Sensex ends 169 points lower; ADAG stocks outperform

The Indian markets drifted lower after two-day gains as profit booking weighs. The Sensex fell 169 points and the Nifty down 45 points

Headlines for the day

India’s manufacturing growth slows in Feb
India's Jan exports surge 10%
M&M falls as tractor sales disappoint
DLF falls as Mumbai land parcel still unsold
Govt allows PSUs to buyback shares
Ministers defer decision on power gear import duty
Fertilizer stocks shine in weak market



Indian indices
Markets closed the first session of March on a negative note after rising for two days. Profit booking today contributed to the weakness. Heavyweight draggers - ICICI Bank, L&T, RIL, Infy, M&M, ONGC and BHEL. Realty, capital goods, banking, oil & gas, auto and metal shares led the decline.
Tepid response for ONGC auction was another reason that dampened the sentiment. However, ADAG stocks were on buyer’s radar, which helped the market to trim some of its losses.
Sensex movement: The Sensex opened the trade 38 points lower at 17715. Profit booking led the index to remain in red all throughout the day. Extending losses, the index hit the day’s low of 17463 in the afternoon trade. The Sensex closed 169 points lower at 17584 and the Nifty fell by 45 points to close at 5340.
Market sentiment
The market breadth stood in favour of declines. Of the 2955 stocks traded on the BSE, 1264 (42.77%) rose, 1580 (53.47%) fell and 111 (3.76%) remained unchanged.
Viewing volumes
Wind turbine major – Suzlon Energy was traded the most, with over 2.10 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that, Industrial Finance Company – IFCI (1.30 crore shares), an integrated infrastructure development company — Lanco Infratech (1.01 crore shares), a real estate development company - HDIL (0.66 crore shares) and India's biggest real estate developer - DLF (0.60 crore shares)
Sectoral & stock screening
All the sectoral indices fell except BSE HC up by 0.25%. Top losers — BSE Realty down by 3.29%, BSE CG down by 1.62% and BSE Bankex down by 1.20%.
Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers — Suzlon Energy up by 11.47%, Wockhardt up by 6.94% and Reliance Capital up by 5.53%. Top three losers — United Phosphorus down by 8.66%, DLF down by 5.17% and Jet Airways down by 4.41%.
Global Indices
The European shares rose on Thursday (March 1, 2012), with investors turning more upbeat on the impact of this week's ECB cash injection on the banking sector and peripheral countries such as Italy.
The Asian stock markets ended in red on Thursday, as buying fervor cooled following a string of strong gains. However, Kospi index was shut.
The US stock index futures pointed to a steady open on Wall Street on Thursday.
Market Outlook: Data releases in the US on Thursday — Jobless Claims, Personal Income & Outlays, ISM Manufacturing Index, Construction Spending and Motor Vehicle Sales.