Only a close below 6,470 the Nifty may reverse the rising trend

We had mentioned in the Friday’s closing report that the NSE Nifty will continue to hit new highs over the course of the next few days. On Monday the Indian stock market had a weak opening on the back of weak data from China and Japan but soon it hit a fresh high.

After four consecutive session of opening in the positive, the BSE 30-share Sensex opened the week 101 points lower at 21,819 while after three consecutive session of opening in the positive, the Nifty opened lower by 35 points at 6,492. In the morning session itself, both the indices hit their lows at 21,805 and 6,487, respectively. In the noon session, both Sensex and Nifty to stay in the green when it hit day’s high at 22,024 and 6,562, respectively. Sensex closed at 21,935 (up 15 points or 0.07%) while Nifty closed at 6,537 (up 11 points or 0.16%). NSE recorded a huge volume of 81.26 crore shares, which was however, lower than Friday’s.

Among the other indices on the NSE, the top five gainers were Realty (2.63%); P S U Bank (2.24%); Bank Nifty (1.88%); Infra (1.84%) and Finance (1.62%) while the only five losers were I T (2.44%); Pharma (1.85%); Metal (0.98%); F M C G (0.43%) and Commodities (0.07%).

Of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 28 ended in the green. The top five gainers were I D F C (6.85%); Kotak Bank (5.83%); IndusInd Bank (5.49%); Jaiprakash Associates (5.01%) and Maruti (3.71%). The top five losers were T C S (3.75%); Tata Motors (3.36%); H C L Technologies (3.15%); Sun Pharma (3.14%) and N M D C (2.69%).

Of the 1,549 companies on the NSE, 793 closed in green, 669 closed in red while 87 closed flat.

Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan sought the Supreme Court's urgent intervention to stop the increase in natural gas prices, saying that the new rates would enrich Reliance Industries (RIL) and hurt the people of the country, on whose behalf the state is a trustee of natural resources, as ruled earlier by the top judicial authority. Bhushan, representing NGO Common Cause, said the government's decision should be stayed at least for a few months so that the new regime after the elections, which will bear the consequences of higher gas prices, can look at the matter afresh. Bhushan had earlier filed a petition challenging higher gas rates. It was listed for 4 March 2014 but it could not be taken up.

US indices closed flat with a positive bias on Friday. American employers added 175,000 workers in February, the most in three months. The unemployment rate, which is drawn from a different survey of households, ticked up to 6.7% from 6.6% in January.

Separately, the US trade deficit rose slightly to $39.1 billion in January from a revised $39 billion in the prior month, the Commerce Department said on Friday.

All the Asian indices closed in the negative. Shanghai Composite (2.86%) was the top loser. Its exports in February fell 18.1% from a year earlier, following a 10.6% jump in January, the General Administration of Customs said on Saturday. Imports rose 10.1%, yielding a trade deficit of $23 billion ($25.4 billion) for the month versus a surplus of $32 billion in January. Producer prices slid 2%, the most since July, while the inflation rate was 2% for February, reports at the weekend showed.

Japan's economy expanded less than estimated in the fourth quarter and the current-account deficit widened to a record in January. Gross domestic product grew an annualized 0.7% from the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo, less than estimates. The current-account deficit widened to 1.59 trillion yen ($15.4 billion), a record in data back to 1985, the finance ministry said.

European indices were showing mixed performance while US Futures were trading marginally in the negative.