Sensex succumbs to global pressure...Nifty below 5250

It was a bad start to the week for the Indian markets after a long weekend, as the NSE Nifty closed below the 5250 mark amid a broad-based sell off. The NSE Nifty opened with 30 points lower and was stuck in a narrow trading range for most part of the session before sliding further in late trade. Both the main indices lost ~1.5% each today.

Barring a few Pharma stocks all the other BSE sectoral indices ended in the red. Today’s decline was led by Metal, Capital Goods, Power, PSU and Banking stocks. The Small-Cap space fared a tad better than their Mid-Cap and Large-Cap peers, but the overall market breadth remained negative.

Lower-than-estimated US jobs growth in March coupled with higher inflation in China were the two main catalysts for today's selloff across world equity markets today.



FII flows in the beginning of April has been understandably lower as the General Anti-Avoidance Rules or GAAR was expected to come into effect from April 1. Meanwhile, the net investment by FIIs in the Indian stocks during 2011-12 was the lowest in the last three years at Rs. 479.35bn.

The BSE Sensex ended at 17,222, down 264 points or ~1.5% over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 17,407 and a day’s low of 17,199. It opened at 17,407.

The NSE Nifty settled at 5,234, down 86 points or 1.7% over the previous close. It touched a day’s low of 5,228 and day’s high of 5,288.

The INDIA VIX on the NSE shot up by 8% to close at 22.33. It hit days high of 22.44. It hit a low of 20.63.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the Metal index was the top loser, down 3.5%, while the Capital Goods index slipped 3.1%. The Power index was down 2.5% and the PSU index ended lower by 2%. Only BSE Pharma index edged higher by 0.3%.

The BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.3% while the BSE Small-Cap index ended lower by 0.7%.

Out of the 50 stocks in the Sensex index notable losers were Hindalco, Sterlite, BHEL, L&T, Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, SBI, NTPC and Maruti.

Among the major gainers were, Cipla, HUL, Bajaj Auto, DLF and Bharti Airtel.

"An action-packed week is in store for the Indian markets. The corporate earnings season kicks off in right earnest on Friday the 13th with IT major Infosys' Q4 FY12 results. Before that there is the industrial production growth and WPI inflation numbers to contend with on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Speculation on what the RBI will do when it meets on April 17 will be another driving force for our markets in the coming days," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.

Japanese shares ended lower for a fifth straight trading day today with the Nikkei dropping 1.5% to 9,546. The Shanghai Composite index ends down 0.9% at 2,285.

Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Philippines were shut on account of the extended Easter holidays.

Although US markets were closed on Friday, index futures dropped sharply after the jobs data, pointing to a likely sharp fall when trading on Wall Street begins on Monday. Markets are also shut in Europe for Easter holidays.

US payrolls rose far less than expected in March, even as the unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 8.2%. American employers added 120,000 jobs last month, the smallest increase since October.

Chinese consumer prices rose 3.6% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. That was more than the median estimate of 3.4%by the economists. Food-related costs gained 7.5%.

Meanwhile, gold gained today as investors turned to the yellow metal for refuge amid persistent uncertainty over global economy. High crude oil prices and higher inflation in China also added to the allure of the precious metal.

The Indian rupee fell today as global investors shunned risky assets in the wake of the disappointing US jobs data last week and Chinese inflation report today. Indian markets were shut on Thursday and Friday for local holidays.