Markets Ends Lower, ITC Down 3.55%

The Indian indices shrugged off their gains in the last couple of hours of trade, closing the day in the deep red. The markets remained more or less unchanged, hovering over yesterday's close for most part of the day before breaking down in the last hour. The Sensex and Nifty closed lower by 0.76% and 0.62% respectively.

The other Asian markets closed in a mixed bag, with the Japanese Nikkei higher by 1.66%, while Shanghai and Hang Seng were down 1.03% and 0.26% respectively. According to Bloomberg reports, China’s stocks fell, driving the benchmark index down the most in more than a week, as waning investor interest in equities drove brokerages down and lower metal prices dragged on materials producers.

The European indices are trading lower, with CAC, DAX and FTSE down in the range of 0.20%-0.60%. According to media reports, the European stocks moved lower as investors are taking a cautious stance after the US Federal Reserve raised its bond buying program and set inflation and unemployment targets.

Dow Jones Futures is currently trading 70 points or 0.53% down at 13215, indicating a negative sentiment in the US markets.

Back home, all the sectoral indices closed in the negatives except for the Auto index, which was higher by 0.84%. FMCG and Consumer Durables were the worst performers, closing the day lower by 2.81% and 2.87% respectively. Others like Realty, Capital Goods, Power and Metals closed lower by over 1%.

Taking a stock-specific view, ITC was the worst performer, ending the day down by 3.55% at Rs 295 per share. Other Metals names like Sterlite Industries and Hindalco also saw a lacklustre performance, dropping by 3.27% and 2.03% respectively. Stocks like L&T, NTPC, Tata Steel, BHEL and SBI are among those closing lower by more than 1%. Maruti Suzuki, GAIL India, TCS and HDFC Bank all closed marginally in the red zone.

Tata Motors was the star performer in today's trade, closing up by 3.96% at Rs 287.40 per share. Others in the gainers list include Jindal Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, ONGC and RIL.

The market breadth was negative for today. Out of the 3058 stocks traded on the BSE,  1821 declined, 1119 advanced and 118 remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile for tomorrow as the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation number for Nov 2012 are expected to come in.