Markets Close Near Day's Lowest Point

The Indian markets remained in the red zone throughout, and finally at closed almost at the lowest point of the day. Both the broader indices closed in losses, with Sensex down by 0.7% at 17158 and Nifty down by 0.72% at 5205. Investors and traders were in the mood to book some profits ahead of the weekend. Among the sectoral indices, Capital Goods and  Bankex closed lower by 1%, while Auto, Metals and FMCG were up with marginal gains.

In the Asian markets, Hang Seng closed the day with marginal gains, while Nikkei and Shanghai ended down by 1.43% and 0.74% respectively. This was on media reports, which stated that China has pledged to keep property curbs. This, along with concerns on Europe’s debt crisis, is dragging down global growth. The Japanese market moved southwards mostly due to the financials and utilities stocks, which took the most beating.

The European markets are trading very quietly, with no major movements. DAX is trading marginally in the green zone, while FTSE and CAC are trading 0.17% and 0.15% down respectively. Media reports said that the markets are looking nervous amid lingering worries over Spain’s rising borrowing cost. Telecom major Vodafone also disappointed the streets with its earnings, fueling a negative sentiment in the markets.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading down 15 points or 0.11% at 12865, indicating a negative sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, Dr Reddy’s Labs held its morning losses, closing down by 2.69% at Rs 1611. BHEL also moved lower, with the stock falling 2.68% to Rs 228.35. Other stocks like Wipro, Cipla, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Infosys closed trades down more than 1%. Jindal Steel, Sun Pharma, HUL, ITC, etc. also ended in marginal losses.

Bajaj Auto remained the leading index gainer in today’s trades, and closed higher by 2.63% at Rs 1590. Other stocks like TCS, Coal India and Tata Steel also closed in gains. Maruti Suzuki moved up by 2.45% to Rs 1144.75. Investors saw some buying opportunity in the scrip after it was beaten down heavily by almost 9% in yesterday’s trade.

JSW Energy closed the day down by 0.19% at Rs 53.10 after the company posted its Jun quarter numbers. It has posted a net profit of Rs 569.30 million for the quarter just elapsed as compared to Rs 1902.60 million for the quarter ended Jun 30, 2011. Its total income has increased from Rs 11988.50 million for the quarter ended Jun 30, 2011 to Rs 17073.00 million for last quarter.

Asian Paints posted a robust set of numbers, which helped the stock to move northwards and close 2.75% higher at Rs 3723.90. The company has posted a net profit after tax of Rs 2745.90 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2012 as against Rs 2504.20 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. Its total income has increased from Rs 19533.50 million for the Jun 2011 quarter to Rs 20810.70 million for the Jun 2012 quarter.

Watch out for Reliance Industries, which is going to declare its quarterly results later today, the impact of which we would see in the first trades on Monday, Jul 23. The stock closed lower by 0.91% at Rs 721.10 ahead of the results announcement. The street estimates its Jun 2012 quarter sales to go up by 8% to Rs 87500 crore as against Rs 81018 crore on a YoY basis. Its OPM is seen to be down at 8.1% against 12.25% YoY. The company's PAT is also seen down by 22.7% at Rs 4375 crore against Rs 5661 crore on a YoY basis.

For the next week, we have some of the major companies declaring their quarterly results, which could result in stock-specific movement and could take the market in either direction. Watch out for stocks like Colgate Palmolive, Dabur India, HUL, IDEA, L&T, Ashok Leyland, ING Vysya Bank, Lupin, LIC Housing Finance, Wipro, HCL Tech, BHEL, ITC, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Union Bank, etc., which are going to announce their Jun quarter numbers.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was negative for today. Out of the 3274 stocks traded on the BSE, 1888 declined, 1266 advanced and 120 remained unchanged.