Markets end in red ahead of F&O expiry

The Indian markets closed today's trade in the red zone led by selling pressure across the board. The Sensex shut shop 72 points lower and the Nifty fell 19 points. Major Headlines of the Day: HCL Technologies Q4: Beats the street, positive surprise on margins Disappointing Q1 numbers for Torrent Power; stk down 51-stocks to be removed from F&O: NSE Metal index the top loser in sectoral pack Fuel prices may get marginally cheaper in 11 states Indian Indices: The Indian markets closed today's trading session in the red zone. Profit booking was seen in majority of the sectors except FMCG, HC, IT, which were the only gaining sectors. Markets remained under pressure owing to movements in heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, HUL, RIL, Jindal Steel, Tata Steel and Hindalco. The broader markets too ended the trade on a negative note. At the closing bell, the BSE Midcap index declined 0.76%, while the BSE Smallcap index was down by 0.79% today. Movement of the Indian indices for the day: After having one day breather of gains, the key benchmark indices closed today's trading session in the negative terrain. The markets remained under pressure throughout the day on account of profit booking in majority of the sectors. The NSE Nifty maintained the key 5100 level at close. The Indian markets started today's trade on a negative note and fell sharply during the morning session following losses in Asian markets. In the afternoon trade, Indian equity benchmarks recovered partially and trimmed some of its losses led by further buying in ITC. Later, positive European markets and selling pressure eased across the board which helped the local markets to recover from day lows. The Indian rupee too recovered from day's low of 56.41 to 56.21, which was down by 10 paise today. The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty dipped by 0.43% and 0.36% respectively. The broader indices were also in red, heading towards a weak market breadth. Profit booking led the markets to close the session lower in trade today. Investors in the domestic market were also cautious in trade today ahead of July F&O expiry and also due to deferment of hike in diesel price. The Sensex closed at 16846.05, down by 72.03 points and the Nifty fell 18.60 points to close at 5109. Earnings 1. HCL Tech surged after posting higher than expected numbers for its fourth quarter of FY12. Net profit grew by 41.6% quarter-on-quarter (qoq) to Rs854 crore. At end of the day, the stock closed 6.68% higher. 2. Torrent Power tanked to its lowest level since June 2009, after reporting 70% year-on-year (yoy) drop in net profit at Rs104 crore for the quarter ended June 2012, due to higher power purchase cost. The stock declined by 6.81% in today's trade. 3. Jindal Steel and Power the top Sensex loser, declined to its lowest level since June 2009, after reporting 59% year-on-year (yoy) fall in consolidated net profit at Rs385 crore for the quarter ended June 2012. The stock fell by 4.33% in trade today. 4. Yes Bank sorged after its net profit rose by 34.3% to Rs290.10 crore on 33.3% rise in net interest income to 472.20 crore in Q1 June 2012 over Q1 June 2011. After market hours, the stock closed with modest gain of 1.38%. 5. Jubilant FoodWorks, the maker of Domino's Pizza in India, reported a 40% jump in the net profit at Rs32.4 crore for the quarter ended June 2012. The stock fell by 1.75% in trade today. Following are the stocks/ sectors which were in news today: 1. Fulford (India) has locked upper circuit of 10% at Rs771 after its promoter Dashtag along with Merck & Co., Inc have made an open offer to acquire additional stake in the company at a price of Rs830 per share. 2. Steel stocks fell on BSE after ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker by volume, lowered its global apparent steel demand forecast. 3. Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC) has locked upper circuit of 20% on getting environment clearance from Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF) for its KoIha-Roida iron and manganese mines. 4. Metal shares lost its shine after the International Monetary Fund said China's economy is facing significant downside risks. On the Home ground, the newly elected President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee was today sworn in as the country's 13th President at an impressive ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament. Talking about currency, the Indian rupee, which touched an intraday low of 56.41, recovered to 56.20 against the US dollar today. It was down by 9 paise compared to the previous close. Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favor of declines. Of the 2902 stocks traded on the BSE, 1083 (37.32%) rose, 1706 (58.79%) fell and 113 (3.89%) stocks remained unchanged. Sectoral & stock screening Among the 13 sectoral indices three sectors closed in green zone while remaining ten sectors closed in red zone. Top Gainers: BSE FMCG rose by 0.41%, BSE IT surged by 0.28%, BSE HC gained by 0.04%. Top Losers: BSE Metal down by 2.03%, BSE CD fell by 1.70%, BSE Power down by 1.41%. Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- United Breweries rose by 9.60%, HCL Tech up by 6.68% and Shree Cement surged by 4.35%. Top three losers were- Lanco Infra declined by 8.48%, Torrent Power down by 6.81% and Jindal Steel fell by 4.33%. Global signals: Asian shares fell on Wednesday as soaring borrowing costs deepened worries that Spain might need a bailout, while Greece appeared unlikely to meet terms conditional to its aid package. The Nikkei share average fell 1.4% today to a seven-week closing low after disappointing results from Apple Inc hit the iPhone maker's Japanese suppliers. The euro snapped five days of declines and recovered from a two-year low against the dollar on Wednesday also the European equities turned higher today on speculation that Europe's rescue fund will be given a banking license to help ease the region's debt crisis. The pound weakened after the U.K. economy shrank the most in three years. US stock index futures pointed towards a mixed opening at the Wall Street on Wednesday.