Markets lose momentum as heavyweights drag

The Indian markets slipped in late trade and closed the session with modest losses owing to profit booking in select index heavyweights

Major headlines

Ispat Industries recovers on open offer

Reliance Industries, Russia's SIBUR plan butyl rubber venture

Tata Consultancy Services, Hilton Worldwide ink pact for IT services



Indian indices

The Indian markets lost momentum in the last one and half hour of trade and closed the session in negative territory. Profit booking in select index heavyweights and lack of supportive global cues dragged the markets lower in late trade. The Nifty ended below the 6000 mark while the Sensex held the 20000 levels. Overall, it was a rangebound session.

Heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki and Hero Honda Motors were the major contributors in today’s fall. However, buying in Bharti Airtel, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, ITC, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra along with power and select metal companies' shares capped downside.

In mid-cap space, Ispat Industries rallied by 11%. Nava Bharat Ventures, MVL, Essar Shipping and KGN Industries gained by 5-5.6% while Money Matters, Sterling International, Dewan Housing, Sintex Industries and Simplex Infrastructures were down by 3.6-5%.

The Sensex started the session 59 points higher at 20119 and extended gains, hitting the day’s high of 20151. The Sensex remained rangebound and traded with a positive bias throughout the morning session. The Sensex began to trim gains in the afternoon session and turned negative. The Sensex hit the day’s low of 19931 in the last hour of trade owing to selling in index heavyweights and unsupportive global cues.

Finally, the Sensex closed lower by 45 points at 20016 and the Nifty fell by 16 points to close at 5984.

Bond update: The yield on India’s 10-year bonds was near the lowest level in two months before the central bank repurchases Rs120 billion ($2.7 billion) worth of debt to ease a shortage of cash at banks. The yield on the 7.80% bonds due May 2020 was little changed at 7.93%. The price fell 0.02, or 2 paise per Rs100 face amount, to 99.11. The rate dropped to 7.91% yesterday, the lowest level since October 01, 2010.

Rupee update: India's rupee was little changed against the US dollar. Indicative bid prices for the rupee were at 45.2150 per dollar versus 45.2300 the previous trading day.

Market sentiment

Despite of negative closing, the market breadth stood positive as gaining stocks outdid losing ones. Out of the 3,061 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,504 advanced while 1,399 fell. Hundred and fifty-eight stocks traded unchanged.

Sectoral & stock screening

Out of the 13 sectoral indices, six ended in green while rest seven in red. Top three gainers - BSE Metal rose by 0.65%, BSE PSU gained by 0.27% and BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) up by 0.26%. Top three losers - BSE Oil & Gas lost by 0.71%, BSE Capital Goods (CG) declined by 0.61% and BSE Bankex fell by 0.55%.

Among 'A' group stocks, Syndicate Bank was the star performer of the day rising by 4.28%, followed by Tata Chemicals up by 3.58% and LIC Housing Finance rose by 3.40%. On the flip side, Sintex Industries slid the most by 3.63%, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services down by 2.55% and Aurobindo Pharma slipped by 2.37%.

Viewing volumes

Industrial finance company - IFCI was traded the most, with over 0.77 crore shares changing hands on the BSE, followed by Indian shipbuilder - Pipavav Shipyard (0.29 crore shares), wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.24 crore shares), state-run hydropower firm - NHPC (0.23 crore shares) and aluminum major - Hindalco Industries (0.22 crore shares).

Global signals

The European markets traded on a flat note as mining shares declined after its recent high.

The Asian markets closed mixed. Indices like Shanghai Composite, Jakarta Composite and Nikkei ended lower while Hang Seng, Straits Times and Kospi shut higher.

The US stock index futures point to a marginally lower opening on the Wall Street ahead of key gross domestic product (GDP) data for the third quarter and existing Home Sales data. The investors will keep an eye on earnings of Walgreen, Micron and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Market Outlook: In the US, we have most important GDP data for the third quarter, which is expected at 2.8% and existing Home Sales data & House Price Index.