Post session - Quick review

It was a complete wash-out session for bourses on Friday as relentless profit-booking by wary investors got the bears out of their slumber. Glumness clouded Dalal Street after two sessions of gains, as investors’ squared off their positions going ahead of the F&O expiry week, where volatility is expected to rule the roost. Further, negative global-set up also sapped investors’ appetite for risky asset class such as equities. Brushing aside set of positive earnings, Indian equity markets depicted poignant trend not only for the session, but also for the week. For the session, Sensex, settled with a loss of over century of points, to conclude below the psychological 18700 level, while Nifty knocked off over half a percentage to shut shop below the 5700 crucial level. Additionally, broader indices too bore the brunt of profit-booking, since both Midcap and Smallcap index suffered a cut of over quarter points. For the week, Nifty managed to eke out slender gains of 0.10%, while Sensex managed to close just about flat. In broader space, CNX Midcap index was down by 0.20% and Nifty Junior declined 0.90%. On the flip side, BSE Smallcap index went home with gains of over 0.90%. (Provisional)

On the global front, Asian shares eased on Friday as markets consolidated gains from a three-day rally, while the euro remained underpinned after European Union leaders took a big step towards deeper integration with a deal to set up a single banking supervisor. Meanwhile, European shares snapping a brisk four-session rally, dipped on Friday as sentiment dampened after U.S. tech bellwether Google's unexpectedly weak results. Google’s stocks tumbled 8 percent on Thursday after quarterly results that missed analyst expectations as its core advertising business slowed.

Closer home, selling witnessed was broad-based, however, stocks belonging to Power, Metal and Capital Goods counterparts contributed the most towards session’s downfall. On the flip side, FMCG and Consumer Durable stocks were the only saving grace amidst the sluggish trade. Additionally, telecom stocks, viz., Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, were beaten blue in early deals after a panel of ministers on Thursday recommended that existing GSM operators be charged a one-time fee retrospectively for all second-generation airwaves they hold beyond the 6.2 MHz mark for the tenure of their licenses. However, Bharti Airtel later recouped ground on reports which stated the operators bidding in the upcoming auction of mobile phone airwaves. The airwaves auction is the result of a Supreme Court’s order to revoke permits issued in a scandal-tainted sale in 2008.

On result front, there were more hits than misses. Cigarette major, ITC stocks steamed up over a percentage after the company beating street estimates reported 21.2% jump in net profit at Rs 1836.42 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, on back of 19.6% growth in net sales at Rs 7146 crore. Additionally, Cement major, Ambuja Cement too rallied over one and half percent on strong Q3 earnings. Cement maker reported a 77% increase in its net profit at Rs 304 crore in the July-September quarter. Moreover, global pharmaceutical company, Strides Arcolab too puffed up over a percentage points on turning into black in Q3. On standalone basis, the company reported net profit at Rs 30.11 crore for third quarter ended September 30, 2012 as compared to net loss of Rs 65.19 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Furthermore, Petronet LNG accumulated gains over close to percent after reporting 20.91% in its net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 at Rs 314.79 crore as compared to Rs 260.34 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

However, Bajaj Finance after scaling new high edged by over a percentage and half points by close of the trade. Aided by strong loan growth, Pune-based non-banking finance company -- Bajaj Finance on Friday reported 48% year-on-year jump in its second quarter net profit at around Rs 130 crore. The net interest income (NII) of the company climbed 36% y-o-y to Rs 442 crore. The market breadth on the BSE ended negative; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1271:1590 while 132 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex lost 126.13 points or 0.67% and settled at 18,665.80. The index touched a high and a low of 18,769.59 and 18,611.76 respectively. 5 stocks were seen advancing while 25 stocks were declining on the index (Provisional)

The BSE Mid-cap index was down by 0.57% while Small-cap index was down 0.35%. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, FMCG up by 0.81% and Consumer Durables up by 0.09%were the only gainers, while Power down by 1.54%, Metal down by 1.52%, Capital Goods down by 1.18%, Oil& Gas down by 1.12% and Auto down by 1.09% were the top losers in the space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up 1.92%, Infosys up 0.39%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.37%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.23% and Hero MotoCorp up 0.09%, while, Jindal Steel down by 2.74%, Hindalco Industries down by 2.67%, BHEL down by 2.47%, Gail India down by 2.29% and Tata Power down by 1.87% were the top losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, continuing to shrink for fifth consecutive month, Air passenger traffic dropped by a record 12.4% in September, as exorbitant fares and a slowing economy dented demand. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), only 4.01 million passengers flew in September compared with 4.37 million in the previous month and 4.58 million in the same month last year. Air traffic has been on declining spree since May. It fell 0.87% in May, 3.84% in June and 3.70% in August from the corresponding year-earlier periods. Further, the civil aviation ministry data, showed the total passengers carried by all the domestic airlines in the January-September period declined by a marginal 0.86% at 4.38 million passengers from 4.42 million during the corresponding month of 2011.

On a stand-alone basis, Air India took over Jet Airways (India) in market share, a first in recent times. Air India’s market share was at 19.3% in September while Jet Airways was 18.1%. However, low cost carrier, IndiGo, once again emerged as the market leader, with the airline carrying the highest number of passengers and claiming the largest market share in September. The no-frill airline carried 10.94 lakh passengers and claimed 27.2% market share last month. Meanwhile, market share of SpiceJet was at 18.5%, GoAir at 7.6%, Jet Konnect at 5.7% and finally for the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines stood at 3.5%.

However, the Air passenger traffic figures could further decline since Airfare in India are likely to rise in the winter season, one because domestic flight capacity is down 19% from a year earlier and secondly, on account of arrival of peak travel season that goes on till January. On one hand, Jet Airways and Air India will reduce flights by 10.9% by 6.2% respectively. On the other, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo will increase flights by 8.87%, 14.8% and 30% respectively.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility lost 1.49% at 14.54 from its previous close of 14.76 on Thursday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 39.50 points or 0.69% to settle at 5,679.20. The index touched high and low of 5,711.70 and 5,660.00 respectively. 9 stocks advanced against 41 declining ones on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were ITC was up 1.87%, Ambuja Cement up 1.48%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up 0.53%, Infosys up 0.44% and Bharti Airtel was up 0.41%. On the other hand, Jindal Steel down 2.62%, Hindalco Industries down by 2.55%, BHEL down by 2.37%, BPCL down by 2.31% and Grasim Industries down by 2.12% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in red with, France’s CAC 40 down 0.46%, Germany’s DAX down 0.38% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 down 0.08%.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday as investors booked some profit on the last day of the week after long rally fuelled by upbeat data out of China and rising hopes for the future of the eurozone. Japan’s Nikkei ended up for a fifth straight session, due to yen's continuous decline against the dollar and the euro on anticipations that the Bank of Japan will ease its monetary policy further at its policy meeting later this month. Hong Kong market closed marginally higher, helped by signs of stabilization in the mainland economy. However, Seoul shares went home with red mark amid weak results from Google and Microsoft, while Kospi fell with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, which ended down 2.6 percent after four sessions of gains.