Sensex slips after volatile trade...Nifty below 5k

The Indian markets closed marginally lower on Wednesday, extending losses from the previous session, with the NSE Nifty ending below the 5000 mark for the first time since January 18, 2012. The session was particularly choppy, with the key indices swinging back and forth almost throughout the day. With this, the Nifty has lost ~150 points in the last two sessions. Sustained selling pressure was seen in Metals, Realty, Banking, Power, PSU and Oil & Gas stocks. The BSE Sensex ended at 16,479 losing by 0.4% or 66 points. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 16,615 and a day’s low of 16,422. It opened at 16,436. The NSE Nifty settled at 4975 down by 25 points or 0.5%. It touched a day’s low of 4,960 and day’s high of 5,013. The INDIA VIX on the NSE further surged by 4% to close at 23.04. It hit days high of 23.87. It hit a low of 22.06. The market breadth continued to remain negative, 1796 stocks declined and 936 stocks advanced. The broader markets ended weaker than the Sensex with the BSE Mid-Cap Index down 1% and the BSE Small-Cap index lower by 1.2%. All the sectoral indices on the BSE, barring FMCG and IT, closed in red. FMCG rose 2.7% while IT was up 0.2% and Pharma ended nearly unchanged. Amongst the laggards, Realty led the pack, down 3% followed by Metals, Bankex, Power, PSU, Oil&Gas and Auto. ITC, Ranbaxy, Bajaj Auto, TCS, IDFC, HCL Tech and Hindalco Industries were among the leading gainers on the Sensex and the Nifty. JP Associates, SAIL, Grasim, DLF, SBI, M&M, Sterlite Inds, Sesa Goa, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Cairn India, Jindal Steel, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Coal India, Tata Steel, RIL and Bharti Airtel were among the notable losers on both the indexes. The Indian rupee weakened further today, adding to the markets' growing list of woes, as the US dollar remained strong amid rising global risk aversion. High-yielding and risky global currencies are under pressure on renewed concerns about the eurozone debt crisis. Crude oil futures and gold futures too have been on a downward spiral lately. Technically, after the bearish engulfing candle stick pattern, the Nifty has now ended below its previous day’s low. This reinforces the bearishness for the coming days. On the weekly charts as well, the Nifty has ended below the falling trendline support. "The undertone across world markets has taken a beating, as unfavourable outcome of elections in France and Greece has sparked fears of fresh turmoil in the debt-strapped euro area. Greek stocks hit a two-decade low on Tuesday amid a growing view that the nation might move out of the currency bloc later this year. On the domestic front, the RBI has hinted that it has limited room to boost the sentiment, be it on interest rates or on the currency side. So, it is pretty clear that the Central Government must move quickly to give a much-needed fillip to the Indian economy," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL. The markets are confronting lot of of headwinds – both domestic as well as foreign. The deferment of GAAR by a year was expected to be a short-term catalyst to support the market mood. However, stocks, currency, bonds or commodities – everything seems to be heading south at the moment. Policymakers across the globe have to pull up their socks and address their domestic problems on a war footing before things get out of hands. Globally, major markets in Asia lost 1% or more today, tracking overnight selloff on Wall Street and the European bourses. The Nikkei index in Japan ended with losses of 1.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong lost 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite in China was down 1.65% while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia fell by 1%. European indices, which opened higher, took a sudden 'U' turn and were trading mostly lower. The Spanish benchmark took a severe beating, losing ~3%. Markets in the UK, France and Italy were marginally down while the German index was up slightly. Ranbaxy Laboratories advanced 3.8% to Rs. 512.45 after consolidated net profit in Q1 jumped 309.6% on year to Rs. 12.46bn. M&M fell 3.2% to Rs. 655.15 after the company said a fire had broken out at one of the storage areas pertaining to manufacturing of Scorpio/Xylo TCF lines of Nasik Plant 1. Punjab National Bank lost 2% to close at Rs. 767.95 after the ratio of net non-performing assets increased to 1.52% on Mar 31, 2012 from 0.85% on Mar 31, 2011. RIL settled lower by 1.9% at Rs. 695.10 on reports the oil major has reduced estimates for proven gas reserves from its Indian blocks by 6.7% to 3.67 trillion cubic feet. Glenmark Pharma rose 3% to Rs. 339.75 after the company’s 4Q net profit rose 33% on year to Rs.1.5bn beating estimates of Rs.1.16bn. ITC surged 5.6% to close at Rs. 240.05 after a government decision to scrap additional duties fueled expectations that the company would benefit from the move. While Citigroup said that the decline in stock price was a buying opportunity, the stock was upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Sell’ at Antique Stock Broking. Lanco Infratech rose to Rs. 13.50 earlier in the session after the company was granted relief from the Supreme Court to go ahead with the Lanco Hills development in Hyderabad. However, it ended down 1.2% at Rs. 12.83 in a volatile market. Hanung Toys climbed 3% to Rs. 130.90 after its 4Q profit came in at Rs. 436.7mn versus Rs. 323.2mn in the same period a year ago. Prism Informatics gained 4.8% and closed at Rs. 17.50 after it announced that its founder Dani bought an additional 8.91% stake in company. Puravankara Projects rose 2.3% to finish at Rs. 64.70 after the real estate company’s 4Q net income was recorded at Rs. 460.5mn beating estimates of Rs. 307mn. Shriram Transport Finance moved up 1.2% to settle at Rs. 513.30 after it said that it planned to raise up to Rs. 20bn rupees by the sale of debentures. Citigroup said the company’s longer-term fundamentals were stable. After rising to Rs. 866, Tata Coffee ended lower at Rs. 839.15 in a volatile market. The stock climbed earlier after its 4Q group net profit rose to Rs. 288mn from Rs. 175mn in the same quarter a year ago. Cipla lost 0.7% and closed at Rs. 322.60 on reports that the Pharma company was planning on reducing prices of more cancer drugs. Recently, Cipla has cut the prices of three cancer drugs substantially. Adani Ports ended down 0.3% after the company received an order from the Gujarat High Court to stop construction work in the SEZ. ABB declined 1.5% to Rs. 746.95 after the company’s Q1 net profit fell 20% on year to Rs. 476.4mn.