Sensex closes F&O expiry day 223 points lower

Rollover pressures alongwith weakness across the globe pulled the markets lower today, ext ending three-day fall

Major headlines

Food inflation at 7.33% versus 7.58%

PNB Q1 net profit slightly up by 3%

HUL Q1 net profit up 18%



Indian indices

The key benchmark indices closed the F&O expiry day on a weak note. Negative global cues on account of uncertainty over US debt deal led to weakness in the Indian markets. Losses in the heavyweights like RIL, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, Maruti, L&T, TCS , DLF too weighed on the sentiments. Traders rolled over positions in the derivatives segment from the near-month July 2011 series to August 2011 series; this led to a volatile trade. The markets maintained its downtrend for the third straight session today.

Sensex movements: The Sensex fell by 132 points at 18301in the opening trade and immediately touched the day’s high of 18328. The index remained under pressure and hit the day’s low of 18189 in late trade as heavyweights drag. The Sensex fell 223 points to settle at 18210 and the Nifty declined 59 points to 5488 at the close.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood extremely weak. Out of the 2,979 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,869 tumbled, 975 advanced and 140 stocks traded unchanged.

Viewing volumes

A large Indian business conglomerate - Lanco Infratech was traded the most with over 0.33 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. It was followed by wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.31 crore shares), a Jaypee Group firm - Jaiprakash Associates (0.20 crore shares), India's third largest mobile operator - Idea Cellular (0.17 crore shares) and India's second largest developer - Unitech (0.17 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

All the sectoral indices ended in the negative zone except BSE FMCG up by 0.95%. BSE Metal was the worst performer, down by 2.47%, followed by BSE Realty down by 1.80% and BSE Oil & Gas went down by 1.63%. Rest of the indices fell in the range of 0.09-1.62%.

Looking in 'A' group stocks, Sun TV Network was the star performer of the day, rising by 6.73%, followed by Mphasis up by 5.17% and Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals gained by 3.45%. Top three losers were - SKS Microfinance slid by 9.90%, BGR Energy Systems dropped by 6.05% and Vijaya Bank fell by 6.04%.

Global signals

The European stocks sank on Thursday, falling for the fourth straight session on mounting worries over US debt ceiling talks while a raft of mixed earnings sparked fears on the outlook for company profits.

The Asian markets mostly fell on Thursday, following big losses on the Wall Street, as the deadline approaches for US lawmakers to strike a deal to avert a disastrous default.

The US stock index futures signal cautious opening on the Wall Street on Thursday.

Market Outlook: US Initial Jobless claims and P ending Home Sales data will be released on Thursday.