Volatile trade ends in red

Markets remain highly volatile in trade today and close the session in the red zone despite of gains across the globe

Major headlines

Ranbaxy Laboratories falls as Mylan seeks to block Lipitor

Bafna Pharma to buy Raricap

Voltas to form joint venture with Germany's Kion Group



Indian indices

It was a lacklustre start to the week, with the markets trading in a tight range and closed an extreme volatile session on a negative note. Investors remained cautious on worries over soaring crude oil prices owing to intensifying tensions in Libya. Most of the global markets were trading higher today and in comparison to that the Indian markets underperformed amid thin volumes.

Selling was seen in Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Hindalco Industries, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys Technologies, Maruti Suzuki, Cipla, Hero Honda, Ambuja Cements and Reliance Power.

The Sensex began the session 106 points higher at 17985 taking lead from the positive Asian markets. Later, the index soon erased all its gains and turned negative to hit the day’s low of 17792 in early trade. From that level, the Sensex inched higher to hit the day’s high of 18008 at start of the afternoon session. Volatility remained as the session progressed. The Sensex fell 40 points to settle at 17839 and the Nifty stood at 5365, down by 9 points.

Bond and Rupee update: India’s 11-year bonds dropped for a second day on concern that faster inflation will erode returns from the nation’s fixed-income securities. India’s rupee strengthened for a second day on speculation signs that Japan’s nuclear crisis easing will boost investor appetite for emerging-market assets.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood weak. Of the 2,974 stocks on the BSE, 1,688 declined while 1,173 gained. However, 113 stocks closed unchanged.

Sectoral and stock screening

Among gainers, BSE Healthcare (HC) surged by 0.15%, BSE Bankex rose by 0.04% and BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) up by 0.01%. Among losers, BSE Realty slid by 0.92%, BSE Information Technology (IT) declined by 0.73% and BSE TECk fell by 0.63%.

On 'A' group stocks’ front, Hindustan Oil Exploration was the top performer surging by 9.31%, then comes Opto Circuits up by 4.20% and IL&FS Transportation rose by 3.47%. On the other side, Ranbaxy Laboratories was the top loser falling by 6.96%, followed by Power Finance Corporation down by 3.74% and Aban Offshore declined by 3.57%.

Viewing volumes

Pipavav Shipyard was traded the most, with over 5.23 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. It was followed by wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.32 crore shares), India’s second largest telecom firm - Reliance Communications (0.30 crore shares), leading oil exploration firm - Hindustan Oil Exploration (0.24 crore shares) and India's second largest real estate developer - Unitech (0.23 crore shares).

Global signals

European shares gained on Monday after investor confidence rose on signs that the situation at Japan's nuclear plant was improving, with telecoms lifted by Deutsche Telekom's sale of T-Mobile USA to AT&T.

All the major Asian indices ended in the positive territory on Monday as Japan's nuclear crisis eases.

The US stock index futures point to a higher opening on the Wall Street.

Market Outlook: There is important data release of Existing Home sales in the US.