March 9: mid-session report

The Indian markets saw some profit booking at higher levels taking cues from other Asian markets after strong rally witnessed in the last week. Markets are finding it tough to cross 7500 levels as it still remains a key resistance level for the benchmark indices. They are trying to hold on to 7450 levels. Key contributors to the downward movement are Metal indices which saw a major correction after inching higher in previous trading sessions.

Nifty was trading down by 5 points at 7440; and Sensex by 45 points at 24618. Both the leading indicators were trading down with losses of 0.04 and 0.17 per cent respectively.

The advance-decline ratio showed a similar trend as majority of the counters traded in red. 1326 scrips were trading in the negative territory; 869 scrips were trading in the positive territory; however 102 stocks remained unchanged on the NSE.

Top Nifty Gainers:   Tech Mahindra is leading the gainers list as it was trading up by close to 3 per cent followed by Yes Bank, ONGC, Grasim Industries and Maruti Suzuki which were up 1.90; 1.36;1.26; and 1.26 per cent respectively.

Top Nifty Losers: Vedanta is leading the losers list down more than 5.60 per cent, followed by Hindalco Industries, Cairn India, HDFC and BPCL which are down anywhere between 4.5 per cent to 2.50 per cent.

All the major sectors were trading in red except for BSE Capital Goods and BSE Auto Index which were trading up with minor gains. BSE Capital Goods Index was leading the way with gains of 0.62 per cent. However, BSE FMCG Index was the top loser in trade as it was down by more than 1 per cent in today’s trade. BSE Small-Caps index also saw profit booking as it declined by 0.40 per cent. However, BSE Mid -Cap index was trading with gains of 0.20 per cent.

Asian shares declined in trade as all major indices closed with minor losses owing to fears of Chinese economy's impact on global markets. Chinese benchmark index CSI ended the day with losses of 1.97 per cent. Japanese Nikkei also saw cuts in excess of .80 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Taiwan’s FTSE TWSE 50 Index were also trading with losses in the range of 0.40 and 0.35 per cent respectively. However, bucking the trend Korean KOSPI and Australian ASX 200 were trading in green.

In commodities, Brent LCOC1 settled down 2.9 percent at USD 39.65 a barrel on Tuesday after hitting a 2016 high of $41.48 earlier in the session.

Buzzer: - Reliance Infra was buzzing in trade as it was trading up by 2 per cent to Rs 49 on the back of receiving clearance from DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion) for 12 of its industrial licenses.

In the second half of the day, decision of European Central Bank on policy rates will be keenly watched as markets expect a cut of 10 basis points at least. European stock markets are likely to open with minor losses following its Asian peers.