Nifty Closes Below 5000 Mark

After opening on a positive note today, the Indian markets lost all their gains in the afternoon trade and closed negative. Weak global cues, especially from the European markets, dragged the markets into the red zone in the late afternoon trade. The overall muted sentiment across the globe is dampening the investors’ mood. The Sensex and Nifty closed with losses of 0.36% and 0.18% respectively.

The Asian markets closed on a mixed note today. Gain hunting at the lower levels was offset by weak trade data from China. The weakening European region also raised worries on the growth. Nikkei and Hang Seng closed with losses of 0.39% and 0.51% respectively, while Shanghai ended on a flat positive note of 0.07%.

The Euro zone markets have plummeted after seeing a flat positive opening. The markets remained choppy and lost early gains as investors weighed up the concerns of the overhanging European debt and the global growth problems.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 88 points or 0.68% down at 12869, indicating a negative sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, except for Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables, all the BSE sectoral indices turned negative in the late hour of trade. Metals, Auto and Power were among the major losers and closed with losses of 1.02%, 0.89% and 0.75% respectively. Others like Pharma, FMCG, PSU and CG were down in the range of 0.15%-0.33%.

In individual stocks, Punjab National Bank closed with losses of 1.80% after reporting weak numbers in the Mar 2012 quarter. The rise in the bank's NPAs triggered the downfall today.

Cadila Healthcare rose by 3.11% to Rs 757 after the company reported decent quarterly numbers. The net sales of the company grew by 15% to Rs 1398 crore, while the net profit grew by 16% to Rs 178 crore.

NTPC hit its 52-week low and closed down by 1.22% at Rs 149.60 after posting weak numbers for Q4. The net profit of the company fell by 6.77% to Rs 2593 crore during the quarter.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was negative. Out of the 3238 stocks traded on the BSE, 1705 declined, 1383 advanced and 150 remained unchanged.

Investors should watch out for stocks like Dr. Reddy’s Labs, Essar Oil, Federal Bank, Indian Bank, MTNL, Thermax, Torrent Power, etc., which are due to post their Q4 results. These stocks may see some price movement.

In conclusion, we expect the markets to remain lacklustre on the back of weak global markets and domestic issues such as rupee depreciation, a muted earnings season, etc. We advise investors to play with caution.