Bourses recuperate from intra-day lows; broader indices exhibit mixed trend

Moving away from low point of the day, benchmark equity indices have pruned losses on the back of airline stocks which have geared up on the hopes of government approval for 49% FDI in Aviation this week. Meanwhile, firm momentum of Health Care (HC) stocks are also covering up gap down opening of bourses. However, the sentiment continues to remain morose at Dalal Street as barometer gauges after taking a breather in the previous session have resumed downward journey again on Wednesday on concerns in peripheral EU and modest US data, which somewhat showed recovery. Volatility of the bourses could be well attributed to the IIP numbers tomorrow, inflations numbers due later this week and upcoming Infosys results due on Friday.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks dipped for a sixth day,  longest stretch of losses since August, as Spanish bond yields surged closer to levels that prompted other European countries to seek bailouts, with traders closely watching first quarter gross domestic product results, starting with China on Friday. Meanwhile, US future indices continued to show an uptick in the screen trade.

Back on the home turf, stocks from Metal, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods counters continued to languish at the bottom. The 30 share barometer index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)-Sensex- after offloading over 100 points was facing tough resistance to pierce through the 17200 psychological level. Meanwhile, the broader indices were showcasing mixed trend. The widely followed index of National Stock Exchange (NSE) - Nifty- despite recuperating over 5200 level, was unable to reclaim the 5250 bastion. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1072:989, while 112 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex after plunging 111.41 points or 0.65% was trading at 17,132.43. The index has touched a high and low of 17,152.42 and 17,075.89 respectively.   There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 declining one’s on the index.

The broader indices too were trading on mixed note; the BSE Mid cap index declined by 0.08% and small cap index was up by 0.19%.
Metal down by 1.14%, Oil and Gas down by 0.86%, Capital Goods (CG) Bankex down by 0.78% and Consumer Durable (CD) down by 0.68% were the top losers on the index. On the flip side, Health Care (HC) up by 0.49% was the lone gainer on the BSE sectoral front.

The few gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 0.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.36% and Infosys up by 0.06%.On the flip side, Sterlite Industries down by 2.11%, Jindal Steel down by 2.00%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.32%, Reliance Industries down by 1.30% and HDFC Bank down by 1.10% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Passenger Car sales grew by a meager 2.19% in 2011-12 as per the representative body of the auto industry, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). For the first time in history, car sales crossed two million in a financial year. SIAM has also stated that it expects growth to be around 10-12% during the current fiscal on the back of an improved economic scenario.

The low growth in car sales was on expected lines and was as per SIAM’s own projections. The industry body, in January had cautioned that car sales growth in India could be in the negative territory, but a late surge of sales in March had helped it to stay positive in FY’12. In March, car sales rose by 19.66% as compared to the same month last year. This was because people expected the prices to go up post the budget.

Passenger vehicles segment grew at 4.66% during April-March 2012 over same period last year. Similarly, the overall commercial vehicles segment registered growth of 18.20% in April-March 2012 as compared to the same period last year. Three-wheelers sales posted a decline of 2.43% in April-March 2012 over same period last year. On the other hand, total two-wheelers sales registered a growth of 14.16% during April-March 2012.

On the export front, in April-March 2012, the industry exported 2,910,055 automobiles showing a growth of 25.44%. Passenger vehicles registered growth at 14.18% in this period. Commercial vehicles, three-wheelers and two-wheelers segments recorded growth of 25.15%, 34.41% and 27.13% respectively in April-March 2012. In March 2012 compared to March 2011, overall automobile exports registered a growth of 17.81%.

The growth rate for overall domestic sales for 2011-12 was 12.24% amounting to 17,376,624 vehicles. In the month of only March 2012, domestic sales grew at a rate of 10.11% as compared to March 2011. Future prospects of growth remain positive as it is expected that the RBI may cut its interest rates and the economy itself may grow around the 7.5% mark. SIAM expects the car sales growth to be around 10-12% in 2012-13, while that of two-wheelers has been pegged at 11-13%.

The S&P CNX Nifty was trading lower by 34.50 points or 0.66% at 5,209.10.  The index has touched a high and low of 5,213.90 and 5,190.80 respectively. There were 6 stocks advancing against 43 declining one’s, while a stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Ranbaxy up by 1.93%, BPCL up by 1.20%, Dr Reddy up by 0.55%, Cipla up by 0.42% and Infosys up by 0.33%.

On the flip side, Sesa Goa down by 2.40%, Jaiprakash Associates down by 2.38%, Ambuja Cement down by 2.37%, ACC down by 2.24% and Jindal Steel down by 2.15% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite declined by 0.31%, Hang Seng plummeted 1.21%, Jakarta Composite slid 0.81%, Nikkei 225 shed 0.85%, Straits Times sank 1.04%.

On the flipside only Taiwan Weighted up by 0.19% was the lone gainer among the Asian pack.

Stock markets in Malaysia remained closed on Wednesday on account of a nationwide holiday for Installation of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong. The South Korean markets remain shut on account of Assembly Members Election Day.