Sensex, Nifty survive 200-DMA test

In the end, it was a fairly subdued F&O expiry session for the Indian markets. The good thing is that the key stock indices managed to claw their way back towards the close of trade to end near day's peak. They still closed with marginal losses. There was some intraday volatility but not a great deal with the Bank Nifty witnessing short rollovers. After a gap down opening, the Indian equity benchmarks turned choppy and remained in a narrow range in the first half. However, the bulls turned the tide in late afternoon trade, with the main indices almost erasing all of the losses thanks to selective buying in Pharma and Auto stocks. The BSE Sensex ended at 17,058, down 63 points or ~0.4% over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day’s low of 16,920 and a day’s high of 17,109. It opened at 17,039. The NSE Nifty settled at 5,179, down 16 points or 0.3% over the previous close. It earlier touched a day’s low of 5,136 and day’s high of 5,194. The INDIA VIX on the NSE ended lower by 2.2% to close at 24.33. It hit day's high of 25.86. It hit a day's low of 24.19. Among the BSE sectoral indices, the Capital Goods index was the top loser, down 1.6%, while the IT index lost 1.1%. The Teck index was down 1% and the FMCG index ended lower by 0.7%. The Pharma and Capital Goods indices were the biggest gainers followed by Auto, Metals and Realty indices The BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.2% while the BSE Small-Cap index ended higher by 0.7%. Out of the 50 stocks in the Sensex index notable losers were L&T, Infosys, TCS, Bharti Airtel, BHEL, HUL and SBI. Among the major gainers were Jindal Steel, Tata Power, Hero Motocorp, Wipro, ONGC, Bajaj Auto and Maruti. "Apart from the GAAR overhang, the sentiment was also hurt by weakness in the global markets. Asian equity benchmarks closed lower today amid growing concerns about economic growth in China. Economic reports out of the US this week have also not been all that great. At the same time, economists and market experts warn about continued troubles for the debt-strapped euro area economies. With lots of uncertainty over the GAAR regulations for FII investments, market players are not taking any chances for the moment. Market participants are waiting for more clarity on the contentious matter from the Government. The new GAAR regime comes into effect from April 1," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL. Asian equity benchmarks closed mostly lower, as investors pared their holding of risky assets amid mounting concerns about the state of the global economy. Commodity-linked shares were the worst performers in Asia as market participants turned risk averse amid signs of slowdown in China - the world's biggest consumer of minerals. The MSCI Asia Pacific index is headed for the first monthly drop since November. It has lost ~1.5% so far this month and was down 1.3% last week. The MSCI Asia Pacific index is still up ~12% this year. European stock markets fell in choppy action on Thursday, after economic sentiment for the euro zone slipped unexpectedly. The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 0.7% at 262.23. Spain is in focus as a general strike against government austerity measures got underway a day ahead of the 2012 budget. Major demonstrations were due to take place across the country with an evening rally planned in Madrid. Spain’s IBEX 35 index was down ~0.7%. The FTSE 100 in the UK was down 0.7% and the DAX in Germany was down ~1%. The CAC 40 in France was down 0.8%.