Markets end week in negatives

This is the first week in 2012 in which the markets ended on a negative note. The markets kept bleeding for the most of the week, and have lost by nearly 2% by today’s closing. The Sensex is below the 18000 level and Nifty is below the 5600 level.

The markets remained volatile for the entire day and widened their losses by the close of session, even though there was a positive sentiment created after better US economic data.

The European markets, on the other hand, opened in the positive and are trading in gains at the moment.

Asian markets also closed higher from their closing yesterday over the better US economic data.

The sentiment in the US markets is positive, as Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 39 points or 0.3% up at 13013.

Back home, 8 sectoral indices closed in negatives. Only the Metals index closed with over 1% gains. IT, Teck, CD and FMCG were the other indices that ended in positives. CG and Realty took the maximum beating, both ending their negative run with over 2% losses. Power, PSU, Oil & Gas and Bankex lost about 1% each and all the rest remained marginally in losses.

16 of the Sensex stocks ended in the losers list. As we expected, Sterlite closed the day with 3.83% gains. The stock has downplayed the broader index for the last 2 days and little upside was expected. After showing volatility for the whole day, Tata Power closed with over 2% gains. Coal India was up 1.47% as the company announced an interim dividend. Bharti Airtel was also seen in the gainers list. HDFC was the top loser after selling its stake, with negative 3.83% returns. DLF was down 3.44%. Capital Goods stocks like L&T and BHEL were down by nearly 3%. ONGC and RIL were also seen in the losers list.

Among the other stocks, Tata Communications lost 6.35% by closing. ABB and Indian Bulls also ended up with about negative 5% gains each. Oracle Financials on the rumor of delisting was up by 16.44%.

Kingfisher Airlines, has further lost over 4% in value. Ranbaxy Laboratories further shed 2.61% by the end of the day. Suzlon Energy scrip lost 4.64% as the bond yield on its bonds increased by 82 basis points.

The overall market breadth remained negative today. Out of a total of 3358 stocks traded, 1195 advanced, 2041 declined and 122 remained unchanged.

With the week making it to the negatives and earnings season having almost ended, investors can take cues from the corporate results and the management commentary. With no major overhaul in the fundamentals, the sentiment has been quite positive so far in the year. FII inflow has also been very strong. We believe that this week could be an exceptional one with negative returns, and the markets may rebound with some positives in the next week.