Post session - Quick review

Local equity markets resumed trade after national holiday on a lackluster note, as trading lethargically in the range-bound session of trade, bourses did not do much to catch hold of gains. The small uptick witnessed in the early deals, proved to momentary, as bourses, soon thereafter surrendered to selling pressure, only to lose further ground. However, consolidation which came on the back of two successive sessions of gains seemed pretty obvious for bourses at Dalal Street. Aping the cautious global undertone, 30 share barometer index, Sensex, of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), losing over 50 points, ended sub 17,700 psychological level, while the 50 share index, Nifty, of National Stock Exchange (NSE), despite losing over 15 points, managed to conclude above the 5350 level, which proved to a tough support level. However, broader indices managed to sneak moderate gains, with Midcap index, edging higher over 0.10% and Smallcap index, adding nearly 0.25%.

On the global front, Asian shares mostly ended in green, after Premier Wen Jiabao said slower inflation has given China more room to adjust monetary policy, which bolstered speculation that China will cut banks’ reserve requirements or benchmark interest rates. Meanwhile, European markets were trading cautious ahead of the release of its monthly inflation report as well as U.K`s retail sales ahead of U.S. housing data.

Closer home, much of the losses of the bourses could be attributed the weakness of the stocks belonging from Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Metal and Consumer Durable (CD) counters. Prominent losses in FMCG pivotal were triggered from Cigarette major ITC stocks, which tanked 3%, after the news that Australian court has approved logo ban on cigarette pack. While, Metal counter too put a comatose face after leaked Comptroller and Auditor General report suggested that the private companies could have got windfall gain of up to Rs 1.86 lakh crore; Hindalco Industries, Sterlite Industries, NMDC were among the prominent losers.  Meanwhile, Airline stocks, baring Kingfisher Airline, lost ground after Jet fuel prices were hiked over 3.2%, marking a third straight rise since the month of July, Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were hiked by over 3.2% to Rs 67,135.76 per kilolitre (kl) in Delhi. On the flip side, stocks belonging from Capital Goods, Oil & Gas and Auto counters, limited the downside of the bourses. Meanwhile, Indian currency too rebounding from its ‘56/$’ mark also aided some recuperation. Auto gained momentum on the BSE sectoral chart, on hopes that the central bank will find more space to ease monetary policy after inflation based on the wholesale price index eased unexpectedly at 6.87% for the month of July. In high volume session, trade of over 1.50 lac core was done in terms of total market volume turnover. The market breadth on the BSE ended negative; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1298:1517 while 138 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex lost 78.18 points or 0.44% and settled at 17,650.02. The index touched a high and a low of 17,763.59 and 17,640.62 respectively. 11 stocks were seen advancing against 19 declining ones on the index (Provisional)

The BSE Mid-cap index gained 0.12% while Small-cap index was up 0.24%. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Capital Goods up 0.92%, Oil & Gas up 0.58% and Auto up 0.51% were the only gainers, while FMCG down 2.01%, Metal down 1.46%, Consumer Durables down 1.17%, Bankex down 0.77% and PSU down 0.67% were the top losers in the space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up 2.65%, RIL up 2.10%, M&M up 2.06%, Cipla up 1.72% and L&T up 1.58% while, ITC down 3.55%, Hindalco Industries down 2.62%, Sterlite Industries down 2.58%, Gail India down 2.40% and Tata Steel down 1.98% were the top losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, marking a third straight rise since the month of July, Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were hiked by over 3.2% to Rs 67,135.76 per kilolitre (kl) in Delhi. Meanwhile, in Mumbai, jet fuel will now cost Rs 68,103.26 per kl from today as against Rs 65,884.34 per kl previously. The rate hike, which comes right after a steep 4.5% hike in August 1, has erased all of the reduction in prices done in May and June, thereby adding to the cost burden of cash-strapped airlines, since Jet fuel constitutes over 40% of an airline's operating costs.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and two other state-owned fuel retailers had on July 16 hiked rates by Rs 1,039.1 per kl and followed it up with Rs 2,797.41 per kl increase in price on August 1.Fuel retailers revise jet fuel prices on the 1st and 16th of every month, based on the average international price in the preceding fortnight.

Meanwhile, Jet fuel, which had hit an all-time high level of Rs 71,028.26 per kl in August 2008, shortly after international oil rates touched a record $147 per barrel, had fallen to eight-month low of Rs 61,169.08 per kl in early July.

 India VIX, a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility gained 0.31% at 15.69 from its previous close of 15.64 on Tuesday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 18.80 points or 0.35% to settle at 5,361.55. The index touched high and low of 5,390.65 and 5,356.65 respectively. 19 stocks advanced against 31 declining ones on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were IDFC up 4.25%, Hero MotoCorp up 2.55%, Ranbaxy Laboratories up 2.37%, M&M up 2.20% and Reliance Industries up 2.16%. On the other hand, ITC down 3.58%, Sterlite Industries down 3.10%, Hindalco Industries down 2.79%, Sesa Goa down 2.74% and SAIL down 2.54% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mixed, with France's CAC 40 down 0.08%, Germany's DAX up 0.07% and Britain’s FTSE 100 down 0.14%.

Most of the Asian markets ended higher on Thursday but gains were limited ahead of European Central Bank policy measures announcements in the coming weeks.  Investors waited for some major triggers and for further measures to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis and support global growth. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei hits a six-week high and gained a steady foothold above 9,000 after strong U.S. data pushed the yen lower against the U.S. dollar, triggering a wave of short-covering on exporters. Hong Kong shares erased gains in weak trading, as disappointing earnings underscored growth concerns even after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said slowing inflation is giving more room for using monetary policy to support expansion.