Markets erase early gains, end flat

The Indian markets erased all its early gains in late trade and closed the session on a flat note owing to sell-off in banking, realty and FMCG space

Major headlines

JSW Steel November production up 6%; the stock closes 4.37% higher

State Bank of India declines after raising deposit rate; the stock ends 3.86% lower

Tata Steel rises as Rio Tinto bids for Riversdale; the stock closes up by 3.38%



Indian indices

After a smart recovery in early trade, the domestic markets completely shaved off all its gains in the late trade and shut flat due to sell-off in banking, realty and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) space along with ITC, Larsen & Toubro and Hero Honda. Profit booking could be the reason behind this sell-off, which dragged the Sensex and the Nifty below psychological levels of 20000 and 6000 respectively. The investors remained cautious of the fragile global markets.

New listing: RPP Infra Projects ended lower by 8% on the first day of listing as against its issue price of Rs75 a share. In Midcap space, Welspun Corp, Gujarat Flourochem, Gujarat NRE Coke, Cholamandalam and MindTree gained in the range of 4-6.5%, while Glodyne Technoserve, Money Matters, Network 18, Parsvnath Developers and Birla Corporation lost in the range of 3-4.5%.

The Sensex began the session 71 points higher at 20038 and moved higher, hitting the day’s high of 20218 in the morning session. The index started to trim its gains from the highest level as the session progressed. However, the Sensex wiped out all its gains in the late trade and closed flat on account of sell-off in banking, FMCG and realty stocks.

At closing bell, the Sensex shut shop at 19981, 14 points higher and the Nifty closed at 5992, down by mere one point.

Market sentiment

The market breadth was negative as falling stocks outdid the rising ones. Of the 3,047 stocks on the BSE, 1,701 declined while 1,222 gained. Hundred and twenty-four stocks remained unchanged.

Sectoral and stock screening

BSE Metal was the top performer, up by 2.30%, followed by BSE Oil & Gas and BSE Information Technology (IT) which rose by 0.84% and 0.58% respectively. Among laggards, BSE Bankex was the major loser, declined by 2.37%, followed by BSE PSU that fell by 0.91% and BSE FMCG slipped by 0.38%.

Among 'A' group stocks, Welspun Corp surged the most by 6.33% after tumbling over 26% in the previous trading session, followed by JSW Steel that rose by 4.37% and Havells India gained by 3.92%. Among losers, Canara Bank slid the most by 4.76%, followed by Corporation Bank that fell by 4.16% and JP Infratech declined by 4.06%.

Viewing volumes

Government's power utility - Power Grid Corporation of India was the most traded, with over 0.50 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, Welspun Group flagship company - Welspun Corp (0.45 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.33 crore shares), industrial finance company - IFCI (0.28 crore shares) and construction firm - Hindustan Construction Company (0.27 crore shares).

Global signals

The European markets fell erasing its early gains, led by banking stocks as worries over the euro zone debt crisis persisted. The investors remained cautious ahead of the outcome of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers.

The Asian indices closed mixed. Indices like Jakarta Composite, Shanghai Composite and Straits Times ended in the green, while Nikkei, Hang Seng and Kospi closed in the red.

The US stock futures indicate to a lower opening on the Wall Street as euro zone woes weigh.

Market Outlook: There is no major announcement in the US tonight.