Post session - Quick review

Extending losses for the fourth straight session of trade, Indian equity markets ended down in dumps on Tuesday on account of across the board selling pressure owing to negative regional counterparts. After starting the session on a negative note, benchmark equity indices, languishing in red, did not once break out in green, thereby ending the somber session of trade with a cut of over half a percent.  Positive macro-economic data report also failed to lift the sentiment at D-street. Driven by rising foreign orders, India’s services sector logged a growth at its strongest pace in year during January. The seasonally adjusted HSBC Services Business Activity Index came at 57.5 in January, up from 55.6 in the previous month. However, even positive European counterparts, could not rescue the falling domestic equity market. In the appalling session of trade, barometer 30 share index, Sensex, lost close to half a percent, to end sub 19700 level. Likewise, 50 share index, Nifty, too plummeted over 25 points, to wrap up sub 6000 bastion.

On the global front, Asian shares ended deep down in red, on account of relentless profit booking due to worries about mounting political uncertainty in Spain and Italy. Spain was tackling a corruption scandal, as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy denied allegations that he received secret cash payments. In Italy, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledged to turn back the current conservative fiscal policies if he was re-elected in the forthcoming election. In addition, there were also concerns over the health of the Italian banking system. However, European shares, stabilising after the previous session's sharp sell-off, edged higher on Tuesday, as investors digested a raft of earnings reports, with ARM leading gainers after its fourth-quarter results.

Closer home, heavy drubbing in index heavyweight stocks, such as ICICI Bank, ITC, Reliance Industries and Bharat Heavy Electricals, also weighed on the investor’s sentiment. Bharat Heavy Electricals edged lower over 3, extending their fall after October-December earnings disappointed investors. On sectoral front, 12 sectoral indices out of 13, ended with losses. However, defensive HealthCare counter was the sole gainer that ended with gains of close to a percent.

Meanwhile, in stock-specific action, shares of UCO Bank slumped after the bank posted a sharp drop in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012. The bank reported 69.19% fall in its net profit at Rs 102.47 crore for December quarter as compared to Rs 332.55 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Additionally, State-owned Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) too surrendered close to half a percent on reporting 37% increase in its net profit to Rs 73.98 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012. On the flip side, United spirits rose on reporting rise of 71.16% in its net profit at Rs 80.55 crore in Q3FY13 as compared to Rs 47.06 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year. The stock hits highest level since Oct 10 in intra-day trade after market regulator SEBI cleared for an open offer to acquire 26 per cent stake from public shareholders of the UB group firm. The market breadth on the BSE ended negative; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 928: 806 while 1219 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex lost 83.29 points or 0.42% and settled at 19667.90. The index touched a high and a low of 19717.26 and 19631.97 respectively. 13 stocks were seen advancing while 16 stocks were declining and one stocks remains unchanged on the index (Provisional)

The BSE Mid-cap index was down by 0.63% while Small-cap index was down by 0.95%. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Consumer Durables down by 1.68%, FMCG down by 0.83%,  Power down by 0.83%, OIL & GAS down by 0.64% and Bankex down by 0.64% were the top losers while, Health Care up by 0.84% was the sole gainer in the space.(Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 4.30%, Cipla up 1.25%, Gail India up 1.25%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.01% and SBI up by0.74%, while, BHEL down by 3.44%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.86%, Sterlite Industries down by 1.73%, Tata Motors down by 1.71% and Tata Power down by 1.50% were the top losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Driven by rising foreign orders, India’s services sector logged a growth at its strongest pace in year during January. Marking a 45-month expansionary sequence, the seasonally adjusted HSBC Services Business Activity Index came at 57.5 in January, up from 55.6 in the previous month. The 50 mark separates growth from contraction and the index has held above that level for over a year now, even though Country appears set to finish the 2012-13 Fiscal Year with its slowest economic growth rate in a decade.

As has been the case since May 2009, the volume of incoming new work in the Indian private sector rose during January. With manufacturing and services companies both registering sharp growth, the overall rate of expansion was steep and the fastest in Eleven months. Whereas, growth in the manufacturing sector eased, services new orders rose at the fastest pace in 18 months.

The HSBC India Composite Output Index posted 56.3 in January, unchanged from December’s reading. Meanwhile, the activity in the Indian private sector improved during December for the forty-fifth successive month. The survey also showed input and output prices rising at a similar pace to the prior month, though much weaker than a year ago.

Meanwhile, the new business sub-index jumped to 58.3, the highest since August 2011, prompting firms to step up the pace of hiring. Payroll numbers in the Indian private sector rose for the eleventh month running in January, amid evidence of increased volumes of incoming new work. That said, the rate of job creation was only slight and broadly in line with that seen in December.

Further, January data signaled broadly steady inflation reading even as input prices continuing the trend that started in April 2009, rose during January. Furthermore, optimism was signaled by service providers in India during January, with approximately 42% of services companies predicting overall activity at their units to increase, with just 3% forecasting a decrease.

The report further highlighted broadly steady Inflation readings amidst simmering fuel, raw material and labour cost pressures that underscore the need for RBI to approach policy easing with caution.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility gained 1.88% at 14.61 from its previous close of 14.34 on Monday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 30.05 points or 0.50% to settle at 5,957.20. The index touched high and low of 5,970.35 and 5,946.90 respectively. 21 stocks advanced against 28 declining and one stock remains unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were Sun Pharmaceuticals was up by 4.35%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.94%, UltraTech Cement up by 1.72%, ACC up by 1.65% and Ranbaxy Laboratories was up by 1.45%. On the other hand, Jaiprakash Associates down by 4.33%, BHEL down by 3.56%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.38%, Tata Power down by 1.84% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.83% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Most of the European markets were trading in green with, France’s CAC 40 up by 0.42% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 up by 0.31% while Germany’s DAX down by 0.29%.

Asian stock markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday as Wall Street and European shares were hit by political concerns in Spain and Italy. Japanese stocks closed lower snapping the recent rallies on the back of weak yen as investors looked to book profits. Hong Kong ended lower, weighted down by Sinopec Corp, which plummeted 2.9 % after the Chinese state-owned oil company, Asia's biggest refiner, said it was raising $3.1 billion through a share placement. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite went home with green mark amid positive economic data.