Post Session: Quick Review

After staging smart recovery in the previous trading session, local equity markets yet again resumed the southbound journey and ended lower with cut of around of 1.50% on Friday which dragged both Sensex and Nifty below psychologically crucial 28,550 and 8,700 levels respectively on sustained profit-booking activities by both funds and retail investors despite the release of encouraging January IIP data and well within RBI’s comfort zone February CPI data. On the macro-front, February consumer price index (CPI) rose to 5.37% versus 5.11% in the previous month, while industry output data (IIP) for January came in at 2.6%, higher than the 1.7% in December. Meanwhile, broader indices also succumbing to selling pressure were trading lower with cut of around 1.25-1.50%. For the week, both Sensex and Nifty suffered losses of over 3%.

Market-participants failed to drew some comfort from the positive global set-up and reports which suggested of India pitching for a ratings upgrade from the global rating agency Fitch on the back of improved prospects of growth due to recent reform measures as well as lower oil prices.

On the global front, Asian stock markets mostly rose Friday after weak U.S. retail sales alleviated jitters about the Federal Reserve's timetable for raising interest rates. U.S. retail sales fell 0.6 percent last month after a 0.8 percent decline in January. Meanwhile, European shares edged up at the open on Friday, setting up Germany's Dax index for its longest streak of weekly gains since 1998, as traders added to their bets on an economic recovery in Europe.

Closer home, aggressive selling was witnessed across all the sectors, nevertheless worst performers were stocks from Capital Goods, FMCG and Banking counters. In stock-specific action, shares in insurance companies surged on Friday after parliament passed a bill proposing to increase overseas investment limit in the sector. Additionally, four telecom stocks rang loud despite reports suggesting of aggressive bidding by telecom companies on eighth day of telecom spectrum auction on Thursday. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of decliners which thumped advances in the ratio of 915:1951; while 107 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex concluded at 28503.30, down by 427.11 points or 1.48% after trading in a range of 28448.48 and 29183.76. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.37%, while Small cap index down by 1.54%. (Provisional)

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods down by 2.57%, FMCG down by 1.94%, Bankex down by 1.93%, Power down by 1.81% and Auto down by 1.63%, while there were no gainers on the index.

The few gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 0.85%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.68% and NTPC up by 0.09%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 3.03%, BHEL down by 2.60%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.45%, Axis Bank down by 2.19% and Hindalco down by 2.19% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, crossing the communications ministry's target, cumulative bids for spectrum in the ongoing auction have crossed Rs 1 trillion mark after 49 rounds of bidding over eight days. With this, the government is now assured Rs 1.02 trillion in revenue. Auction which began on March 4 was for selling 800, 900, 1,800 and 2,100 megahertz bandwidths. However, up-till now over 86% of the spectrum has been provisionally allocated to bidders at a value of approximately Rs 1,02,000 crore, with majority of service areas being sold at a premium over reserve price.

According to the data published by the department of telecommunications (DoT) of the last round of bidding, on Thursday, the auction showed signs of closure, with increased bidding witnessed in the 2,100MHz and 1,800MHz bands and demand in the more valuable 800MHz and 900MHz bands waning.

After six rounds of bidding held on Thursday, the 2,100MHz band saw excess demand in Assam, the North-East, Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh circles, while 1,800MHz showed activity in the Haryana and Kolkata bands. The 900MHz band had excess demand in the North-East and West Bengal circles, while 800MHz had excess demand in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Northeast circles.

A total of 380.75 MHz of spectrum is on offer in the premium 900 MHz band, 1,800 MHz and 800 MHz, while 5 MHz is up for bidding in the 2,100 MHz band across 17 out of 22 telecom areas or circles in the country. Plainly put, most of the spectrum put up for auction is at present held by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Telecom, since these companies' licences are expiring in 2015-16.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility rose 1.03% at 14.90 from its previous close of 14.75 on Thursday. (Provisional)

The CNX Nifty settled at 8647.75, down by 128.25 points or 1.46% after trading in a range of 8631.75 and 8849.75. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were DLF up by 6.19%, ONGC up by 0.90%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.58%, Asian Paints up by 0.46% and NTPC up by 0.25%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 4.14%, Cairn India down by 3.36%, BHEL down by 3.12%, Larsen & Toubro down by 3.05% and Ambuja Cement down by 2.29% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European Markets were trading in the green; Germany's DAX rose 0.21%, France's CAC surged 0.15% and UK's FTSE 100 was up by 0.06%.

The Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, after weak US retail sales alleviated jitters about the Federal Reserve’s timetable for raising interest rates. Confidence at big Japanese manufacturers worsened in the January-March quarter and is seen turning negative in the second quarter as a slumping yen ramped up the costs of raw material imports, complicating Tokyo’s stimulus-driven campaign to revive the economy. Indonesia’s financial services authority aims to boost the local capital market by making it easier for pension and insurance funds to invest in riskier products. Southeast Asia’s largest economy is heavily reliant on offshore funding to meet growth targets and undertake infrastructure projects, with foreign investors holding nearly 40% of 1,292 trillion rupiah ($98 billion) in outstanding government bonds. Businesses see opportunity in the weakening rupiah to boost the Indonesia’s manufacturing exports, and have asked government to expedite the issuance of policies that they say should boost the factories’ global competitiveness. Japanese Household Confidence rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 40.7, from 39.1 in the preceding month. Singaporean Retail Sales fell to a seasonally adjusted -5.0%, from 4.6% in the preceding month whose figure was revised up from 2.6%.