Fag-end fall for second straight day

Today's major news

Power Grid Q1 net profit up 29% yoy; the stock ends 0.76% higher

Fortis Healthcare Q1 consolidated net loss at Rs14.31 crore; the stock closes 0.42% higher

Jain Irrigation gains on bagging order; the stock ends 3.02% higher



Global signals

The European equities rose on Friday (August 06, 2010) ahead of the US non-farm payrolls data, which is likely to set the market's near-term direction, while strong company results provided some support.

The Asian markets closed the session on a mixed note. China's Shanghai Composite ended 1.44% higher.

The US stock index futures pointed a higher opening at the Wall Street on Friday ahead of the US monthly job data. Investors will keep an eye on the earnings of AIG, Pepco, Progress Energy and The Washington Post.

Indian indices

Like previous session, the domestic markets slid at the fag end to extend its losing run on the second consecutive day. The Indian markets ended the last day of the week on a flat note with modest losses as the indices shed moderate morning gains due to sell-off in the late trade. The selling in the heavyweights like Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), State Bank of India and Tata Consultancy Services in the last hour of the trade pulled the domestic bourses lower. RIL fell for the third straight day and was trading just above the physiological levels of Rs1000. Media shares hog the limelight after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended a four-phase digitisation process for cable networks in India while setting a sunset date of December 31, 2013 for complete switchover to digital.

The Sensex commenced the session on a flat note with a negative bias tracking subdued global cues. The Sensex soon turned positive and traded in the green throughout the morning session. The index remained range-bound in the first half of the trade due to mixed global cues. In the afternoon session, the Sensex hit the day’s high of 18245 as the European stocks opened higher. However, in the final hour of the trade, the Sensex started to pare its gains and slipped into the negative terrain to hit the day’s low of 18118 owing to sell-off across the board.

At the finishing line, the Sensex shut at 18144, 29 points lower. The Nifty closed below 5450 at 5439, 8 points lower.

Bond Market Update: India’s 10-year bonds were poised for their third weekly loss on concern that the central bank will add to this year’s four interest-rate increases to damp inflation. India’s rupee headed for a second weekly advance as funds raised holdings of local assets to record levels to benefit from the nation’s improving economy and higher interest rates.

Market Outlook: Tonight is the US, the investors will focus on the jobs report for July and this one has taken on even greater importance, given the recent weakening of the US economic data. Economists are expecting a loss of 55,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to tick up from 9.5% to 9.6%.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was negative. Of the 3,060 shares traded on the BSE, 1,427 shares advanced whereas 1,529 shares declined. Hundred and four shares traded unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, nine ended in the red, while the remaining four closed in the green. The sectors that were hit the most - BSE Bankex lost by 0.62%, followed by the BSE information technology (IT) that declined by 0.50% and rest losing sectors dropped in the range of 0.28% to 0.47%. The gaining sectors were - BSE consumer durables (CD) surged by 0.99%, BSE fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) advanced by 0.69%, BSE Auto up by 0.43% and BSE healthcare (HC) rose by 0.18%.

In ‘A’ group stocks - Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd (TTML) was the topper, up by 5.56%, followed by REI Agro that surged by 4.62% and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services that rose by 4.58%. On the losers' list - IFCI lost the most by 5.52%, followed by Indiabulls Financial Services that fell by 4.55% after the company opts out from the race to buy banking license and Moser Baer that shed 3.15%.

Viewing volumes

Industrial finance company - IFCI was the most traded share with over 1.79 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by India's biggest basmati rice player - REI Agro (0.79 crore shares), India's second largest developer - Unitech (0.72 crore shares), Tata Group telecom entity - TTML (0.55 crore shares) and tower & infrastructure firm - GTL Infrastructure (0.26 crore shares).