The indices closed above yesterday’s high today. The downtrend has been arrested for now but a strong uptrend looks doubtful
After remaining in the negative for a major part of the morning session, the announcement by the government approving direct transfer of urea subsidy and a positive opening of the European markets resulted in a green close. Today's gain on the Nifty reversed yesterday's losses. We may see the index moving in a range of 5,635 and 5,730. The index may probably see a reversal in the trend in case if it manages to make a close above previous day’s high in the next few trading days. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a higher volume of 85.30 crore shares and advance decline ratio of 912:528.
The market opened almost unchanged from its previous close on growth concerns after global ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Wednesday cautioned threatened to downgrade India’s sovereign rating to junk status in the next two years. This apart, the ratings agency has downgraded Spanish debt for a third time this year citing a severe recession that is limiting the government’s policy options.
The Nifty opened 12 points higher at 5,664 and the Sensex resumed trade at 18,627, down four points from its close on Wednesday. The market remained in the negative terrain in morning trade in the absence of any domestic triggers and as investors turned cautious ahead of the second quarter earnings season, which formally kicks off on Friday.
The benchmarks fell to their lows at around 10.30am amid a fair degree of volatility. At the lows the Nifty fell to 5,637 and the Sensex went back to 18,581.
The indices continued to move sideways till the noon session on reports of India’s exports sliding 11% to $23.69 billion in September, declining for the fifth month in a row. The decline in exports comes amid India’s economic growth slipping to 5.5% in the first quarter of this fiscal and subdued industrial output.
However, the market bounced back into the green on a positive opening of the key European indices. The Cabinet’s approval for direct transfer of urea subsidy also supported the gains.
The rebound resulted in the market hitting the intraday high in late trade with the benchmarks breaching their psychological levels. The Nifty rose to 5,721 and the Sensex scaled 18,848 at their highs.
The market settled near the highs on continuation of the economic reforms and support from its European peers. The Nifty closed 56 points (0.99%) higher at 5,708 and the Sensex climbed 174 points (0.93%) to finish the session at 18,805.
Among the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap index surged 1.16% and the BSE Small-cap climbed 0.84%.
BSE Healthcare (down 0.13%) was the only sectoral gauge to settle in the red. The top gainers were BSE Realty (up 4.61%); BSE Capital Goods (up 2.04%); BSE Metal (up 1.61%); BSE Power (up 1.41%) and BSE Bankex (up 1.30%).
Twenty four of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The gainers were BHEL (up 2.61%); Larsen & Toubro (up 2.25%); Tata Motors (up 2.22%); Tata Steel (up 2.11%) and Bharti Airtel (up 2.06%). Cipla (down 1.97%); Wipro (down 0.61%); Maruti Suzuki (down 0.59%); Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.18%) and GAIL India (down 0.15%) settled at the bottom of the index.
The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Unitech (up 17.49%) and Jaiprakash Power Ventures (up 10.14%).
The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Cadila Healthcare (down 3.64%) and Lupin (down 3.12%).
The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Bheema Cements (up 19.97%) and Burnpur Cements (up 19.94%).
The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Principal Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals (down 13.77%) and Paradip Overseas (down 12.01).
Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 41stocks settled in the positive. The key gainers were Jaiprakash Associates (up 3.72%); DLF (up 3.71%); Bank of Baroda (up3.43%); Punjab National Bank (up 3.28%) and Axis Bank (up 2.91%). The main laggards were Lupin (down 2.905); Cipla (down 2.15%); Maruti Suzuki (down 0.61%); UltraTech Cement (down 0.53%) and Ambuja Cement (down 0.45%).
Markets in Asia closed mostly lower on concerns about slowing growth. Besides, South Korea’s central bank today cut its growth estimates for 2012 to 2.4% from 3% announced in July and that for 2013 to 3.2% from 3.8%. The country’s central bank also cut its base rate by 25 basis points to 2.75%, the second time in four months.
The Shanghai Composite declined 0.81%; the KLSE Composite fell 0.24%; the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.58%; the Straits Times shed 0.04%; the Seoul Composite contracted 0.78% and the Taiwan Weighted tanked 1.85%. On the other hand, the Hang Seng gained 0.38% and the Jakarta Composite rose 0.12%.
At the time of writing, the CAC 40 of France was trading 0.66% higher, DAX of Germany was up 0.76% and UK’s FTSE 100 was up 0.60%. At the same time, the US stock futures were in the positive.
Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares totalling Rs407.60 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of equities amounting to Rs396.35 crore.
Coimbatore-based auto components major Pricol is planning to tie up with a foreign partner in its move to focus on the Japanese auto companies that have a presence in India. The firm said it would transfer technology meant for Japanese cars to a subsidiary.
Towards this end, the company has decided to transfer Denso Technology instrument businesses undertaking for Japanese cars to a wholly-owned subsidiary, Pricol Components, and thereafter form a JV with a global instrument supplier. The stock fell 0.53% to close at Rs18.80 on the NSE.
Everest Kanto Cylinder (EKC), a top player in high pressure seamless cylinders segment, has redeemed the entire obligation of $49.98 million (Rs265 crore including premium) towards its zero coupon foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) which matured on 10th October. The company has funded the redemption from a combination of rupee term loan and internal accruals. The stock surged 2.91% to settle at Rs33.60 on the NSE.
Syndicate Bank has raised $500 million through an overseas bond issue of 5.5 years tenor. The issue was priced at 4.125%. The public sector lender intends to utilise the proceeds of the issue to expand lending operations of its London branch. The stock rose 0.79% to close at Rs114.90 crore on the NSE.
