Markets End Day In Red

The Indian markets remained very volatile for the entire day today and closed with marginal losses. The BSE Sensex was down 20 points to 17130. The 50-share Nifty hovered around the psychological 5200 level. By closing, it lost 13 points from yesterday's closing, to touch 5189.

The Asian indices also remained choppy, with Nikkei and Shanghai remaining flat and Hang Seng closing with 0.79% gains.

The European indices, which opened in the green, have now turned volatile. Among the key indices, only FTSE is trading in gains, while CAC and DAX are trading in negatives. 

After the S&P lowered the outlook for the country yesterday, the rupee has further depreciated by 0.14% compared to the US dollar, and is now trading at 52.61/dollar. Against the Euro too, it has depreciated by 0.36%. The investment bank, UBS, has said that the rupee could hit a record low of 56 per dollar. UBS has also said that the government needs to expedite reforms in order to boost the economic situation in the country.

On the sectoral front, the IT, FMCG and Teck indices were up by over 0.2% each by the end of the day. All the other indices crashed, with Realty and Power taking the major beating as they lost over 1% each.

Among the individual stocks, Coal India gained 2.79% by the end of the day. The volumes rose in the last half hour of trading. Jindal Steel was also on the buyers’ radar, and the stock was up 3.5% by mid day. By closing, it lost nearly 1.5% and settled down with 2% gains from yesterday's closing. TCS, ITC, RIL, Sun Pharma, Infosys, ICICI Bank and M&M were also in the gainers list. On the other hand, GAIL India crashed by 3.62% and closed at Rs 324.40 after the announcement that it has suspended operations at the Dabhol terminal. Hero MotoCorp was also down by 3.16%.

Energy stocks such as Lanco Infra, GMR Infra, Tata Power, Adani Power, etc. lost in value over the rupee's outlook. Nestle India, the 3rd-largest FMCG company by market cap, reported subdued numbers for the Mar 2012 quarter, and hence, the stock was dumped by investors, going 4.19% down to Rs 4731.30. Strides Arcolab also reported its quarterly earnings, where its net profit zoomed multi-fold due to the sale of major investments. Excluding that however, the profits were down due to forex losses. The stock was down over 2% by closing time.

The shares of Sterlite Technologies rose sharply by 2.6% after the declaration of the Mar 2012 quarter results. The company also announced a divided of Rs 0.30 on a face value of Rs 2. Ceat has risen by 4% on expectations of a dividend from the company. Kirloskar Engines has also recommended a dividend of Rs 4 on a face value of 2. The company reported a net profit of Rs 56 crore in the Mar 2012 quarter against Rs 47 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Bata India reported de-growth in its net profit in the quarterly result, and the stock was down by 1.62%. The shares of L&T Finance Holdings rose by 2.28% after its quarterly results announcement. The company's board has not recommended any dividend.

YES Bank, United Spirits, SBI, Infosys, RIL, etc. were the stocks which reported the top turnover. Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare, Agarwal Holdings, MRF, etc. hit new highs today.

The market sentiment remained negative all day, with more than half of the stocks traded declining in value.

With the outlook remaining negative, the markets are again showing a bearish trend. The rupee is also seen sliding further down, which will fuel the concerns. Investors should not go for risky bets. The recent earnings season would also give strong cues for the future growth of the companies.