Markets close with modest gains; IGL Cracks

It was a dull session, with the Indian markets moving in a range whole day and closing the session on a positive note. Sensex ended with 22 points gain and the Nifty closed 9 points higher.

Major Headlines:

IGL gets Rs1K cr hit from regulator

Car sales rise 20% in March, while bikes 1%

Jhunjhunwala ups stake in Viceroy Hotels

FMCG -stock-in-demand/da423881-634c-4d76-a8d1-4ffb0042e331/MustKnowNews/161/News.htm'> FMCG stock in demand



Indian Indices

Indian markets were struggling for direction all throughout the day. Gains in FMCG , auto, banking, realty, consumer durables stocks supported markets while losses in capital goods, technology, metal, oil & gas, PSU, power and pharma stocks capped the upside. Index heavyweights like ITC, SBI, Tata Motors, HUL, Tata Power, M&M and Wipro were the positive contributors to the Sensex. On the other hand, negative European cues weighed on the sentiments.

On the stock news front, country's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel launched the 4G services in Kolkata today (April 10, 2012). The company also plans to launch the service in Bangalore soon.

Indraprastha Gas was among the topmost losers for the day, after the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) asked the company to lower its network tariff to Rs38.58/mmbtu and compression charge to Rs2.7 kg as against the company's request for Rs104 scm and Rs6.6 kg. The new tariff is effective immediately and retrospectively from April 1, 2008. Other gas services providers like Gujarat Gas, Gujarat State Petronet, Gail India and Petronet LNG also witnessed a fall due to the announcement.

Focusing on other sectors, FMCG stocks like HUL, Nestle, Dabur India rose on reports of monsoon arriving on time this year. Banking stocks too attracted buying interest ahead of RBI's annual monetary policy on 17th April. IT stocks again ended the day with significant losses on lower than expected jobs data from the US.

There was again a buzz in the markets on the rate cut front. According to a Reuters poll, Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) is likely to cut its repo rate for the first time in three years in an attempt to lift sagging economic growth, even as high oil and food prices remain a challenge to managing inflation.

Tracking all these news and stock movements for the day, Sensex closed 22 points higher at 17243 and the Nifty stood at 5244, up by 9 points.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood in favour of declines. Of the 2919 stocks traded on the BSE, 1337 (45.80%) rose, 1432 (49.06%) fell and 150 (5.14%) remained unchanged.

Viewing volumes

India's leading natural gas distribution companies - Indraprastha Gas was traded the most with over 1.47 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that a real estate development company - HDIL (0.35 crore shares), Wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.35 crore shares), one of the fastest growing world-class companies in the Indian energy - Petronet LNG (0.34 crore shares) and one of the world's leading engineering corporations - Crompton Greaves (0.32 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

Among the 13 sectoral indices, eight closed lower. The topmost gainers were BSE FMCG which gained 1.99%, BSE Auto up 0.85% and BSE Bankex advanced 0.48%. The topmost losers were BSE CG which declined 0.95%, BSE IT 0.94% and BSE Metal 0.90%

Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were - Godrej Industries which advanced 6.10%, Nestle India gained 4.45% and Uco Bank surged 4.26%. Top three losers were - Indraprastha Gas which dropped 33.66%, Gujarat Gas fell 15.10% and Gujarat State Petronet declined 7.50%.

Global signals

The European stocks dropped Tuesday (April 10, 2012), as investors fretted that recent downbeat economic data out of China and the US might suggest a slowdown in the pace of the global economic recovery.

Majority of Asian markets fell on Tuesday, with early gains for Japanese stocks slipping away after the Bank of Japan decided against further policy loosening.

US stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on the Wall Street on Tuesday.