Markets wrapped session in red ahead of US Fed meet

The sentiment remained bearish, with investors reacting badly ahead of Fed’s policy decision and profit booking. The BSE Sensex slipped 0.53% and the Nifty closed 0.62% lower in trade today. Major Headlines: Indirect tax collection shows marginal growth of 3.8% in April-May Panacea Biotech zooms on huge volumes Ranbaxy drops 4% to record 4 year low Events for Wednesday (June 19, 2013): Coromandel International to quote final dividend Indian Indices Bears had busy day at work as the Bulls tried to contribute in today's unexpected trading session. The Indian markets closed in the red zone as the equities remained volatile led by selling pressure across the board. Benchmark share indices witnessed weak trading session after continuous rally seen for 2-days. Tuesday turned out to be a session where investors remained cautious, ahead of the Fed's meeting ending on Wednesday as an early end to US monetary stimulus is raising worries about a weaker rupee and hence a delay in any potential RBI rate cuts. The rate sensitive like banking, auto and realty stocks were also struggling for direction. Dalal Street felt shy of facing green terrain amid volatility in majority of the sectors which further pulled the markets down. At the closing bell, the BSE Midcap index gained 0.03%, while the BSE Smallcap index was up by 0.25%. Movement of the Indian indices for the day: After 2-day's rising trend, Indian markets ended lower, as investors turned cautious and booked profit in financials ahead of the US Fed meet which begins later today. The Banks were among the top losers given that an end to US monetary stimulus could push the rupee lower, delaying any rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India. The markets remained in negative terrain for major part of the day as Equities did enter in the green territory in afternoon trade for a while raising investor’s hope but could not sustain gains for long and slipped back to the negative zone. A major downfall was seen in S&P BSE Sensex like HDFC Bank, HDFC, ICICI Bank, ONGC, ITC, L&T and NTPC while Infosys, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto were in positive trend. The Sensex closed at 19223.28, down by 102.59 points and the Nifty fell 36.45 points to settle at 5813.60 in trade today. Following are the stocks/ sectors which were in news today: 1. VA Tech Wabag gained 3.38% after the company in a joint venture with Pratibha Industries has won an Rs262 cr order from Melamchi Water Supply Development Board, Nepal. 2. Venus Remedies rose 2.74%, after the company said it has received patent from Mexico for its novel antibiotic product Potentox. 3. Shares of mobile operators rose, extending yesterday's gains after the telecoms regulator allowed carriers to offer free nationwide mobile roaming to subscribers for a fixed fee from July 01, 2013. After market hours, Idea Cellular rose 1.29% and Reliance Communications was up 11.14%. Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favor of declines. Of the 2466 stocks traded on the BSE, 1159 (47.00%) rose, 1161 (47.08%) fell and 146 (5.92%) stocks remained unchanged. Sectoral & stock screening Among the 13 sectoral indices, four sectors closed in the green zone while remaining nine sectors closed in the red zone. Top Gainers- BSE Metal up by 0.75%, BSE TECK rose by 0.67%, BSE IT surged by 0.57%. Top Losers: BSE Bankex slipped 1.20%, BSE CD fell 1.09% and BSE PSU declined 0.91%. Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- Reliance Communication rose by 11.14%, Piramal Enterprises up by 5.64% and Adani Enterprises surged by 4.81%. Top three losers were- MMTC declined by 4.98%, Ranbaxy Lab down by 3.56% and Essar Oil fell by 3.15%. Global signals: Asian shares eased on Tuesday as investors waited for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to clarify the U.S. central bank's plans for its stimulus programme - with the mere suggestion of fine-tuning it enough to unnerve market sentiment. European shares edged lower on Tuesday, led by a hit for Denmark's Danske Bank on capital concerns as investors awaited the outcome of a two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserve. US stock index futures poised for a higher opening at the Wall Street on Tuesday.