The beginning is the most important part of the work.
Happy New Year! The beginning just got earlier for the market and we hope it bears fruit. We expect a positive opening on the first trading day of 2010 and the decade. US market fell on the last trading day of 2009. Asian markets are mixed but Japanese shares have extended the recent advance. European stocks finished higher on Dec. 31. Things might remain sideways to start with as the market braces for the year ahead after a phenomenal comeback last year.
The market ended on a reasonably strong footing with the Nifty closing above 5200. The Sensex too made a new high for the year 2009. Quarterly earnings, RBI’s policy moves and the Union Budget will be the key events that will drive the sentiment in the initial few weeks. Global economic data points and earnings will also have a bearing but to a lesser extent. Trends in fund flows and movement in other markets (currency and commodities) will be among the other key triggers. Let’s hope that in 2010, the market does as well as it did in 2009.
FIIs were net buyers in the cash segment on Thursday at Rs5.16bn on a provisional basis. The local funds were net sellers of Rs4.7bn, according to figures published on the NSE's web site. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net sellers at Rs6.15bn. As per the SEBI figures, FIIs were net buyers of Rs3.54bn in the cash segment on Wednesday.
Auto stocks could gain on the back of another month of strong sales volume.
Shares of JSW Energy will get listed on the bourses. Godrej Property will list on Tuesday and DB Corp on Wednesday.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke has defended the US central bank's record. The Fed chairman says that low interest rates in the first half of the last decade were reasonable and not to blame for the ensuing housing bubble. Lax regulation of mortgage industry much bigger housing culprit than low interest rates, Bernanke says.
A key measure of Chinese manufacturing reached a 20-month high in December, while also marking its 10th straight month of expansion.
Singapore's economy during the fourth quarter showed a much sharper quarter-on-quarter fall than had been expected, according to reported figures. The city-state's economy shrank by an annualized 6.8% from the previous quarter, compared to analysts' average expected drop of 4.6%. On a year-on-year basis, the economy grew 3.5%. For 2010, the Singaporean government said it saw GDP rising 3% to 5%.
US stocks slipped on Thursday in a thinly-traded session on the last day of 2009, as investors considered a better-than-expected report on initial jobless claims at the end of a big year on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 120 points, or 1.1%, after ending the previous session at the highest point since Oct. 1, 2008. The S&P 500 index fell 11 points, or 1%, after ending the previous session just short of a 15-month high. The Nasdaq Composite shed 22 points, or 1%, and ended the previous session at the highest point since Oct. 3, 2008.
Stocks had been sideways through the early afternoon as investors mulled a better-than-expected jobs report and a strong US dollar, before sliding in the last hour of trade. Declines were broad-based, with 29 of 30 Dow components sliding.
Volume was tepid, with many market participants leaving early ahead of New Year's Eve. All financial markets were closed on Friday in observance of New Year's Day.
In the year 2009, the S&P 500 gained 23.4%, the Dow industrials gained 18.8% and the Nasdaq added 44%. Stocks gained even more substantially since bottoming in March at the height of the financial market crisis. Since closing at a 12-year low on March 9, the Dow has gained 59% and the S&P 500 has gained 65%. Since closing at a 6-year low on the same date, the Nasdaq is up 79%.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell to 432,000 last week, the government reported. It was the lowest level since July 2008. Economists expected 460,000 new jobless claims, up from the 454,000 filed in the previous week.
COMEX gold for February delivery rose $3.70 to settle at $1,096.20 an ounce. Gold closed at an all-time high of $1,218.30 an ounce earlier this month.
US light crude oil for February delivery rose 8 cents to settle at $79.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar gained versus other major currencies.
Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.84% from 3.79% late on Wednesday.
European shares closed slightly higher in a shortened final trading session of 2009 as the region wrapped up its best trading year in a decade. The FTSE Eurofirst 100 rose 0.2% to 3,345.58, in thin trading, with gains for miners and some banks helping tip the region higher.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index wasn't calculated on Thursday as some markets, including Germany and Italy, remained closed. However, 2009 was the index's strongest year since 1999 as it posted a 27.6% rise following the sharp drop in 2008. In 1999 the index rose around 36%.
Among regional markets, the French CAC 40 index closed up 0.02% at 3,936.33. Over the year, the main French index has risen 22.3%.
The UK's FTSE 100 index ended 0.3% higher at 5,412.88. Since the start of 2009 the index has gained 22.1%, with the mining sector showing the strongest rise.
Indian market bid farewell to 2009 on a strong note, with the BSE Sensex touching a new high for the year while the NSE Nifty closed above the crucial level of 5200. Firm Asian markets and positive start in European markets managed to offset the bad news on the inflation front.
Sustained gains in select index heavyweights like SBI, BHEL, Reliance Industries and NTPC ensured a healthy advance on the last trading session of the calendar year. Quite a few Asian markets were shut on account of New Year's eve while others like Hong Kong were open for half a day.
Trading is expected to be light today across world equity markets as several market players have opted for an extended Christmas and year-end holidays. Most world financial markets are closed on Friday for the New Year's Day holiday. That means it will be an extended weekend.
The Indian stock indices had closed in the red on Tuesday following an extended weekend though the NSE Nifty did manage to make a new high on the intra-day basis. The benchmarks struggled for direction on Wednesday.
The Sensex closed at 17,464.81, up 120.99 points or 0.7% from the last close. It touched a high of 17,530.94 after opening at the day's low of 17,365 as against the previous close of 17,343.82. The Nifty, meanwhile ended at 5201.05, up about 31.60 points, or 0.6%. It touched a high of 5221 and a low of 5168 after opening at 5171.
The Sensex shot up by 80% in the year while the Nifty gained 75%.
The Sensex today hit its highest level in nearly 20 months. The benchmark BSE index rose to a high of 17,530.94, its highest level since May 2008. The main index has surged since March on strong foreign fund inflows, and posted its biggest yearly gains since 1991, when it jumped a record 82.1%.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) poured in US$17.4bn into Indian stocks this year, including US$14bn via QIP, IPOs, ADRs, GDRs, etc. Last year, they had pulled out US$13bn in the wake of the western financial turmoil and the subsequent slowdown in the global economy. The record US$17.65bn of net FII inflows was in 2007.
Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Rs267bn.
As far as the broader market is concerned, the small-cap and mid-cap shares extended their recent advance but the frontline counters dominated the proceedings. The BSE Small-Cap index and the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.
If one talks about sectors, the gains were witnessed across the board. The BSE indices for Power, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas added 1% each. The BSE indices for Auto, IT and PSU rose 0.7-1%. Select Banking and Metal shares also gained. Real Estate, Pharma and FMCG closed in the red.
Within the Sensex, the top gainers were Jaiprakash Associates, SBI, BHEL, M&M, Tata Power, RIL, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Grasim. (1-4%). Other notable gainers were TCS and L&T. DLF lost 1% and was the biggest loser in the Sensex. Sun Pharma and Maruti Suzuki ended slightly lower.
NTPC shares gained 1.2% to Rs235.70, the highest since Jan. 18, 2008. A business daily reported that the Government plans to let the state-run power generation giant sell around 10% of its total electricity generation at market-determined prices, a move expected to boost its profit by up to 40%. The Government may allow NTPC to sell a part of the remaining power to bulk buyers such as sugar mills and steel factories, the financial newspaper reported.
Central Bank, Onmobile Global, DCM Shriram Consolidated, NALCO, Shriram Transport, Sterlite Tech, Sunteck Realty, Assam Co., JM Financial, Videocon Industries, Core Projects, JSL, Indiabulls Securities and Golden Tobacco were among the leading winners outside the main indices.
Great Offshore, Titagarh Wagons, Panacea Biotec, Radico Khaitan, Lok Housing, TVS Motor, Tata Chemicals, Nirlon, Tube Investments and Deccan Chronicle were among the top losers in the broader market.