Bourses end range-bound trade near their previous levels

It was completely a range-bound trade where domestic benchmarks consolidated near their crucial 5,100 (Nifty) and 16,900 (Sensex) levels after witnessing the biggest drop in two months in previous session. Local bourses got a good start but were unable to capitalize on it and ended with marginal gains. Though, the positive sentiment was triggered by petrol price hike of 70 paise per litre by some state run fuel retailers, which sparked expectation that diesel price hike too would be around the corner.

Sentiments also got support from Cement space as stocks like Ambuja Cements, Ultratech Cements and ACC edged higher by 0.50-1.50% on the buzz of increase in cement prices. Moreover, Sugar space too aided the sentiments as stocks like, Triveni Engineering, Simbhaoli Sugars, Rana Sugar, Balrampur Chini Mills and Shree Renuka Sugar, which edged higher after domestic sugar futures moved higher. The key August sugar contract on National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) was up 1.03% at Rs 3348 per 100 kilogram.

On the global front, Asian stock indices recovered from session’s lows after a provisional China manufacturing PMI data from HSBC showed improvement in July over the preceding month while Japanese shares were pressured by growing concerns over the ongoing euro-zone debt crisis. Though, European markets traded cautiously in the early trade after Moody’s lowered the outlook for Germany, Netherlands and Luxembourg to negative due to the ‘rising uncertainty’ about the financial crisis.

Back home, sentiments got some respite from political jitters after  Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) deferred its decision on whether to withdraw from the Manmohan Singh government by a couple of days. Union Heavy Industries minister and NCP leader Praful Patel said it will remain an integral part of UPA until 2014. He also stressed that NCP was not a post-poll partner, but a core constituent of the UPA.

On the sectoral front FMCG remained the top gainer led by Hindustan Unilever (HUL), which hit its new 52-week high after registering a surge of 112.26% in its net profit at Rs 1331.19 crore for the Q1FY13 while, the total income of the company has increased by 16.99% to Rs 6597.38 crore for quarter under review. In addition, the sector also got support from Dabur and Colgate-Palmolive, which also registered gains of 30.54% and 16.90% in its net profit for Q1FY13. However, Wipro pressurized the IT pack after reporting lower than expected Q1 numbers and tumbled over 3%. The company has registered a fall of 5.03% in its net profit at Rs 1158.00 crore for Q1FY13 though; the total income of the company has increased by 18.69% at Rs 892.75 crore the quarter under review.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, surged by just 10 points to settle well above its psychological 5,100 support level moreover, Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -Sensex- added over forty points to finish well above the psychological 16,900 mark. Moreover, the broader indices also traded in a tight-band and ended with marginal gains.

The overall volumes stood at over Rs 2.60 lakh crore, while the turnover for NSE F&O segment remained on the higher side as compared to that on Monday at over Rs 1.51 lakh crore. Moreover, the market breadth was evenly divided, as there were 1,391 shares on the gaining side against 1,395 shares on the losing side while 131 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex gained 40.73 points or 0.24% to settle at 16,918.08, while the S&P CNX Nifty rose by 10.25 points or 0.20 to close at 5,128.20.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 16,962.74 and 16,839.70 respectively. The BSE Mid cap and Small cap index ended higher by 0.16% and 0.13% respectively.

Hindustan Unilever up 7.50%, Sterlite Industries up 2.56%, Maruti Suzuki up 2.34%, Bharti Airtel up 1.42% and ONGC up 1.19% were top gainers on the Sensex, while Wipro down 2.93%, L&T down 1.45%, Sun Pharma down 1.38%, BHEL down 0.96% and Mahindra & Mahindra down 0.90% were top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the BSE sectoral space were, FMCG up 1.91%, Consumer Durables (CD) up 1.16%, Oil & Gas up 0.84%, Health Care (HC) up 0.36% and PSU up 0.30%, while Capital Goods (CG) down 1.09%, IT down 0.67%, TECk down 0.30% and Auto down 0.11% were top losers on the BSE sectoral space. 

Meanwhile, after two rounds of rate cuts last month, State-run fuel retailers have hiked petrol prices by 70 paise per litre, with effect from July 23 midnight. The marginal rate hike, which is in line with firming international oil rates, comes on the heels of UPA candidate and former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee wining the presidential poll and also after two successive reductions last month -- Rs 2.02 per litre on June 3 and Rs 2.46 a litre on June 29.

As a consequence of the upward revision, the hike in selling price of petrol shall vary from Rs 0.70/litre to Rs 0.91/litre depending upon the state taxes. Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 68.48 per litre with effect from midnight tonight as compared to Rs 67.78 a litre now.

Latest increase in the price of petrol is triggered by the twin factors of crude and petrol prices rising substantially in global bulk markets as well as a further depreciation in the rupee's value against the dollar. Average price of Indian basket of crude is $101.28 per barrel while international petrol price is $111.59 a barrel. The Rupee-dollar exchange rate is around Rs 55.76 to a dollar.

Currently, PSU oil firms are losing Rs 10.01 per litre on diesel, Rs 27.20/litre on kerosene and Rs 319/cylinder on LPG.  This revision, however, strengthens the expectation of diesel price hike being around the corner, with the decision timing remaining in uncertainty.

The S&P CNX Nifty touched a high and low 5,144.00 and 5,103.25 respectively.

The top gainers on the Nifty were HUL up 7.57%, Ranbaxy up 3.03%, Sterlite Industries up 2.71%, Maruti Suzuki up 2.23% and Sesa Goa up by 1.66%. On the flipside, Wipro down 3.07%, SAIL down 2.80%, L&T down 1.75%, Kotak Bank down 1.48% and Sun Pharma down 1.41% were top losers on the index. 

The European markets were trading in red, France's CAC 40 was down 0.23%, Germany's DAX was down 0.35% and United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 was down 0.12%.

Supported by improving Chinese manufacturing data, Asian shares recuperated from previous day’s heavy losses. China's manufacturing output in July grew at its fastest pace in nine months, helping lift an index of activity in the country's overall factory sector to its highest level since February and suggesting pro-growth government policies are having an impact.  However, markets remained cautious after ratings agency Moody's downgraded its outlook for Germany, delivering a stark warning that not even Europe's largest and most pivotal economy was immune from the rolling crisis.