Post Session: Quick Review

Extending last sessions’ weakness, local equity markets nursed heavy losses of around half a percent which dragged both Sensex and Nifty below psychologically crucial 28,750 and 8,750 levels respectively on relentless selling activities by both funds and retail investors on the back of somber regional counterparts, which fell in the aftermath of the strong US jobs report which has raised  concerns of an early rate hike by the US Fed that in turn sapped the risk appetite for emerging market asset’s.  Mood failed to lift at Dalal Street in absence of any positive triggers, rather markets after a weak start went on grinding lower, though bit of recovery was witnessed in early afternoon deals, trade took a turn for the worst after the somber start of European equities.  Broader indices too participated in the global rout and ended with loss of around three tenths of a percent.

On the global front, Key bourses in Asia fell on Tuesday as markets overlooked better-than-expected Chinese inflation data and a positive lead from Wall Street. Meanwhile, the Japanese and South Korean currencies hit new lows against the U.S. dollar on the back of the underlying theme of monetary policy divergence. Moreover, European equities were lower in morning trade on Tuesday, with investor sentiment curbed by a fall in the price of oil and ongoing negotiations surrounding Greece. The head of the Eurogroup underscored that Greece and experts from the troika of organizations that oversee the country's bailout – the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - will start detailed discussions on Greek reforms tied to its emergency financing on Wednesday.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE ended in negative territory, nevertheless stocks from Realty, Oil & Gas and Power counters were the prominent losers of the session. On the flip side, stocks from Consumer Durables, Technology and Metal counters were the major gainers of the session.  In stock-specific activity, Telecom stocks staged a strong intraday rebound on buzz the auction of telecom spectrum has reached the final stage. Additionally, pharma stocks gained on weak rupee. However, Realty stocks witnessed sharp drubbing after  Minister of Parliamentary Affairs M.Venkaiah Naidu said in the Lok Sabha yesterday, 9 March 2015, that the government is willing to consider some further amendments to ensure minimum land acquisition based on the views and suggestion of the opposition parties. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of decliners which thumped advances in the ratio of 1263:1575; while 127 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex concluded at 28709.87, down by 134.91 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 28584.49 and 28949.11. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.38%, while Small cap index was lower by 0.28%. (Provisional)

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.20%, TECK up by 0.78%, Metal up by 0.58%, Infrastructure up by 0.51% and Auto up by 0.37% while, Realty down by 1.83%, Oil & Gas down by 0.78%, Power down by 0.63%, Bankex down by 0.49% and Capital Goods down by 0.41% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 7.09%, Coal India up by 3.84%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.58%, BHEL up by 0.80% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.75%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 3.89%, Hindalco down by 2.06%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.81%, Sun Pharma down by 1.58% and Tata Power down by 1.34% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, it is raining bonanza for the government, which has gained over Rs 3 lakh crore from sale of coal mines and telecom, way higher than all the estimates, including CAG for value of such resources that have been major reason of two major scams in the recent years.

While the government has fetched Rs 2.07 lakh crore from the e-auction of the coal block, it has garnered rest of the amount from the sale of 2G and 3G airwaves where government is selling spectrum in four bands: 2,100 megahertz (Mhz), 1,800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 Mhz.

Ironically, these two scams, i.e. 'Coal-gate' and 'Telecom' scam had become matters of big political debates including run-up to the Lok Sabha polls last year. In total, 204 coal blocks were cancelled, while auction of just 32 of them has already fetched the government Rs 2.07 lakh crore. Besides, the total proceeds from the spectrum auction is expected to cross Rs 1 lakh crore mark, while the minimum amount earlier targeted by the government was Rs 82,000 crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier this month raised some doubts after he underscored CAG's astronomical Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss figure in coal block allocation, but with auction of less than 10% of those mines (19 mines in first tranche) alone  that has garnered Rs 1.10 lakh crore has proved these claims to be right.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility declined 1.96% at 15.50 from its previous close of 15.81 on Monday. (Provisional)

The CNX Nifty settled at 8712.05, down by 44.70 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 8677.35 and 8778.00. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 7.13%, Coal India up by 3.75%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.78%, NMDC up by 1.61% and Lupin up by 1.55%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 4.09%, DLF down by 4.04%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.34%, Hindalco down by 1.95% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.93% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European Markets were trading in the red; Germany's DAX declined 0.34%, UK's FTSE 100 shed 0.31% and France's CAC was down by 0.27%.

The Asian markets ended mostly in red on Tuesday, with a rebound in Chinese inflation in February was trumped by data showing prices at factory gates had plunged, raising fears about deflation in the mainland economy. South Korea’s central bank is likely to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday but cut them next month when it revises its forecasts to reflect a more tepid economic recovery than initially expected. In its last forecast made in January, the Bank of Korea cut this year’s growth projection from 3.9% to 3.4%, while adding quarterly growth would remain around 1% throughout 2015. The pace of Chinese inflation unexpectedly picked up in February, but producer prices continued to slide, underscoring the intense pressure on profit margins at Chinese companies and adding urgency to policymakers’ efforts to find new ways to support growth. The producer price index (PPI) declined 4.8 percent in February - the most negative reading posted since Oct 2009 - extending a long-running factory deflation cycle that began in 2012 to nearly three years. Chinese CPI rose to an annual rate of 1.4%, from 0.8% in the preceding month. Japan’s M2 Money Stock rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.5%, from 3.4% in the preceding month.