Post session - Quick review

Expiry session of December series futures and options (F&O) contract turned out to be disappointing one, which led to benchmark equity indices shedding close to half a percent to shut shop below the crucial 19400 ( Sensex) and 5900 (Nifty) respectively. Choppiness remained the key feature of today’s trading session on account of final settlement of December derivative contracts. High amount of participation was witnessed at D-street, as traders adjusted their monthly derivatives position for the last time in 2012. Meanwhile, trade of over Rs 4.16 lac crore was done in terms of market turnover against 3.92 lakh crore done on November 29.

After getting a positive start, benchmark equity indices started gradually losing steam as investor’s lacking confidence started booking profit, post previous session’s sharp run up rally. Major bout of selling pressure which was witnessed in the wee hour of trade, mainly got the benchmarks end near day’s low. Further, reports which suggested of Planning Commission may seek National Development Council’s (NDC) approval to lower the average annual growth rate to 8% for the 12th five year plan from the earlier projected 8.2% - the third revision of the growth rate for the current Plan, also acted as a mood dampener at D-street.

Shrugging off positive global developments, benchmark equity indices failed to garner any traction thereby ending the trade on somber note. Further, even broader indices went home with loss of over 4/10 percent. Meanwhile, Asian pacific shares manage to stage positive close amidst caution as US lawmakers prepared to resume negotiations to avoid a fiscal crunch by December 31, with Tokyo scaling a 21-month high thanks to a weaker yen. Returning from the Christmas holiday break, European shares, amidst lack of any positive trigger, were showcasing mixed trend.

Closer home, stocks from Consumer Durable, Oil & Gas and Information Technology, witnessing brutal pounding, mainly endorsed the underlying weakness of the bourses. On the flip side, stocks from PSU along with rate sensitive’s Bankex and Auto, gaining traction, capped the losses of Indian equity markets. Meanwhile, new kid on the block, PC Jeweller’s shares rose as much as 14.6 percent in its stock market debut after the company raised Rs. 610 crore in an initial public offering as investors bet on strong demand for jewellery sales.

On the F&O front, Nifty and Sensex, for December series, registered gains of 0.7% each, as against 2.10% profit in November series. Moreover, in the broader markets, CNX Mid Cap index garnering gains of over 4.7% not only outperformed frontline equity indices, but also BSE Smallcap index, which ended with gains of over 1%. From the expiry perspective, market wide rollover of 61.42% was observed, which was higher than the three month average of 61.03% while Nifty rollovers were at 56.94%, higher than three month average of 53.14%. Sectorally, Telecom, cement and capital goods space witnessed high rollover of positions while infrastructure, technology and automobile stocks observed relatively low rolls into the December series. Among individual stocks, HDFC (32%), ACC (43%) and Dr Reddy’s (45%) are witnessing low rolls while BHEL (80%), Maruti (73%) and Power Grid (70%) are observing better rollover into the January series. The market breadth on the BSE ended negative; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1252:1625 while 148 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex lost 79.78 points or 0.41% and settled at 19337.68. The index touched a high and a low of 19504.40 and 19302.21 respectively. 10 stocks were seen advancing while 20 stocks were declining on the index (Provisional)

The BSE Mid-cap index was down by 0.34% while Small-cap index was down by 0.72%. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Bankex was up by 0.14%, PSU up by 0.13% and Auto up by 0.07% were the only gainers, while Oil & Gas down by 0.68%, TECk down by 0.67%, IT down by 0.65%, Consumer Durables down by 0.63% and FMCG down by 0.50% were the top losers in the space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.29%, SBI up 0.77%, ONGC up 0.74%, Dr Reddy’s Lab up by 0.59% and Wipro up 0.48%, while, BHEL down by 1.87%, Jindal Steel down by 1.79%, Gail India down by 1.53%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.49% and RIL down by 1.21% were the top losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Planning Commission is expected to seek the National Development Council’s (NDC) approval to lower the average annual growth rate to 8% for the 12th five year plan from the earlier projected 8.2% - the third revision of the growth rate for the current Plan. However, the broad thrust of the Plan would not alter.

On lowering the growth target, Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that planning commission’s objective is to go with the more optimistic scenario, and probably if we reflect, what we now know about the average growth instead of 8.2% then it would be better to expect it at 8%. Further, Ahluwalia said that the plan panel expects lower average growth target, due to the followed changes in the global and domestic economy since the approval of the approach paper by NDC in October last year.

During the first half of the current financial year, growth rate was 5.4%, lower than 7.3% growth recorded in the corresponding period last year. For financial year 2012-13, which is the first year of the 12th Plan, the growth rate has been estimated at 5.7-5.9%, which would be the lowest in a decade. According to the 12th Plan draft, to achieve a targeted average annual growth rate of 8.2%, the country would require around Rs 84.8 lakh crore at current prices for the Centre and states taken together.

Earlier, in the approach paper, the Commission had projected an annual average growth rate of 9%, which was lowered to 8.2% in September, keeping in view global economic worries and persistent sluggishness in domestic growth. The NDC, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is scheduled to meet on Dec 27 to discuss and approve the draft for the 12th Plan (2012-17). The council is the apex centre-state body and the meeting will be attended by various Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility gained 2.55% at 13.74 from its previous close of 14.10 on Wednesday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 28.20 points or 0.48% to settle at 5,877.40. The index touched high and low of 5,930.80 and 5,864.70 respectively. 15 stocks advanced against 34 declining and one remains unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were Bank of Baroda was up 1.20%, Tata Motors was up 1.05%, SBI was up 0.81%, ONGC was up 0.74% and Dr Reddy’s Lab was up 0.71%. On the other hand, GAIL down 1.95%, Jindal Steel down by 1.86%, BHEL down by 1.65%, Power Grid down by 1.43% and JP Associat down by 1.43% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mixed, France’s CAC 40 up by 0.42% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 up by 0.17%. On the other hand Germany’s DAX down by 0.25%.

Asian Markets ended mostly higher on Thursday after U.S. lawmakers are all set to resume negotiations to avoid a fiscal crunch by December 31. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei touched highest level in more than a year on the back of optimism that a new government in Japan will fuel the country’s sluggish economy. Moreover, dollar rose to its highest level against the yen as Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office, raising expectations that the Bank of Japan will initiate more aggressive monetary easing under his leadership. However, Mainland Chinese shares went home with a red mark, amid a lack of cues from policymakers. Hang Seng closed marginally higher and buying gained pace as the market reopened after two days holiday.