Global cues weigh heavy, Sensex down 43 points

Mumbai, Jan 5: Negative global cues, coupled with disappointing macro-data and selling pressure by foreign investors, subdued Indian equity markets on Tuesday. This led to a barometer index of the Indian equity markets to end a range bound session on a slightly negative note, a day after it plunged to a new four-month low. Initially, both the bellwether indices opened on a firm note in sync with their Asian peers.

However, they soon receded on the back of negative intertiol cues from the US, rising geo-political tensions in the Middle East and disappointing macro-data. Besides, investors were seen cautious regarding the upcoming macro-data on industrial output, retail inflation and the third-quarter earning results which start coming in from January 14.

In addition, volatility was stroked by the upcoming US non-farm payroll figures scheduled for release on Friday, along with minutes of latest FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting. Both the events could provide indications on future US rate hikes.

Nevertheless, some value buying and mildly positive Asian markets soothed investors’ nerves. The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) shed 43 points, or 0.17 percent. The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the tiol Stock Exchange (NSE) ended the day’s trade flat. It was down seven points, or 0.09 percent, at 7,784.65 points. The Sensex of the S&P BSE, which opened at 25,744.70 points, closed at 25,580.34 points — down 43.01 points, or 0.17 percent from the previous day’s close at 25,623.35 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 25,766.76 points and a low of 25,513.75 points in intra-day trade. The Sensex closed the previous session on January 4 down 538 points, or 2.05 percent, while the Nifty was lower by 172 points, or 2.16 percent. Nonetheless, the S&P BSE market breadth favoured the bulls — with 2,077 advances and 838 declines. “Yesterday’s massive correction continued to impact sentiments. Negative close of the US markets on Monday also dented investors’ confidence,” And James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Fincial Services, told IANS.

“Geo-political tensions and weak domestic macro-data weighed heavy on markets. However, value buying and positive Asian markets helped stabilise Indian bellwether indices.” Nitasha Shankar, vice president for research with YES Securities, elaborated that broader markets outperformed the headline indices as stock specific buying was seen during the day’s trade. “PSU (public sector undertaking) bank stocks continued to reel under selling pressure, while metal, reality and energy stocks bucked the trend to end in the green,” Shankar said. Sector-wise, banking, automobile and information technology (IT) stocks came under selling pressure.

The S&P BSE banking index receded by 61.06 points, automobile index declined by 57.21 points and IT index fell by 46.06 points. On the other hand, oil and gas, metal and consumer durables scrips gained. The S&P BSE oil and gas index zoomed by 182.69 points, metal index gained by 161.77 points and consumer durables index edged up by 72.26 points. The foreign institutiol investors (FIIs) were net sellers during the day’s trade, while domestic institutiol investors (DIIs) were net buyers. According to data with stock exchanges, FIIs divested Rs.352.42 crore, while DIIs bought stocks worth Rs.13.19 crore. Despite FIIs’ pull out, the rupee closed the day’s trade flat. It strengthened by two paise to close at 66.60 to a US dollar from its previous close of 66.62 to a greenback.

Major Sensex gainers during Tuesday’s trade were Tata Steel, up 6.65 percent at Rs.274.10; Gail, up 3.60 percent at Rs.372.85; Asian Paints, up 2.29 percent at Rs.900.85; ONGC, up 1.47 percent at Rs.241.80 and Reliance Industries, up 0.97 percent at Rs.1,005.10.

The major Sensex losers were Coal India, down 1.35 percent at Rs.326.05; State Bank of India (SBI), down 1.22 percent at Rs.218.25; Hindustan Unilever, down 1.09 percent at Rs.847.80; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), down 1.06 percent at Rs.2,350.35; and NTPC, down 0.97 percent at Rs.142.35. (IANS)