It is so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem – Malcolm Forbes.
As if the Greece issue wasn’t enough, the markets now have to worry about deteriorating fiscal health of other places of historical interest. Fitch has lowered Portugal's sovereign credit rating, citing its growing budget deficit and debt load. The euro fell to new record low versus Swiss franc and fresh 10-month trough against the US dollar.
Increasing worries about the European sovereign debt situation curbed risk appetite even as suspense continues on Greece getting aid from the EU. The commodity complex was down due to a stronger dollar. Markets in Europe came off session highs to end mostly flat while US stocks finished lower. In Asia, markets in Japan and Korea are slightly in the green while the rest are in the red.
We expect a shaky start given the weak global cues. Trading will be volatile and rangebound owing to the F&O expiry. Near-term uncertainties, especially on the external front, could continue to act as a dampener though the overall bias remains positive for India. The Nifty will trade between 5200 and 5300. Bharti will be in focus as Zain board has cleared the multi-billion dollar deal.
FIIs were net buyers in the cash segment on Tuesday at Rs3.59bn on a provisional basis. Local funds were net sellers of Rs733.9mn, according to figures published on the NSE's web site. In the F&O segment, the foreign funds were net buyers of Rs3.91bn. On Monday, FIIs were net buyers of Rs2.7bn in the cash segment, as per the SEBI web site. Mutual Funds were net sellers of Rs3.59bn on the same day.
The BSE Sensex snapped a four day winning streak on Monday after the RBI in a surprising move increased interest rates for first time in almost two years after inflation rate rose to 16-months high. The benchmark indices did show some resilience after a gap down opening, however as the day progressed, markets were unable to carry its upswing and finally lost ground. Realty, Auto and banking stocks were among the top losers.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was the major laggards, the stock single handedly dragged the BSE Sensex 34 points followed by ICICI Bank 28 points and HDFC 22 points.
Market breadth was weak as well, out of total 2919 stocks, 1,853 declined against 988 advances while 78 stocks remained unchanged.
Finally, the BSE Sensex slipped 168 points to end at 17,411 and NSE Nifty fell 58 points to close at 5,205.
In Asia, the Nikkei in Japan was closed, while Australia's S&P/ASX slipped by 0.9%. Shanghai SE Composite fell by 0.2% and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 2%.
In Europe, stocks were trading with a negative bias. The DAX in Germany was down 0.7%, the CAC 40 index in France was down 0.9% and the FTSE in the UK was down 0.8%.
Coming back to India, among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE Pharma index was only gainer, the index marginally added 0.2%. Among the top losers were, BSE Realty index was down 4% and the BSE Metal index was down 2.2%. The BSE Mid-Cap index ended lower by 1.2% while BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.8%.
Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were Indiabulls Real Estate, GMDC, Jai Corp and Bharat Forge. On the other hand, gainers included M&M Finance, Max India, India Cement and Voltas.
The BSE announced that it will include Cipla in the Sensitive index from May 3 replacing Sun Pharmaceutical on the index. Shares of Cipla ended flat at Rs333, while Shares of Sun Pharma ended flat at Rs1702.
Shares of Bharti Airtel gained by 1.5% to end at Rs316 after reports stated that the company has finalised US$8.5bn of funding for its acquisition of the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain. In addition, the company is also likely to foray into 3G, telecom services in India. A consortium of banks led by Standard Chartered and Barclays would lend it US$7.5bn and SBI another US$1bn, reports added.
Shares of Lupin have new 52-week high of Rs1643 gaining 2% after the company announced that its US subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc received approval for the company's Abbreviated New Drug Application for Eszopiclone tablets, 1mg, 2mg and 3mg from the US Food and Drug Administration. Lupin's Eszopiclone tablets are the AB-rated generic equivalent of Sepracor's LUNESTA tablets,indicated for the treatment of insomnia.
L&T received a contract by the Ministry of Defence for the design and construction of 36 High Speed Interceptor Boats for the Indian Coast Guard. The contract is valued at Rs9.77bn, and is among one of the main initiatives being taken by the government to strengthen coastal security.
Shares of L&T edged lower by 0.2% to end at Rs1617. The scrip opened at Rs1621 it touched an intra-day high of Rs1623 and a low of Rs1581 and recorded volumes of over 0.19mn shares on BSE.
India Cements and United Breweries Holdings were in demand after an auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) yesterday boosted the value of their cricket teams. In the latest addition to the IPL team, Sahara Adventure Sports of the Sahara Group won the Pune franchise with a record bid of US$370mn while, the second bid was for RsUS$333mn from a consortium of investors under Rendezvous Sports who opted for Kochi as their base camp.
Shares of Bata India gained by 1.5% to end at Rs242 after reports stated that the company was planning to sell a piece of land to buy the shops it’s renting. The property is located in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata and is worth as much as Rs3bn, reports added.
Shares of Indage Vintners fell over 7% to Rs47.8 after the company announced that a petition filed by certain lenders came up for hearing before the High Court of Judicature at Bombay and the Hon'ble Court passed an order directing that the Company be wound up based on the petition filed by lenders.
It is the Company's contention that notwithstanding the order passed by the Hon'ble Court, it is not expedient to wind up the business at this stage and therefore the Board of Directors in its meeting held on March 19, 2010, has decided to challenge the said order by filing an appeal in the competent Court.