Sensex snaps 8-day rally...Small-Caps, Mid-Caps shine

The key Indian stock indices ended in the red on Friday, snapping an eight-day winning streak as traders took some profit ahead of the weekend. The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty cooled off after the Nifty hit a high of 5860 in the early trades. From there on, the key indices were stuck in a narrow trading range and were unable to find a specific direction throughout the day. In contrast, the broader market indices did really well after under-performing the Large-Cap peers in the past several sessions.



Realty, Metals and Power stocks were among the major gainers. Select Auto stocks were in demand after the companies announced impressive monthly sales figures. However, Banking and IT stocks were under pressure.

In the day's economic data, exports surged 50% in February and the trade gap narrowed. For the fiscal year too, the difference between exports and imports shrank. Separately, the manufacturing PMI report was rather subdued. The PMI stood unchanged in March from February.

We've enjoyed superlative last few sessions on the back of almost US$2bn of FII inflows. The trend going ahead will hinge on whether FII inflows remain strong or not. Also, the latest report card from India Inc. could have some bearing on the sentiment in April. Don't be surprised if the Sensex and Nifty consolidate after such a good rally.

"On the macro front, high oil prices are a cause for concern amid persistent turmoil in the MENA. The debt issues of peripheral eurozone are hitting the headlines again and Japan may take a while to recover from the March triple whammy. One will have to look out for possible changes in monetary policies in Europe, UK and later in the year in the US as well. China too may continue to jack up rates gradually. The RBI is also likely to remain vigilant as inflation is still elevated," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The BSE Sensex ended at 19,420 slipping 24 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 19,562 and a day's low of 19,382. It opened at 19,463. While, the NSE Nifty slipped 8 points to close at 5,826.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE Realty index was the top gainer, the index gained 2.6% followed by BSE Metal index adding 1.1%, while, BSE Power index gained 1%. BSE Mid-Cap index and BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.6% and 2.2% respectively.

The European markets were trading with a slight positive bias, the FTSE index was up 0.8%, CAC index was up 0.6% and DAX index was up 1%.