Sensex manages slim gains in lackluster trade

After losing for four straight weeks, the Indian stock markets ended the first trading day of the week on a positive note at the end of a lackluster session. Markets did manage to surge higher in early trades on the back of extended rally in banking heavyweight SBI post its robust Q4 results, however those gains could not be sustained due to offloading in IT heavyweights, FMCG and Telecom stocks. Market players preferred to be cautious as the rise was used to reduce positions, leading to a clear distribution throughout the session. In addition, the Indian rupee continued to be weak against the US Dollar, touching intraday record low of 54.91 for a second straight session. The BSE Sensex ended at 16,183, adding 0.2% or 30 points from the last close. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 16,298 and a day’s low of 16,149. It opened at 16,187. The NSE Nifty settled at 4906, up by 14 points or 0.3%. It touched a day’s low of 4,888 and day’s high of 4,937. The market breadth was positive, 1643 stocks advanced and 1027 stocks declined. The BSE Mid-Cap indices outperformed the benchmark indices, the BSE Mid-Cap gained 0.4%, and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 1%. The INDIA VIX on the NSE gained by 1.6% to close at 23.92. It hit days high of 24.35. It hit a low of 23.20. Wipro, ITC, Infosys, HUL, Sterlite, NTPC, Cipla, ACC, Ambuja Cement, HDFC Bank and ONGC were the notable losers on the Sensex and the Nifty today. Tata Power, Bank Baroda, Reliance Infra, SBI, BHEL, Maruti, L&T, Coal India and Hindalco were the top gainers on both the indexes. Among the sectoral indices, Capital Goods index was the biggest gainer, up 2% followed by Realty, Power, Banking, PSU and Oil & Gas index. "UPA II completes three tumultuous years in office today. There is unlikely to be much jubilation though given its poor track record in terms of governance. Some would even say it is lucky to be still there in power. There is definitely a crisis of confidence – both politically as well as economically. Surprisingly, the start of the second stint for the Congress-led regime was quite upbeat. Markets were certainly much more optimistic. But, nobody had any inkling that the scenario would reverse so dramatically. The question is: can UPA II leadership at least salvage some pride in the remaining two years? Markets around the world remain pre-occupied with the eurozone crisis. Things are also slowing down in the US and China. For India, the biggest issue is a fragile rupee, which has been hit by a widening current account deficit and worsening economic fundamentals. UPA II should take a few bold policy actions rather than blame external events," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL. Today’s rangebound trade came despite positive cues from the Asian and European markets. Most Asian stock indices ended higher after Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said that China will focus more on policies that boost economic growth. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average was up ~0.2%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose ~0.7%, and South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.16% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index traded down 0.2%. Gains were limited before German and French leaders meet today to discuss the euro area debt crisis. European stock markets opened lower today, with peripheral markets of Spain and Italy pacing the decline. But, the indices in UK, Germany and France managed to pull back from session lows. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will discuss the euro currency at a meeting with his newly installed French counterpart, Pierre Moscovici, in Berlin today as EU leaders prepare for a summit meeting in Brussels on May 23. Separately, Spain revised its 2011 deficit upward - even as its borrowing costs approached levels that led to bailouts in Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Meanwhile, the G8 leaders, who met at Camp David in the US over the weekend, backed plans to keep Greece in the eurozone and supported boosting growth. But, Germany said that Europe can’t spend its way out of the debt crisis. At the US president Barack Obama’s Camp David retreat in Maryland, the G8 leaders said in a statement that "the right measures are not the same for each of us."