11 crore.

Pharmaceutical major Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Fujifilm Corporation today said they have decided to terminate the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enter into an exclusive partnership in the generic drugs business for the Japanese market and to establish a joint venture in Japan. Though the MoU for generic drugs has been cancelled, both the companies will explore partnerships in other related areas, said a statement issued by DRL. The stock gained 1.10% to close at Rs2,115 on the NSE.

Speciality steel and wire rope maker Usha Martin has signed a technical assistance agreement with Aichi Steel Corporation (ASC), a leading speciality steel and forging company of Japan. The deal aims to improve Usha Martin’s production efficiencies and utilise its facilities to produce higher value steel products. The stock surged 2.16% to close at Rs23.60 on the NSE.

Mumbai-based Welspun Corp today said it has demerged Welspun Infra Enterprises from Welspun Corp and renamed it as Welspun Enterprises. The demerged firm will focus on steel, infrastructure, oil and gas exploration and energy. The existing company Welspun Corp will solely focus on pipes and plates business in India and globally, it said in a release. Welspun Corp advanced 4.07% to close at Rs47.30 on the NSE.