Market Lose Early Gains, Sensex Down 135 Points

The Indian markets opened the day on a positive note but lost all its gains in the late hours of the trading session to close in the negative zone. The Sensex and Nifty closed lower by 0.72% and 0.69% respectively. The drop in the markets was largely on the back of weakness in major stocks like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, L&T, Tata Motors and SBI, which remained under pressure. Further, poor earning numbers for the September quarter  has also dented the sentiment.

Among the sectoral indices, Realty, Metals and Capital Goods were the leading losers, down by 3.05%, 1.89% and 1.51% respectively. Others like FMCG, IT, Pharma, Oil & Gas, Bankex and Auto are also down in the range of 0.05%-0.92%. Consumer Durables and Teck were the only gainers by the end of the day, up 0.21% and 0.05% respectively.

The other Asian markets closed on a positive note today. The Hang Seng, Nikkei and Shanghai finished higher by 0.28%, 1.42% and 0.01% respectively. Positive cues from the US and European markets have lifted the market sentiments.

The European indices are currently trading higher, with FTSE, CAC and DAX up in the range of 0.47%-0.65%. The markets took their cue from a bullish close overnight in the US and Asia following upbeat economic data and results from banking giant Citigroup.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading higher by 0.12 points or 0.09% at 13371, indicating a positive sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, among individual stocks, Shree Cement fell 2.58% to Rs 3975 after reporting its Sept quarter results. The net profit surged 492.70% to Rs 228.13 crore on a 55.28% increase in its net sales to Rs 1323 crore in Q1 (Sept) 2012 over Q1 (Sept) 2011. The jump in the net profit was mainly from the power division of the company. Revenues from its power segment surged 210.98% to Rs 260.01 crore in the elapsed quarter over the same quarter last fiscal. The revenues from the company's cement segment increased 40.06% to Rs 1187.42 crore in the Sept 2012 quarter over the Sept 2011 quarter.

Reliance Industries closed lower by 1.21% at Rs 813.25 after the company posted lower-than-expected numbers for the Sept quarter. The net profit declined by 5.7% to Rs 5376 crore on a 15.4% growth in turnover to Rs 93265 crore in the Sept 2012 quarter over the same period last year.

GIC Housing Finance surged 5.56% to Rs 101.55 after the company posted strong results for the last quarter. Its net profit surged by 148.92% on a YoY basis to Rs 23.15 crore on a 29.50% on increase in its total income to Rs 136.54 crore.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was negative for the day. Out of the 3014 stocks traded on the BSE, 1712 declined, 1179 advanced and 123 remained unchanged.

As we have stated in our previous updates, the markets are expected to remain volatile with a negative bias ahead of the result announcements of major companies.