Markets close lower, SBI up nearly 4%

Amid volatile trades today, the Indian markets closed in the positive territory. The markets, which opened over 2% up in the morning, kept shedding points in later trades. The CRR cut that was announced on Friday, Mar 9, has already been discounted by the markets. The markets were also not upbeat about the Jan 2012 IIP data figure of 6.8%. By the end of the day, the BSE Sensex was up 84 points and Nifty was up 26 points.

Peer Asian indices also traded in the red for the entire day. Except for the Hang Seng, all the other Asian indices closed negative.

The European markets, which also opened volatile, are now showing a changed scenario. While the DAX and CAC have gained marginally, FTSE is down by 0.1%.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 0.36% or 46 points down at 12885, indicating a negative sentiment in the US market.

Back home, on the sectoral front, Capital Goods gained by 2.56% and was the topmost amongst the other indices. CD, Realty, Oil & Gas and Bankex were also all up by over 1%. IT, Teck and HC, on other hand, closed the day in the negatives. Among the other indices, BSE Mid-Cap, BSE Small-Cap, BSE-100, BSE-200 and BSE-300 all gained by the day's closing. 

From the Sensex stocks, SBI kept on adding a few points every session and closed with gains of 87 points or 3.96%. L&T was also up by 3.54%, while RIL surged by 3.02%. Jindal Steel, BHEL, Bajaj Auto and Hindalco were each up by more than 2%. M&M, on the other hand, lost 1.88%. Pharma major, Cipla, was also seen in the losers list. ONGC, Infosys, TCS and HDFC shed over 1% each by closing time.

In other stocks, United Breweries rallied by 18%. Wockhardt held its gains for the entire day and was up by 7.43%. Voltas surged by 9.37% by the end of the day’s business. The financial shares of Adani Ports, Financial Tech and Redington India closed with intraday losses of over 3%.

The newly-listed MCX shed 64 points today and closed at Rs 1233. The currently open IPO issue of Olympic cards has been witnessing low subscriptions. The issue will close tomorrow.

The overall market breadth remained positive. Out of the total of 3296 stocks traded on the BSE, 1809 (55%) advanced, 1361 (41%) declined and 126 (4%) remained unchanged.

Despite the positive IIP numbers as well the greater-than-expected CRR cut by the RBI, volatility was seen in the markets. We believe that the markets have discounted all these factors. The two key events that will keep the markets alive are the Union Budget and the RBI's monetary policy review, both scheduled for this week.

We advise our readers keep visiting our website for key updates on the budget. On the budget day itself, i.e. on Friday, Mar 16, we will cover the budget live, and will guide readers regarding new investments.