Hope doesn't come from calculating whether the good news is winning out over the bad. It's simply a choice to take action. - Anna Lappe.
With weak global cues undermining strong local fundamentals, there is less action likely from bulls. The NSE Nifty breaching 5500 will remain a hope for a little longer now. Support is likely to kick in at 5300 and 5200 in case of a minor correction.
Stock-centric action will hold sway as we are in the midst of the results season. Be careful while dealing in small-cap and mid-cap stocks. These counters time and again have been known for easy entry and virtually no exit. Inflation is seen as a big risk and will take time to subside. Another mild hike in rates is on the cards next week by the RBI.
Bad economic data spooked Wall Street and European markets on Friday. Asian markets are down this morning. Volatility in global markets is here to stay given the precarious economic situation.
Key housing reports are due this week in the US. Also keep an eye on earnings from Wall Street. In Europe, the big event will be the release of the regional banks’ stress test results on Thursday.
Everonn Education will be in focus as Nikhil Gandhi (promoter of Pipavav Shipyard) is believed to be eyeing the company. Godrej Properties and Canara Bank could gain on the back of solid earnings. Bafna Pharma may rise amid reports of a takeover in the UK.
Results Today: Atul, Aventis Pharma, Balaji Telefilms, Bayer Crop, Concor, Crompton Greaves, Escorts, HDFC Bank, Indowind Energy, Jindal Saw, Midday Multimedia, Mindtree, PTC India, Sesa Goa, Triveni Engineering, Whirlpool India and Zylog Systems.
FIIs were net buyers of Rs6.76bn in the cash segment on Friday (provisionally), according to the NSE web site. Local funds were net sellers of Rs2.81bn. In the F&O segment, they were net buyers at Rs9.87bn. On Thursday, the FIIs were net buyers of Rs5.61bn in the cash segment. Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs7.43bn on the same day.
The yen and the dollar are up today for a second straight session against the euro amid ongoing concerns about the global economic recovery.
Markets in Japan are shut due to a public holiday.
Stock markets in China and Hong Kong appear to have cut their losses, but one must constantly follow these markets as volatility is quite high.
US stocks slid on Friday as investors seemed to press the panic button in the wake of a few disappointing earnings reports and a grim consumer sentiment report. The fall wiped out weekly gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Dow, which snapped its seven-day winning streak on Thursday, closed down 261.41 points 2.5% to 10,097.90 and finished the week down 0.98%.
The S&P 500 Index declined 31.60 points, or 2.9%, to 1064.88 to end the week down 1.2%. Both indexes have fallen in three out of the last four weeks.
The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 3.1% to 2179.05 and finished the week down 0.8%. The index was weighed down by the 7% drop in Google, which posted disappointing second-quarter results.
The euro inched higher versus the dollar after seesawing through the session. The dollar fell versus the Japanese yen.
US light crude oil for August delivery fell 82 cents to $76.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for August delivery lost $15.30 to $1,188.20 an ounce.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 2.94% from 2.98% late on Thursday.
Declines were broad based, with all 30 Dow shares falling.
Oil and gold prices slumped, dragging down the underlying shares. Consumer shares also fell apart.
Financial shares were hit especially hard, with the KBW Bank index losing 5.7%.
Goldman Sachs bucked the trend, although the stock was up as much as 4.7% earlier, after the investment bank's settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission lifted a major overhang on the stock.
US stocks had risen earlier last week after Alcoa and Intel came out with stellar results. But the euphoria proved to be short lived amid renewed worries about the prospects for the world's largest economy.
US consumer sentiment plummeted in early July, hitting the lowest level since August, according to survey results released by Reuters and the University of Michigan. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index fell to 66.5 in July from 76 in late June. Economists were expecting it to dip to 74.5.
An early report showed that inflation remains tame. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) a measure of inflation at the consumer level fell 0.1% in June, in line with forecasts. CPI fell 0.2% in May. The so-called core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2% in June, versus forecasts for a rise of 0.1%. CPI rose 0.1% in May.
Bank of America's shares tumbled after a loss in its mortgage business and a falloff in Wall Street trading profits dragged on second-quarter results. Investors turned pessimistic about growth prospects for other major US companies as Citigroup and General Electric Co. posted lackluster results.
Earnings are currently on track to have risen 28% from a year ago, according to the latest figures from earnings tracker Thomson Reuters. Revenue is on track to have grown 9% from a year ago. This week brings reports from 122 US companies, including 12 Dow components.
Financials were also under pressure owing to growing worries about how the regulatory overhaul will hurt bank earnings.
Apple shares fell after CEO Steve Jobs said that the company will give away free cases as a remedy for the antenna problems that have ravaged iPhone 4.
BP shares slipped, although the oil giant's well integrity test survived as pressures steadily rose, showing that a newly placed cap might have the ability to completely shut in an overflowing well in the Gulf of Mexico.
Despite Friday's declines, the stock still gained nearly 10% last week and has gained about 40% from the multiyear lows hit late last month.
European stocks slipped on Friday, as mixed sets of bank earnings in the US and deteriorating US consumer confidence hurt the sentiment. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 1.9% to 248.11. Financial stocks were clearly the biggest losers.
In France, the CAC-40 index fell 2.3% to 3,500.16 and the FTSE 100 index declined 1% to 5,158.85. In Germany, the DAX index was down 1.8% to 6,040.27, led lower by the utilities sector.
Most airline stocks reversed early gains to end lower.