Benchmarks end lower for third straight session

Extending their southward journey for third straight day, Indian equity benchmarks ended the volatile day of trade slightly in the red as investors remained on sidelines ahead of data on industrial production for January and consumer price index for February scheduled to be announced on Thursday. Marketmen also traded with caution and were unwilling to take fresh positions ahead of the proceedings in the Parliament particularly with respect to the passage of key bills such as Land Acquisition Bill in Rajya Sabha.

However, losses remained capped as some support came with report that India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed considerably to $8.2 billion or 1.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the quarter ended December 2014 down from $10.1 billion or 2% of GDP on end-September 2014.

On the global front, European markets made a positive start and were trading in the green in early deals, halting the previous session’s sell-off, with Adecco in focus after its fourth-quarter profit beat expectations. However, Asian markets skidded to a two-month low, as nervous markets recoiled on worries about an earlier US interest rate hike, while such a prospect helped send the dollar to a 12-year high against the euro.

Back home, sentiments remained downbeat on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 748.13 crore on March 10, 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Meanwhile, stocks related to metal counter fell on concerns over the impact of the investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Additionally, public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) edged lower as global crude oil prices rebounded on Wednesday after data showed US crude stocks fell for the first time in two months. 

On the flip side, select stocks from Auto space edged higher with the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) reporting that domestic car sales grew 7% to 1,71,727 units in February, however there was 9% drop in rural motorcycle sales last month. Moreover, telecom stocks remained in action with aggressive bidding by mobile phone operators in auction of mobile airwaves, which led the government accumulate Rs 94,000 crore by the end of auctioning after five days of bidding.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty declined by over ten points to end below the psychological 8,700 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex declined by over fifty points to end below its crucial 28,700 mark. Broader markets too struggled to get any traction during the trade and ended the session with a cut of around half a percent. The market breadth remained in favor of decliners, as there were 1,185 shares on the gaining side against 1,643 shares on the losing side while 134 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 50.70 points or 0.18% to 28659.17, while the CNX Nifty lost 12.10 points or 0.14% to 8,699.95.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 28843.23 and 28608.18, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.40%, while Small cap index was down by 0.32%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 5.97%, NTPC up by 2.63%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.48%, GAIL India up by 1.58% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 5.51%, Sesa Sterlite down by 2.33%, Tata Steel down by 1.88%, Cipla down by 1.63% and Tata Motors down by 1.62% were the top losers.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Infrastructure up by 0.92%, Realty up by 0.42%, TECK up by 0.40% and Power up by 0.11% while, Metal down by 1.64%, Oil & Gas down by 0.84%, Healthcare down by 0.82%, Capital Goods down by 0.54% and PSU down by 0.48% were the losing indices on BSE.

Meanwhile, in an encouragement to the auto makers, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) reported a strong February car sales numbers. As per SIAM data domestic car sales grew 6.85% to 1,71,727 units in February, compared to 1,60,717 units in the year ago period. SIAM stated that even though growth will remain in single digits, the passenger car sales is inching toward the lower end of the growth guidance given by automobile trade body of 5-10% in Fy15 (2014-15) as passenger vehicle sales in the first 11 months of the year to end-March rose 4 per cent to 2.36 million.

There was some concern from weakening rural sales that led to a 9% drop in motorcycle sales last month and could impact other segment in the long term as the rural market accounts for nearly half of the two wheeler demand.Overall two-wheeler sales fell 0.99% to 12,08,084 units in February from 1220141 in the year ago period. Commercial Vehicle sales continued on recovery path as its sales rose 10.13% to 52,843 units in February. Sales of heavy and medium trucks grew 38% to 18,767 units as demand picked up in the mining, infrastructure and freight related segments.

The auto industry body has further stated that the car sales have grown despite the expiry of an excise duty rebate in December and faster growth and improved consumer sentiment should boost sales of passenger cars and utility vehicles in India by 6 to 8% in the year starting in April as proposals in the budget to address economic growth 'are expected to increase spending and generate fresh incremental sales.' Motorcycle sales are expected to rise by 6 to 7% next fiscal year, while scooter sales are likely to rise by a fifth.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 8,755.60 and 8,682.35 respectively.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 5.99%, NTPC up by 3.10%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.82%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.26% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.09%. On the flip side, Hindalco Industries down by 5.11%, Cairn India down by 2.88%, Sesa Sterlite down by 2.78%, Tata Steel down by 1.87% and Bank of Baroda down by 1.81% were the top losers.

European Markets were trading in the green; Germany's DAX was up by 1.65%, UK's FTSE 100 was up by 0.31% and France's CAC was up by 1.75%.

The Asian markets ended mostly in red on Wednesday, amid concerns about an interest rate hike in the US. Growth in China’s investment, retail sales and factory output all missed forecasts in January and February, leaving investors with little doubt that the economy is still losing steam and in need of further support measures. The figures came a day after data showed deflationary pressures in the factory sector intensified in February, and is likely to reinforce expectations of more interest rate cuts and other policy loosening to avert a sharper slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy. Industrial output grew 6.8% in the first two months of the year compared with the same period a year ago, the weakest expansion since late 2008. Chinese Retail Sales fell to an annual rate of 10.7%, from 11.9% in the preceding month while Chinese Fixed Asset Investment fell to a seasonally adjusted 13.9%, from 15.7% in the preceding month. Philippines Industrial Production fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of -1.8%, from 4.2% in the preceding month.