Listless session ends lower

The Indian markets end the lacklustre session with modest losses on the back of weak global markets and mixed set of quarterly earnings

Major headlines

Tata Motors hits 52-week high on robust Q2 numbers; the stock closes 2.49% higher

Bharti Airtel Q2 consolidated bottomline dips 26% yoy; the stock ends 1.77% lower

GMR Infrastructure Q2 consolidated net profit jumps 33% yoy



Indian indices

It was another listless session, with the domestic markets closing in the red amid a mixed trend of quarterly earnings. Weak cues from the European and Asian markets weighed on the investor sentiment. The broader markets outperformed and closed with reasonable gains. In today’s trade, the domestic markets also reacted to a mixed set of earnings. The markets are unable to find a specific direction after the last week’s strong rally.

Bharti Airtel - the largest mobile-phone operator - dropped the most in two weeks after its net profit fell by 27% for the quarter ended September 30, 2010, and Hindalco Industries - the biggest aluminum producer - slid to a one-week low as Q2 earnings fell short of analyst estimates. Index heavyweight, Tata Motors, hit record highs after reporting stellar Q2 result.

The Sensex began the session 15 points lower at 20917. The Sensex remained in the negative zone in first hour of the trade. The index hovered between the negative and positive territory for the rest of the morning session. The Sensex picked up pace and moved higher in the afternoon session, hitting the day’s high of 20971. However, the gains were short-lived as the index started to decline tracking weak European markets. In late trades, the index extended losses, hitting the day’s low of 20850 owing to selling pressure in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), banking and capital goods (CG) stocks.

At finishing line, the Sensex shut shop at 20876, lower by 57 points. The Nifty closed at 6276, down by 26 points.

Bonds and Rupee update: India’s 12-year bonds fell on speculation that the investors have less cash to buy debt after a share sale by the nation’s biggest power-transmission company by sales drained funds from the banking system. India’s rupee declined to its lowest level in more than a week on concern that the pace of overseas inflows into Asia’s third-biggest economy will slow after Power Grid Corporation of India completes its share sale this week.

Market sentiment

Even though the domestic indices closed in red, the market breadth remained strong as rising shares outdid the falling ones. Out of the 3,115 stocks on the BSE, 1,804 advanced while 1,210 declined. Hundred and one stocks traded unchanged.

Sectoral and stock screening

BSE Consumer Durables (CD) was the best performer, surged by 4.78%, followed by BSE Auto that rose by 1.12% and BSE Information Technology (IT) gained by 0.73%. On the flip side, BSE FMCG lost by 0.99%, followed by BSE Bankex and BSE CG that declined by 0.76% and 0.71% respectively.

Among 'A' group stocks, Titan Industries was the star stock of the day posting gains of 8.55%, followed by Great Eastern Shipping that surged by 6.56% and Hindustan Construction Company rose by 5.18%. Among losers, Colgate Palmolive slid the most by 4.32%, followed by Nestle India that fell by 4.15% and Ambuja Cements declined by 2.85%.

Viewing volumes

Finance institution - IFCI was traded the most, with over 0.49 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by public sector power utility- Power Grid Corporation of India (0.26 crore shares), public sector bank - IDBI Bank (0.24 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.20 crore shares) and sugar major - Shree Renuka Sugars (0.19 crore shares).

Global signals

European shares fell from the two-year highs after weak Chinese import data suggested that the commodity sector could be facing a slowdown, with miners and oils featuring among the biggest fallers.

The major Asian indices closed mixed. Indices like Hang Seng, Straits Times and Shanghai Composite shut in the red, while Nikkei, Jakarta Composite and Kospi ended in the green. Japna’s Nikkei hit four-month closing high as banking stocks shine.

The US stock index futures point to a marginally higher opening on the Wall Street. Investors will keep an eye on Trade Balance and Unemployment Claims data.