The indices have to stay above today’s low to continue the uptrend

The Asian indices had a mixed opening, while the indices at home opened in the positive. The Sensex opened at 17,856 while the Nifty opened at 5,426. Speculation that central banks in the US and China will ease monetary policies amid signs slowing growth helped indices to remain in the positive. Yesterday we had mentioned that we may now see a cautious upmove ahead and a change in trend may happen if the Nifty closes below the previous day’s low. We continue to maintain the stance. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw a higher volume of 59.01 crore shares.

Back home, the government on Wednesday eased rules governing overseas borrowing, a move that will help local companies and spur capital inflows. 

On the Asian front, China's factory activity in August shrank at its fastest pace in nine months as new export orders slumped and inventories rose, a signal that a persistent slowdown in economic growth has extended deeper into the third quarter. The HSBC Flash China manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to 47.8 in August, its lowest level since November, from 49.5 in July. Asian stocks rose amid hope weak Chinese manufacturing data could lead to fresh monetary easing from Beijing

On the opening of the European market the indices back home hit their intraday high after which they started their downward move. Both the indices hit a higher high, the Sensex climbed to 17,973 while the Nifty rose to 5,449.

Eurozone manufacturing activity contracted for a seventh month in a row in August, according to preliminary survey data released today. An initial calculation of the PMI, a survey of 3,000 Eurozone manufacturers, came in at 45.3 in August, up from 44 in July. A score below the neutral 50 mark indicates contraction.

Weak data from the Eurozone dragged the local indices into the negative and thereon to their intraday low, which was almost at the same level as yesterday. The Sensex hit a low of 17,793 while Nifty fell to 5,394.

However, during the closing hour the indices managed to pull themselves up and end marginally in the positive. The Sensex and the Nifty closed up three each at 17,850 and 5,415, respectively.

The advance-decline ratio on the NSE was in negative at 769:992.

The broader indices underperformed the Sensex today. The BSE Mid-cap index fell 0.08% and the BSE Small-cap index slipped 0.12%.

The sectoral gainers were BSE IT (up 1.80%); BSE TECk (up 1.36%); BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (up 0.88%); BSE Healthcare (up 0.51%) and BSE Metal (up 0.50%). The main losers were BSE Oil & Gas (down 1.05%); BSE Auto (down 0.83%); BSE Capital Goods (down 0.76%); BSE Power (down 0.41%) and BSE Consumer Durables (down 0.37%).

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro (up 2.61%); TCS (up 2.25%); Infosys (up 1.73%); Tata Steel (up 1.53%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 1.45%). The losers were led by Reliance Industries (down 1.68%); Larsen & Toubro (down 1.63%); ONGC (down 1.59%); Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.55%) and Tata Motors (down 1.09%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Voltas (up 4.49%) and Gujarat State Petronet (up 4.20%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Opto Circuits (down 012.27%) and Adani Ports (down 4.92%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Autolite India (up 20%) and Suven Lifesciences (up 19.98%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Shelter Infraprojects (down 16.79%) and Fintech Communications (down 16.67%).

Cairn India (up 3.36%); Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 2.68%); TCS (up 2.57%); Wipro (up 2.5%) and HUL (up 2.15%) were the Sensex toppers today. The losers were led by Reliance Infrastructure (down 2.10%); RIL (down 1.73%); M&M (down 1.72%); L&T (down 1.60%) and Power Grid Corporation (down 1.51%).

All the Asian indices ended up in the positive except for KLSE Composite which fell 0.04%. The highest gainer among the Asian indices was Hang Seng which closed 1.23% up.

At the time of writing, the European indices and the US Futures both were trading in the red.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares amounting to Rs96.64 crore on Wednesday whereas domestic institutional investors were net sellers of equities aggregating Rs230.14 crore.

Software firm Ramco Systems, focused on the cloud computing platform, today said it has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia to drive growth in new markets. The company will be called Ramco Systems Australia Pty. The stock declined 2.97% to settle at Rs133.75 on the NSE.

Somany Ceramics on Thursday said it would invest Rs200 crore over the next five years in Gujarat and Karnataka for expanding capacities. The company is also exploring to acquire a tile-making firm at Morbi in Rajkot district of Gujarat this year. The stock tumbled 7.89% to close at Rs42 on the NSE.

A consortium in which the wholly-owned subsidiaries of Videocon Industries and Bharat Petroleum Corporation are members have completed the drilling of a second well in a block off Brazilian coast. The discovery of hydrocarbons has been made in a block named BM-SEAL-11 in the sea where the water depth is close to 2.5 km, about 100 km off the coast of the city of Aracaju — in what is known as the Sergipe Basin — which was first announced in September 2011.

Videocon declined 0.29% to Rs174.25 while BPCL gained 0.72% to settle at Rs351.40 on the NSE.