Markets Further Down, Europe Opens Negative

The markets have fallen further from the morning trades. The BSE Sensex is down nearly 160 points at 16754, while Nifty is down 50 points at 5064. Yesterday's provisional data on the BSE shows that FIIs bought stakes worth Rs 2162 crore and also sold stakes worth Rs 2793 crore. That means they were net sellers, offloading a net stake of Rs 630 crore. This happened despite the government deferring the GAAR by a year.

The other Asian markets have continued trading with mixed signals. Meanwhile, after the weak US jobs data, the Euro zone markets have opened in the negative over the future of Greece, which has failed to form a coalition government. The French index, CAC, has tumbled heavily by over 1%.

Among the Sensex participants, DLF is up by 2.85%. Coal India has also held its morning gains. GAIL India has also continued trading in gains after the Petroleum Board expressed resentment on the government’s decision to cap the marketing margins on natural gas players. The shares of FMCG companies ITC and HUL are trading with over 1% gains each at this hour. TCS has further slipped by 5.5% over weak guidance. Other IT stocks such as Wipro and Infosys are also trading in negatives. BHEL is down by 3.46%. Coal India is yet to sign the fuel supply agreements, and this has affected the power stocks.

On the sectoral indices, PSU, which was up by over 1% in the morning, has given up some of its gains but is still in the green. FMCG and Realty are also in positives, but all the other indices are trading in losses.

In individual stocks, MMTC is trading with over 10% gains. The stock has rallied mainly on expectations of good quarterly results. Shalimar Paints, Mahan Industries and M and B Switchgears have touched the upper circuit. Home loan lender HDFC is now marginally up.

The shares of Bajaj Hindustan have declined as the company reported a decline in its Mar 2012 quarter sales. ICRA is trading down by 1% after it reported that it will take up a majority stake in a US-based tech firm. Suzlon had risen by nearly 1% after it reported a new order for 50 MW. The company has now given up its gains, and is trading 0.91% lower from yesterday's closing value.

The boards of Somany Ceramics, Vinyl Chemicals, Rohit Ferro-Tech and Khaitan Chemicals and Fertilizers may consider announcing dividends in the next few days. Companies that have recommended dividend this afternoon are Kotak Mahindra Bank, Lakshmi Preci, Paushak and Dena Bank.

There has been a sudden rise the shares of Aanjaneya Lifecare as the company sold some of its shares in the open market. The stock is down by 11% at this time. The same is the case with SRS Real Infrastructure, and the stock is trading flat. A total of 130 shares have touched the upper circuit, while 157 shares have touched the lower circuit. SBI, TCS and ICICI Bank are the highest in turnover.

Cochin Minerals & Rutile has touched a new high at Rs 266. The company has recorded a huge rise in its sales and net profit. The board has also recommended a dividend of Rs 12 on a face value of Rs 10.

The market breadth is mixed at this time. Of a total of 2669 stocks traded on the BSE, 1332 have advanced, 1218 have declined and 119 have remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to continue to remain volatile with a negative bias.