Markets Remain Volatile

After opening on a weak note today, the Indian markets remained volatile and extended some of their losses. This was amid weak global markets and no major positive news coming in from the domestic or world markets. The volatile session will continue ahead of the Expiry, as traders roll over their positions from the March to the April 2012 series. The next major trigger for the Indian markets will be the Q4 and full year earning result. Both the Sensex and Nifty are marginally down by 0.43% and 0.54% respectively.

Other Asian markets continued to trade on a negative note. Shanghai was down by 2.73%, while Hang Seng and Nikkei were down 0.86% and 0.71% respectively. However, some consolidation was seen in the Asian markets after the rally that was supported by the remarks from the US Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke.

The European markets opened on a flat positive note. FTSE is up by 0.01%, and DAX and CAC are also up by 0.13% and 0.18% respectively.

Back home, among the BSE sectors, FMCG, Consumer Goods and Pharma are leading the indices with gains of 0.55%, 0.31% and 0.24% respectively. CD, Realty and Bankex are leading the losers pack, down by 2.83%, 1.44% and 1.06% respectively. All the other indices are trading down between 0.44%-0.87%.

Among the Sensex shares, most of the scrips are trading in the negative zone. Hindalco, Sterlite and SBI are leading with losses of 2.25%, 2.28% and 1.74% respectively. The other stocks are trading with losses between 0.07%-1.4%. Of the few gainers, Tata Steel is leading with gains of 1.61%, while other stocks like Coal India, GAIL, L&T and M&M are marginally up between 0.1%-0.62%.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is negative. On the BSE, 1853 shares fell, 870 shares rose and 116 shares remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile with a negative bias for the rest of the day, and advise readers to play with caution.