Day's Trades End Flat But In Gains

The Indian markets did not see much movement today, ending on a flat note. Both the broader indices moved in a narrow range, closing the day up 0.12%, marginally in the green zone. Among the sectoral indices, Oil & Gas was the leading index, closing higher by 1.2%. Others like Power, Heathcare and Bankex closed higher in the green zone. On the other hand, Consumer Durables and FMCG were the worst performing indices in today’s trade, closing almost 1% lower.

Globally, investors are awaiting the EU summit that is going to be held later this week.

In the Asian markets, the Hang Seng closed with 0.44% gains, while Nikkei and Shanghai closed lower in the red zone. The Nikkei closed lower following media reports that Japan’s lawmakers have voted in favour of a consumption tax increase.

The European markets held some of the morning gains, and are trading higher marginally higher in the range of 0.1%-0.2%. As per media reports, the European markets fluctuated as the demand declined and yields rose at an auction of Spanish debt.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading up by 20 points or 0.16% at 12451, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, GAIL India is the leading index gainer, up 3.64% at Rs 355.95. Most of the Auto stocks like Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors moved higher and closed the day with gains in the range of 0.3%-1.7%. Tata Power, ONGC, Sun Pharma, TCS, etc. closed higher in the range of 1.3%-2.3%. Others like Wipro, Coal India etc closed the day marginally in the green.

On the other hand, FMCG stocks moved southwards after leading business newspaper, Economic Times, reported that the delayed monsoon and the slowdown in growth may impact the sector. Stocks like HUL and ITC ended trades lower by 2.02% and 0.62% respectively. IT heavyweight Infosys also closed the day down by 1.05% at Rs 2442.50. Stocks like ICICI Bank, L&T and HDFC ended marginally in the red zone.

Dion Global Solutions closed with 0.88% losses at Rs 22.60 on news that the company has launched an OTC pricing and risk management tool. Reliance Power is trading 2.01% higher at Rs 101.50 after the announcement that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Vidarbha Industries Power, has successfully synchronised its first unit of 300 MW capacity at Butibori, Nagpur.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was positive for today. Out of the 3205 stocks traded on the BSE, 1563 advanced, 1493 declined and 120 remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to persist with their volatile trends. They could move in either direction now as the June expiry nears and we may see traders rolling over their positions. We advise our readers to play with caution.