Markets end with modest gains

Major headlines

Ashok Leyland September vehicle sales up by 90%; the stock closes 2.80% higher

JP Associates cement shipments up by 61% in September; the stock ends 2.06% up

IVRCL Infrastructure bags Rs1,119.76 crore orders; the stock closes 1.35% higher



Indian indices

The domestic markets advanced for the third straight day. During the session, the Nifty touched another milestone - 6200 levels in early trades but was not able to hold on to it. The Nifty slowly wiped out nearly 75% of its gains in the second half of trade on profit booking, coupled with negative European markets and closed with marginal gains.

Metal and healthcare (HC) companies' shares along with Reliance Industries, Housing Development Finance Corporation, ICICI Bank, Reliance Communications, Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, DLF and ACC witnessed buying interest, which helped the markets to stay in the positive terrain. However, the sell-off in ITC, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys Technologies, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services, Sterlite Industries, Hero Honda, State Bank of India, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Power were the major losers, which led the markets to erase most of its gains. In the Mid-cap space, Bhushan Steel, Uco Bank, Edelweiss Capital, Vijaya Bank and Tulip Telecom gained by 5-14% while Pipavav Shipyard, Motilal Oswal, Indraprastha Gas, Gujarat Flourochem and Shree Global fell by 4-6%.

The Sensex began the session on a buoyant note at 20501, 56 points higher tracking strong Asian markets. The index started to move upwards, hitting the day’s high of 20707 in early trades. In the late morning session, the Sensex gradually began to trim its gains. The index further erased its gains in the afternoon trades, as the European markets opened lower. In the late trades, the Sensex wiped out all its gains and slipped into the negative zone, hitting the day’s low of 20,437 as selling was seen in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and information technology (IT) stocks.

At the finishing line, the Sensex ended at 20476, 31 points higher. The Nifty ended at 6159, up by 16 points.

Bond and Rupee update: India’s ten-year bonds dropped for a second day on concern that the central bank will increase interest rates for a sixth time this year to temper inflation. The Indian rupee opened at Rs44.36 per dollar versus Rs44.48.

Market Outlook: We have monthly factory orders and pending home sales data in the US tonight.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was unconstructive as falling stocks outpaced the advancing ones. Out of the 3,094 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,541 declined while 1,429 advanced. Hundred and twenty-four stocks remained unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, nine closed in the green while four in the red. BSE HC was the top gainer, up by 1.69%, followed by BSE Consumer Durables (CD) that surged by 1.47% and BSE Bankex advanced by 0.79%. On the other hand, BSE FMCG was the top loser, down by 0.71%, followed by BSE IT that declined by 0.37% and BSE TECk fell by 0.32%.

Looking into 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were - Bhushan Steel gained by 16.79%, followed by Uco Bank that surged by 10.62% and Suzlon Energy rose by 7.27%. Top three losers were - Pipavav Shipyard slid by 7.19%, followed by Indraprastha Gas that fell by 3.99% and Godrej Consumer Products declined by 3.19%.

Viewing volumes

Industrial finance company - IFCI was traded the most, with over 1.52 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by wind turbine major- Suzlon Energy (1.28 crore shares), India’s second largest developer - Unitech (0.45 crore shares), a Government of India hydro power firm - NHPC (0.42 crore shares) and public sector bank - Uco Bank (0.41 crore shares).

Global signals

The European shares extended losses to hit a one-month low, with automobile stocks featuring among the top losers on lingering concerns about global economic growth.

The major Asian indices closed in the positive territory except Japan's Nikkei index.

The US stock index futures signal towards a lower opening on the Wall Street tonight, ahead of the monthly factory orders and pending home sales data.