Markets recover at fag-end

Major headlines

Housing Development Finance Corporation Q2 net profit surges 22% yoy; the stock closes lower by 0.34%

Larsen & Toubro Q2 net profit jumps 31% yoy; the stock ends 1.19% higher

LIC Housing board to consider stock split; the stock closes 2.17% lower



Indian indices

It was a stunning recovery in the late trades. After trading in the red till the penultimate hour, the domestic markets rallied sharply during the closing minutes and shut the session with modest gains. Heavyweights like Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) were responsible for this last-minute spike after they witnessed sudden buying interest. The Sensex and the Nifty regained their psychological levels of 20000 and 6000 levels respectively, which they had breached in the morning session.

Buying was seen in information technology (IT) and telecom stocks. Selling was witnessed in consumer durables (CD), fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), metal and banking stocks.

The Sensex started the session 35 points higher at 20160. The index slipped in the negative terrain and breached 20000 levels tracking unsupportive Asian markets in the morning session. The Sensex traded lower throughout the morning trades. In the afternoon session, strong earnings of Larsen & Toubro and Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) led the index to recover some of its losses. In late trades, the Sensex erased all its losses and turned positive, regaining 20000 levels, as strong buying was witnessed in heavyweights like RIL, ONGC and also in IT and oil & gas stocks.

At the closing bell, the Sensex closed at 20169, up by 44 points. The Nifty shut higher by 13 points at 6076.

Bond and Rupee update: India’s ten-year bond yield rose to the highest level in more than five months on speculation that the investors will pare their holdings after inflation unexpectedly accelerated. India’s rupee retreated from a two-year high as refiners bought dollars to buy crude oil after a decline in the price of the commodity.

The Indian currency gained by 5.2% in the past 30 days as global investors this year poured a record $23 billion into Indian markets and $10 billion in rupee debt to profit from an economy growing at an annual pace exceeding 8%. The rupee stood at Rs44 against dollar.

Market Outlook: Tonight in the US, we have industrial production data and the housing market sentiment index.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was negative as falling stocks outpaced the gaining ones. On the BSE, out of the 3,084 stocks, 1,715 declined while 1,236 gained. Hundred and thirty-three stocks remained unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, seven rallied while six posted losses. BSE IT was the top gainer, up by 1.28%, followed by the BSE Oil & Gas that surged by 0.84% and BSE Realty rose by 0.72%. On the other hand, BSE CD lost the most by 1.02%, followed by BSE FMCG that declined by 0.18% and BSE Health Care (HC) fell by 0.17%.

On the ‘A’ group stocks' front, Petronet LNG surged the most by 8.30%, followed by Indiabulls Real Estate that rose by 5.39% and Nagarjuna Constructions gained by 4.12%. On the losers’ side, Rashtriya Chemicals fell the most by 4.75%, followed by Godrej Properties that slid by 3.61% and Apollo Tyres lost by 3.12%.

Viewing volumes

Indian Shipbuilder company - Pipavav Shipyard was the traded the most, with over 0.97 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by industrial finance company - IFCI (0.57 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.47 crore shares), PSU firm - Gujarat State Petronet (0.36 crore shares) and India's second largest developers - Unitech (0.31 crore shares).

Global signals

The European shares traded marginally higher, erasing early losses, as financial stocks rise ahead of Citigroup results.

The Asian markets shut in the negative terrain, with Hang Seng and Kospi closed down by 1.21% and 1.41% respectively.

The US stock index futures point to a lower opening on the Wall Street. The investors will keep an eye on the earnings of Citigroup, IBM and Apple. On the macro front, investors will look for industrial production data and the housing market sentiment index.