It will probably take 2-3 trading days to form a clear direction
The market settled in the red on a bleak outlook for FY13 given by software major Infosys this morning. After making a higher high and higher low, the Nifty ended in the negative. We may continue to see the weakness prevailing on the bourses. However, in case the benchmark manages to close above the previous day’s high in consecutive trading sessions for a few trading days, we may see the trend reversing but the probability of this happening is weak. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a volume of 80.90 crore shares and advance decline ratio of 776:923.
The marked witnessed a gap down opening on a dismal outlook for the current fiscal by IT services major Infosys. The company cut its earnings per share (EPS) guidance for the full year to Rs160.61 a share from Rs166.46 a share earlier and also reduced constant currency dollar revenues guidance to 5.7% versus 6%.
Select buying resulted in a gradual improvement with the benchmarks emerging into the positive around 10.45am. The gains helped the market hit its intraday high a short while later. At the highs, the Nifty rose to 5,725 and the Sensex climbed to 18,844.
However, volatility kept a check on the gains and a fresh bout of selling and a weak opening of the key European markets pushed the local indices into the red in noon trade.
The selling intensified in the last hour, dragging the benchmarks to their lows. At this point the Nifty slipped to 5,659 and the Sensex dropped to 18,638.
A minor recovery helped the market settle off the lows, albeit in the red. The Nifty fell 32 points (0.56%) down at 5,676 and the Sensex declined 130 points (0.69%) to finish at 18,675.
The broader markets closed marginally higher; the BSE Mid-cap index added 0.08% and the BSE Small-cap rose 0.03%.
The gainers in the sectoral space were BSE Consumer Durables (up 0.60%); BSE Healthcare (up 0.49%) and BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (up 0.21%). The top losers were BSE IT (down 2.59%); BSE TECk (down 2.26%); BSE Realty (down 0.88%); BSE Auto (down 0.73%) and BSE Capital Goods (0.43%).
Fourteen of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The key gainers were GAIL India (up 1.16%); Cipla (up 1.01%); HDFC Bank (up 0.94%); TCS (up 0.66%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 0.60%). The major losers were Infosys (down 5.36%); Bharti Airtel (down 2.58%); BHEL (down 2.46%); Wipro (down 2.01%) and Hero MotoCorp (down 1.61%).
The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—J&K Bank (up 4.67%) and Century Textiles & Industries (up 4.25%).
The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—TTK Prestige (down 9.55%) and Infosys (down 5.36%).
The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Microsec Financial Services (up 18.17%) and Bio Green Industries (up 16.36%).
The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Paradip Overseas (down 19.95%) and Koa Tools India (down 15.38%).
Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 20stocks settled in the positive. The key gainers were ACC (up 3.92%); Lupin (up 2.89%); Ambuja Cement (up 2.28%); Jaiprakash Associates (up 1.43%) and Grasim Industries (up 1.37%). The losers were led by Infosys (down 5.65%); BHEL (down 2.64%); Bharti Airtel (down 2.53%); Wipro (down 2.32%) and IDFC (down 2.27%).
Markets across Asia settled mostly higher on gains in mineral stocks. However, worries about the slowing economic growth and its impact on corporate earnings made investors nervous.
The Shanghai Composite added 0.10%; the Hang Seng surged 0.65%; the Jakarta Composite climbed 0.62%; the Straits Times gained 0.30% and the Seoul Composite settled 0.01% up. Among the losers, the KLSE Composite slipped 0.13%; the Nikkei 225 fell 0.15% and the Taiwan Weighted was down 0.20%.
At the time of writing, the key European markets were lower while the US stocks futures were trading marginally in the positive.
Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares totalling Rs1,043.01 crore on Thursday whereas domestic institutional investors were net sellers of stocks aggregating Rs573 crore.
Electrosteel Castings, part of Electrosteel Steels on Thursday began trial production at its rebar rolling mill with bought out billets. The mill is expected to produce 0.5 million tonnes of TMT bars next year. The rebar rolling mill is part of ESL’s 2.51 million tonnes-a-year and Rs 9,562 crore steel plant project, located in the Bokaro district of Jharkhand. Electrosteel Castings closed 1.35% up at Rs22.45 on the NSE.
Srei Infrastructure Finance and BNP Paribas have invested around Rs200-crore worth equity in their equal joint venture—Srei Equipment Finance. The equity infusion will take the networth of Srei Equipment Finance to over Rs1,660 crore, according to a company press statement. Srei Infrastructure Finance rose 0.18% to close at Rs27.75 on the NSE.
