Volatile Trades End Flat, Negative

The Indian markets remained volatile throughout the day, and closed on a flat negative note in the last few minutes of the trading session. Both the Sensex and Nifty closed down with marginal losses of 0.03% and 0.02% respectively. Weak quarterly earnings results from corporates and a falling rupee has dented investors’ sentiments. The markets seem to have discounted the recent petrol price hike effected by the government. Without any major positive triggers at this point, the markets are unable to decide the direction, which is keeping the overall mood negative.

The peer Asian markets closed on a mixed note, with Hang Seng and Nikkei in the green zone with gains of 0.25% and 0.20% respectively, while Shanghai was down by 0.75%. Bloomberg reports that the Chinese market is down. The country's biggest bank may fall short of its loan targets for the first time in at least seven years, with an economic slowdown crimping demand for credit.

European markets lost their early gains and trading on negative note, with the CAC, DAX and FTSE trading lower in the range of -0.06%-0.48%. The latest data indicates stabilising consumer confidence in Germany (the biggest economy in the Euro zone), but the region's weakening economy continues to remains a concern for the investors, denting market sentiments.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 13 points or 0.10% down at 12523, indicating a negative sentiment in the US markets.

Among individual stocks, ITC fell by 0.75% to Rs 231.75 today after the company reported lower than expected results for the Mar 2012 quarter. Auto stocks such as Maruti Suzuki, M&M and Bajaj Auto continue to decline for the second trading session as the latest steep hike in the petrol prices may hit car sales.

BPCL gained by 0.72% to touch Rs 731.10 after the company announced a bonus of 1:1 and reported decent Q4 results.

Crompton Greaves closed with losses of 2.30% to Rs 106.05 after the company reported muted quarterly results. Its consolidated net profit fell by 60.1% on a YoY basis to Rs 100.32 crore, while the revenue grew by a mere 4.18% YoY to Rs 3077 crore.

Investors should watch out for stocks like, RIL Comm., Ansal Properties, Munjal Auto and Videocon Industries, which are some of the big counters that are going to post their Mar 2012 quarter results. These stocks may see a price movement.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was negative for the day. Out of the 3166 stocks traded on the BSE, 1673 declined, 1374 advanced and 119 remained unchanged.

Further ahead, we expect the markets to remain negative as the quarterly numbers have not been good so far. Moreover, the rupee has further depreciated to the 56 levels, which will keep the sentiment down. Next week, we have the March month’s expiry, which will also keep the markets volatile. Therefore, we advise investors to remain cautious.