Sensex swings in listless trade…Ends almost flat

After suffering heavy losses in the previous trading session, the Indian stocks ended almost unchanged at the end of a volatile session. Trading was fairly choppy throughout the day with the main stock indices swinging back and forth in a trading range.

The undertone remains fragile and uncertain in the wake of the Congress party's poor performance in the recently concluded assembly elections. Most market players are reluctant to take risks at the moment given that the Indian markets are closed for Holi on Thursday, and the outlook for world markets has deteriorated of late.



After opening with a negative bias, markets turned choppy and gyrated between gains and losses. The brief relief that was witnessed in the Indian markets in late morning trade proved to be short-lived. The key stock indices could not hold on to those gains and slipped back into the negative terrain in the afternoon before recovering slightly in late trade. The key stock indices managed to end above their day's low.

Finally, the Sensex ended at 17,145, down 28 points or 0.2% from the last close. It earlier touched a day's high of 17,239 and day's low of 17,008.

The Nifty ended almost unchanged at 5,220. It hit a day’s high of 5,244 and day’s low of 5,171.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the Metal index was the biggest loser, down 1.5%. It was followed by BSE Oil & Gas index, down 1.5%, while the PSU index and the Power index fell 1% and 0.5%, respectively.

On the other hand, the BSE Realty, IT and Banking indexes bucked the negative trend, adding 0.7% to 0.9%. Pharma and Auto indices also finished higher.

The broader markets ended with slight losses. The BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.2% and the BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.6%.

Notable gainers on the Sensex were Wipro, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto, DLF and Infosys.

On the other hand, Sterlite, NTPC, RIL, Bharti Airtel and BHEL were the notable losers on the Sensex.

The Indian VIX ended at 26.33; the index fell by 3.7% today. It hit an intra-day high of 27.34 and an intra-day low of 25.97.

"The dismal results in the state elections for the Congress might force the UPA to go slow on a number of important economic reforms, particularly those needing a Parliament approval. With an eye on 2014 general elections, the Congress may not want to take too many risks. The Budget session, especially the Union Budget, will be interesting to watch.

Also adding to the list of domestic worries is the sudden burst of bad news on the global front. Weaker-than-expected data from the eurozone, a surprising drop in GDP growth forecast by China, fear of a disorderly default by Greece and rising geopolitical tensions are among the external pressure points that have dampened the enthusiasm after a seven-week rally that was fueled by the robust FII inflows.

The near-term trend in the Indian market may remain volatile and rangebound considering the fact that important events like the RBI policy meet, Union Budget and Advance Tax numbers are scheduled in the coming week", says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.

The RBI policy meet on March 15 is also an important event. A rate cut is unlikely and will hinge on further moderation in inflation. High oil prices, incomplete pass-through in local fuel prices and swelling fiscal deficit are holding back the RBI.

Most Asian stock indices finished lower today, as investors continued to shun risky assets in light of increasing evidence of deceleration in global economic growth. A warning about an adverse fallout of a disorderly Greek default on the eurozone economy also spooked sentiment.

China’s stocks fell for a third successive day today, the longest losing streak in almost two months, on concern that a global slowdown will hurt corporate earnings.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.8% as of 4:11 p.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei in Japan and the Shanghai Composite index in China were down ~0.6% each while the Hang Seng fell by ~0.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 index ended down 1.5% after Q4 GDP growth came in below forecast.

European stock markets edged higher in choppy trade but investors were cautious ahead of the looming deadline over Greece’s debt swap deal.

Greece is aiming to complete a bond exchange with private investors by March 8 in order to receive a 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) bailout and avert a disorderly default.

Private investors have until Thursday to participate in the bond swap with the Greek government, according to reports.

Greece expects bondholders to accept the offer and is ready to force them to participate if necessary, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos was quoted as saying.

In the currency markets, the rupee fell to a seven-week low versus the US dollar, as global investors resumed their purchases of safer assets amid renewed concerns about global economic growth. The Indian currency has now declined for five consecutive sessions.

The rupee touched 50.7569 earlier, the lowest level since Jan. 18. Tuesday's drop was the biggest fall since Dec. 12, 2011. The rupee had touched a record low of 54.30 on December 15.

The euro advanced from a three-week low against the dollar.

Australia’s dollar reached a six-week low versus the greenback after a government report showed that the economy expanded by less than analysts had forecast.