Markets close in the negative
Shrikant / 23 Dec 2011
Indian markets continued with their volatility and closed on a flat note today, proving that the gains in the last 2 days were not backed by strong fundamentals. For last 2 days, the markets had ended in the green zone. Thus, when the markets opened in the positive today, there was some hope that they would remain so. After remaining flat for the entire day, they dived down by over 100 points in the afternoon session. By the end of the day, the BSE Sensex closed with negative 0.47% returns, while the Nifty closed with negative 0.42% returns.
Asian markets remained flat with marginal positive gains by the end of the day. The Japanese market was closed for a holiday. The Taiwanese index and the KOSPI were also trading with over 1% returns.
The European markets are currently trading with marginal returns. FTSE and DAX are marginally up, while CAC has surged by over 1%.
Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 38 points or 0.31% up at 12141, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.
| Benchmark Indices | ||
| Index | Closing | % Change |
| Sensex | 15,738.70 | -0.47% |
| Nifty | 4,714.00 | -0.42% |
| Hang Seng | 18,629.17 | 1.37% |
| Nikkei# | -- | -- |
| Shanghai | 2,204.78 | 0.85% |
| Live | ||
| FTSE | 5,484.66 | 0.51% |
| CAC | 3,102.73 | 1.01% |
| DAX | 5,869.82 | 0.30% |
On the domestic front, CG, Realty, Auto, FMCG and IT managed to stay in positives at the end of the day. The IT index, which remained an underperformer for the whole day, was pulled back into the positives by Wipro and TCS. Bankex managed to gain some returns by mid-day, but went back into the negatives by the end of the day. The Oil & Gas and CD indices were both down by nearly 1%.
| Sectoral Indices | |||
| Index | Close | Change(Pts) | Change (%) |
| Broad | |||
| MIDCAP | 5185.54 | 3.97 | 0.08 |
| SMLCAP | 5614.48 | 58.98 | 1.06 |
| BSE-100 | 8080.08 | -35.68 | -0.44 |
| BSE-200 | 1885.47 | -7.99 | -0.42 |
| BSE-500 | 5879.97 | -20.06 | -0.34 |
| Sectors | |||
| CG | 8168.12 | 62.16 | 0.77 |
| REALTY | 1429.97 | 3.97 | 0.28 |
| AUTO | 8282.54 | 19.92 | 0.24 |
| FMCG | 4091.06 | 6.43 | 0.16 |
| IT | 5686.16 | 5.97 | 0.11 |
| POWER | 1814.67 | -0.89 | -0.05 |
| TECk | 3331.65 | -7.35 | -0.22 |
| HC | 5862.49 | -16.31 | -0.28 |
| METAL | 9528.69 | -42.91 | -0.45 |
| PSU | 6427.04 | -37.02 | -0.57 |
| OIL&GAS | 7937.37 | -73.21 | -0.91 |
| CD | 5336.89 | -53.11 | -0.99 |
| BANKEX | 9516.91 | -112.98 | -1.17 |
Only 11 of the Sensex stocks closed the day in the gainers list. Wipro lead the gains with 2.29% returns for the day. BHEL, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, Sun Pharma, Cal India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp and ITC were also all up when the markets closed. NTPC, DLF and Jaiprakash Associates lead the losers list. Bharti Airtel was down by 1.33% and Infosys was also seen in the negatives.
Of the other stocks, Syndicate Bank, Cadila Health and PFC were down by over 5% each. Ranbaxy, which gained yesterday after it made a provision of US$ 500 million, was down by over 4% today. Apollo Hospitals surged up by 7%. Manappuram Finance, RCF, Sun TV, Opto Circuits, Gujarat Fluorochemicals and IFCI also surged up by over 5%.
In other announcements, Areva T&D India has delivered a National Load Dispatch Center for Bhutan Power Corporation. Blue Star is setting up a factory in Ahmedabad to manufacture refrigeration products. Stone India has received an export order worth US$ 1.3 million from the ASEAN market for freight car upgradation.
In further corporate news, ABB Group has booked Rs 4000 cr power transmission order in India. Suzlon Energy has announced an order of 166 MW (Rs 935 cr). MBL Infrastructures has been awarded new projects worth Rs 315.7 cr. Punj Lloyd is has received a contract for a road project in Kenya.
The overall market breadth remained mixed at the end of the day. Out of a total of 3203 stocks traded on the BSE, 1638 stocks advanced, 1430 stocks declined, while 135 stocks remained unchanged.
| Advance-Decline Table | |||
| Index | Advances | Declines | Unchanged |
| BSE 30 | 10 | 20 | 0 |
| BSE 100 | 40 | 59 | 1 |
| BSE 200 | 79 | 120 | 1 |
| BSE 500 | 247 | 247 | 6 |
| Others | 1262 | 984 | 127 |
In conclusion, the markets have remained volatile this week, with the gains not backed by fundamentals. Food inflation has come down as per the numbers announced this week, and the RBI has indicated possible rate cuts if inflation softens. We may see some positives soon, but the key question is when this will happen. We advise investors to keep tracking the macroeconomic news, which will give pointers about the progress of the stock market.
Here's wishing our readers a merry Christmas!
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