Markets stage smart recovery, end marginally lower

The Indian markets erased almost all its losses and recovered in late trade to close the session marginally lower

Major headlines

ACC Q1 net profit down 13% yoy

UltraTech Cement gains 3% after posting good results

Aventis Pharma zooms on healthy Q1 results



Indian indices

The Indian markets saw smart recovery in late trade as buying resumed near support levels following positive cues from European peers. The markets closed marginally lower after remaining under pressure for most part of the session. Gains in heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, SBI, ITC, ICICI Bank alongwith pharmaceuticals, capital goods and metals shares supported the key indices. Good corporate earnings made investor mood leading the markets to erase losses.

The top Sensex gainers - Bharti Airtel (1.65%), Hindalco Industries (1.55%), Tata Motors (1.50%), Reliance Communications (1.29%) and Jindal Steel (1.10%). Top Sensex losers - Hindustan Unilever (1.99%), Maruti Suzuki India (1.91%), Sterlite Industries (1.56%), Reliance Infrastructure (1.55%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (1.48%).

The Sensex started the session 12 points higher at 19596, comparing with its previous day’s close of 19584. Later, the index fell and remained under pressure to hit the day’s low of 19307 in early afternoon trade. Then the index began to erase losses and recovered in late trade to hit the day’s high of 19626. The Sensex fell 39 points to settle at 19545 and the Nifty stood at 5868, down by 6 points.

Market sentiment

The market breadth stood weak. Of the 2,977 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,286 surged while 1,570 fell. However, 121 stocks remained unchanged.

Viewing volumes

India's second largest real estate developer - Unitech was traded the most, with over 0.59 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. It was followed by wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.39 crore shares), an infrastructure firm - GVK Power & Infrastructure (0.33 crore shares), an industrial finance company - IFCI (0.14 crore shares) and a Jaypee group firm - Jaiprakash Associates (0.17 crore shares).

Sectoral & stock screening

Eight sectoral indices fell, while rest five gained. BSE Healthcare (HC) rose by 0.42%, BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) surged by 0.08% and BSE TECk went up by 0.06%. The top sectoral losers - BSE Consumer Durables (CD) declined by 0.80%, BSE Oil & Gas slipped by 0.35% and BSE Realty down by 0.31%

On 'A' group stocks’ front, top three gainers - Siemens surged by 3.47%, Ashok Leyland rose by 2.89% and Areva T&D up by 2.59%. Top three losers - GVK Power & Infrastructure down by 4.57%, Coromandel International slipped by 4.28% and Patni Computers down by 3.77%.

Global signals

The European markets bounced back to a two-week high after a weaker start on Tuesday, with financials gaining the most and UBS jumping on news that money poured back into its core wealth management arm in the first quarter.

All the Asian indices shut lower on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei closed at a one-week low, losing 1.17% as exporters were hit by a stronger yen.

The US stock index futures signal higher opening on the Wall Street on Tuesday.

Market Outlook: Consumer Confidence level for the month of April will be released in the US on Tuesday.