“A good opening and a good ending make for a good film provide they come close together.”
The trading screens these days neither have a good opening or ending. The snail pace movement of the market in recent times would actually give time to catch up on a movie in between. The bulls and the bears seem to be just strolling over even as rollover is a day away. Weakness in global markets and high oil prices have not dented the domestic bourses so far. But, today could be another day. FII inflows have slackened this month. The bulls continue to lack confidence with the Sensex within striking distance of registering a new historic peak. There are no major catalysts to drive the market sharply higher from these levels though the bias still remains slightly up.
Global cues are not having any major bearing on the local sentiment. Things appear to have come to a standstill and the market is awaiting some sort of trigger, either up or down. That may come from the outcome of the two-day Fed meeting that starts today. Though the consensus says the US central bank will hold its key rate steady, global markets are more interested in the Fed's stance on inflation and interest rates in the world's largest economy. We also have the F&O expiry tomorrow. So, expect the choppiness to continue for a few more days before the quarterly results take centerstage. Today, we see the key indices opening on a cautious to lower note on the back of a fall in US and Asian markets.
US stocks fell on Tuesday as lingering concerns over subprime mortgage and its impact on the economy hurt sentiment for the third straight day, even as oil prices fell by more than $1 a barrel.
Worries about the larger impact of losses by Bear Stearns hedge funds invested in securities backed by subprime mortgages, which erased the Dow's 100-plus point gain on Monday, again weighed on the markets.
A number of high profile individuals spoke out on the Bear Stearns mess Tuesday, including PIMCO founder Bill Gross, who predicted that recent subprime mortgage woes will spread, and prompt the Fed to cut interest rates.
The S&P 500 lost 4.85, or 0.3%, to 1492.89. The index is down 2.5% this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 14.39, or 0.1%, to 13,337.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 2.92, or 0.1%, to 2574.16.
Crude oil for August delivery retreated 2% to $67.77 per barrel in New York on forecasts that a government report tomorrow will show an increase in US oil and fuel inventories.
Treasury prices barely budged, leaving the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 5.08%, unchanged from late on Monday. The dollar climbed against the euro and moved lower versus the yen. COMEX gold for August fell $9.40 to $645.30 an ounce.
European shares ended down as well. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index dropped 0.5% to 389.87. The UK's FTSE 100 index closed down 0.4% at 6,559.30, the German DAX 30 index declined 0.9% to 7,860.52 and the French CAC-40 index lost 0.8% at 5,953.36.
In the emerging markets, the Bovespa in Brazil shed 0.35% to 53,851 while the IPC index in Mexico slumped 1.8% to 30,744 and the RTS index in Russia jumped 1.2% to 1897.
Most Asian markets were down this morning. The Nikkei was down 163 points at 17,902 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slid 127 points to 21,675. The Kospi in Seoul was down 20 points at 1728 and the Straits Times in Singapore fell by 23 points to 3501.
Markets continued it flat run for third consecutive trading session. However the domestic bourses managed to close in positive territory despite the weakness in the international markets. The BSE Capital Good, Consumer Durable and Auto index were the major gainers; however Banking and IT index were the major laggards. Even the Mid-Cap and the small cap index added 0.5% each. Finally, the 30-share Sensex gained 13 points to close at 14501. NSE-50 Nifty was up 26 points to close at 4285.
Mindtree gained 0.8% to Rs774 after the company would set up software centre with CIT. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs792 and a low of Rs768 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on NSE.
Jet Airways surged 2% to Rs808 after the Board of Directors of the company approved to raise as much as $400mn. The company also announced its Q4 result with net Profit at Rs880.1mn (down 61%), and sales at Rs90.78bn (up 21%). The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs814 and a low of Rs792 and recorded volumes of over 3,00,000 shares on NSE.
GE Shipping dropped by 3.3% to Rs336 after the company announced that they would convert warrants at Rs312.75 a piece. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs350 and a low of Rs331 and recorded volumes of over 4,00,00 shares on NSE.
Jay Shree Tea surged by over 2% to Rs108 after the company announced that they would consider absorbing Units Birla Tea, Mariobar. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs112 and a low of Rs105 and recorded volumes of over 83,000 shares on NSE.
Praj Industries surged by over 4% to Rs488 after the company won UK Bioethanol Plant contract with Aker Kvaerner. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs490 and a low of Rs461 and recorded volumes of over 26,00,000 shares on NSE.
Natco Pharma rallied nearly by 7% to Rs146 after the company received USFDA approval for Ondansetron Drug. The scrip touched intra-day high of Rs152 and a low of Rs137 and recorded volumes of over 2,00,000 shares on NSE.
Consumer Durable stocks were in the lime light as the index gained 2.71%. Titan was the top gainer as the scrip was up by over 8.5% to Rs1279, Videocon Industries gained 0.2% to Rs424 and Rajesh Exports added 0.6% to Rs525.
Select Banking stocks were on the receiving end. ICICI Bank slipped by 0.7% to Rs945, Canara bank was down by 3.6% to Rs255 and Union Bank declined by 1.5% to Rs131. However, SBI added by 0.7% to Rs1457.
Metal stocks perked up smart gains led by gains in the heavy weight Tata Steel as the scrip gained 1% to Rs604, SAIL was by 1% to Rs133, Nalco edged higher by 0.3% to Rs261 after the Board of Directors of the company recommended 75% dividend.
Results Today:
Asahi Songwon, Ashapura Minechem, Autolite, Bannari Amman, BEL, Global Vectra, Man Industries, National Fertilizers, Nirma and Zee Entertainment.
Major bulk Deals:
Citigroup has sold Gayatri Projects; Passport India Mauritius Fund has bought Pantaloon Retail from Goldman Sachs.
Insider Trades:
Man Industries (India) Ltd: ICICI Securities Primary Dealership Ltd has sold in open market 688986 of Man Industries (India) Ltd on 18th June, 2007.
Lower Circuit:
Max India, Triton Corp, Sudarshan Chemical, Panasonic and Hindustan SPG.
Upper Circuit:
GMR Industries, Deep Industries, Teledata Informatics, Shasun Chemicals, Saregama Industries, United Breweries, PBA Infrastructure, 3MIndia, Amara Raja, Crisil, GV Films, Dollex Industries, Bank of Rajasthan and Bilcare.
Delivery Delight (Rising Price & Rising Delivery):
ABB, AIA Engineering, Apollo Tyres, Asian Hotels, Bata India, BRFL, Cadila Healthcare, CESC, Colgate, Container Corporation, Eveready Industries, EKC, HCL Infosystems, IOC, Lloyd Electric and United Breweries.
Abnormal Delivery:
AIA Engineering, Mercator Lines, Lupin , Havells India , Greaves Cotton , Ballarpur Industries Dabur Pharma and Gujarat NRE Coke.
Major News & Announcement:
SAIL signs agreement with Manganese Ore India
Praj Industries wins UK Bioethanol Plant contract with Aker Kvaerner
GE Shipping to convert warrants at Rs312.75 apiece
Suraj Stainless approves bonus issue in the ratio of 2:1
Jay Shree tea to consider absorbing Units Birla Tea, Mariobar on 28th June
Jet Airways Q4 Profit at Rs880.1mn (down 61%), and sales at Rs90.78bn (up 21%) and approves to raise as much as $400mn
Natco Pharma gets USFDA nod for Ondansetron Drug
Dollex secures $5mn Liquor order from Africa
Aurobindo Pharma gets US approval for Quinapril tablets
Pratibha Industries secures contract worth Rs260mn