Post Market Commentary - Jan 6 2009

The Indian market ended the day mixed after trading with volatility for throughout the trading session. The benchmark indices swung between positive and negative terrain and moved in a narrow range on mixed global cues. Mixed Asian markets along with firm European markets and fiscal and monetary measures by policymakers announced on 2 January 2009 to boost slumping growth, added positive sentiments on the domestic bourses. However, the lower closing of US stock market after an irregular session on Monday, contributed to the negative attitude. US auto sales plunged 36% in December.

The domestic market opened lower and turned choppy soon after start. Later, stocks moved into positive zone in line with other Asian stocks before sliding into red again. Market continued to remain range bound in a sea saw trade on continuous bouts of buying and selling. During last trading hours, benchmark indices slipped sharply to the day’s low on fresh round of selling, though managed to close mixed. Investors are looking for large US spending package and tax cuts to support the world’s largest economy. It is estimated that about 40% of US economic package worth as much as $775 billion would be in the form of tax breaks for business and the middle class. BSE Sensex ended above 10,300 mark and NSE Nifty above 3,100 level. From the sectoral front, Metal, Bank, Auto and FMCG stocks contributed to the upward journey. However, Reality, Consumer Durable, Teck and Power stocks remained under pressure as witnessed most of the selling from these baskets. Midcap and Smallcap stocks also ended lower.

Among the Sensex pack 17 stocks ended in green territory and 13 in red. The market breadth remained flat as 1244 stocks closed in green while 1271 stocks closed in red and 91 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.

The BSE Sensex closed marginally higher by 60.33 points at 10,335.93 while NSE Nifty ended slightly down by 8.65 points at 3,112.80. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with losses of 6.68 points and 8.82 points at 3,444.96 and 3,908.55 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 10,392.12 and intraday low of 10,150.68.

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are Grasim Industries (8.37%), ACC Ltd (7.67%), JP Associates (7.34%), Satyam Computer (7.31%), M&M Ltd (7.23%), HDFC Bank (5.53%), ICICI Bank (4.70%), Sterlite In (4.52%), Tata Motors (3.77%), TCS Ltd (3.43%) and BHEL (2.34%).

Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are Reliance Communication Ltd (5.65%), DLF Ltd (5.41%), Bharti Airtel (4.17%), Tata Power (3.07%), DLF Ltd (1.60%), Reliance Infra (2.79%), SBI (2.72%), NTPC Ltd (2.35%) and TCS Ltd (1.43%).

The BSE Metal index advanced by (2.02%) or 118.38 points to close at 5,987.46 as Hindustan Zinc (9.25%), Steel Authority (5.35%), Jindal Steel (5.05%), Gujarat NRE C (4.92%), Sterlite In (4.52%) and JSW Steel (2.90%) ended in green.

The BSE Bank index ended higher by (1.62%) or 95.42 points at 5,970.29. Gainers are HDFC Bank (5.53%), ICICI Bank (4.70%), Canara Bank (3.39%) and Axis Bank (1.42%).

The BSE Auto index gained (1.51%) or 38.65 points to close at 2,592.47 as M&M Ltd (7.23%), Tata Motors (3.77%), Bharat Forge (3.28%), Apollo Tyre (1.97%), Herohonda Motor (1.17%) and Maruti Suzuki (1.11%) ended in positive territory.

The BSE Reality index ended lower by (3.98%) or 98.08 points at 2,366.20. Main losers are Anant Raj (8.52%), DLF Ltd (5.41%), Unitech Ltd (3.57%), Omaxe Ltd (2.85%), Indiabull Real (2.80%) and Parsvnath (2.48%).

The BSE Consumer Durable index lost (3.34%) or 67.83 points to close at 1,960.47. Major losers are Videocon Ind (5.03%), Titan Ind (4.05%), Blue Star L (2.36%) and Gitnajali GE (1.40%).

The BSE Teck index ended down by (1.47%) or 29.71 points at 1,988.97. Major losers are Reliance Communication Ltd (5.65%), IBN18 (4.95%), Bharti Airtel (4.17%), Moser Bayer (3.95%) and Patni Computer (3.45%).