Post session - Quick review

Consolidation crept in at D-street after last four consecutive sessions of gains in the absence of supportive global cues and bulls looked taking a breather after the recent rally. In a volatile session of trade, barometer gauges slipped below the neutral line by the end of the session as wary investors squared of position ahead of the Index of industrial production (IIP) data on March 12, 2013, a crucial macroeconomic data which would provide some cues on RBI’s monetary policy review on March 19. Although, encouraging trade data pumped some strength into the markets in the early afternoon deal but the enthusiasm was short-lived. Further, negative trend of European counterparts, too influenced the trading sentiment. Thus, in just another session of trade, Sensex surrendered close to 75 points, to shut shop at 19600 level. Likewise, Nifty, too losing close to 25 points concluded above 5900 level. Broader indices, outperforming the frontline indices, captured modest gains.

Meanwhile, trade data for the month of February showed, India’s export rose by 4.25% to $26.26 billion in February,2013 over $25.19 billion in the same month of 2012 on account of improving situation in the European Union and US. On the other hand, imports which grew just 2.5% at $41.18 billion in February, 2013 over $40.12 billion in the same month a year ago, left a tad narrower trade deficit of $14.92 billion in February, 2013.

On the global front, Strong employment data from the US helped most Asian markets climb higher by the end of the trade on Monday, though some latest economic data from China weighed on sentiment, especially. Chinese inflation jumped to 3.2% in February, from 2.0% in January - the highest increase since April of last year. At the same time, there were some signs of weaker activity in the country's domestic economy, with slowing growth in industrial production and retail sales. Meanwhile, weak economic data from China and worries about Italy took the shine off from the European shares too.

Closer home, disappointment also spread  to Auto stocks with the release of SIAM report, which pointed at Domestic passenger car sales skidding by 26% in February, posting biggest fall in more than 12-years. In evident proof of subdued income levels and rising cost of petrol amidst sluggish economy weighing on the demand, domestic passenger car sales contracted to 1, 58,513 units in February this year compared to 2, 13,362 units in the same month of 2012.  Sectorally, Realty, Capital Goods and Power showcased commendable performance, while Consumer Durable, Information Technology and Metal, were the top laggards of the session. Additionally, profit-booking in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, added to the selling pressure. Overlooking the trend, shares of telecom companies like Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) gained momentum in trade on Monday. Meanwhile, the auction of second-generation CDMA spectrum ended after three rounds, with lone bidder Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL) bidding for eight circles. The market breadth on the BSE ended negative; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1393: 1478 while 132 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex lost 74.47 points or 0.38% and settled at 19608.76. The index touched a high and a low of 19754.66 and 19602.71 respectively. 10 stocks were up, while 30 stocks declined and one stocks remained unchanged on the index (Provisional)

Broader indices concluded in green; BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up by 0.21% and 0.24% respectively. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Realty up by 1.17%, Capital Goods up by 0.63%, Power up by 0.44% and Health Care up by 0.43% were the only gainers, while Consumer Durables down by 1.48%, IT down by 0.82%, Metal down by 0.77%, Oil & Gas down by 0.66% and Teck down by 0.65%, were the top losers in the space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 2.43%, HDFC up by 1.81%, Sun Pharma up by 1.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.12% and Gail India up by 0.78%. On the flip side Hero MotoCorp down by 2.97%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.69%, Wipro down by 1.52%, Jindal Steel down by 1.52% and TCS down by 1.33% were the top losers on the Sensex. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, registering second straight month of rise, India's exports rose by 4.25% to $26.26 billion in February,2013 over $25.19 billion in the same month of 2012 on account of improving situation in the European Union and US. It was in January that exports rose for the first time after the outbound shipments contracted for eight months in the current financial year.

Meanwhile, imports on the other hand grew just 2.5% at $41.18 billion in February, 2013 over $40.12 billion in the same month a year ago, thereby leaving a trade deficit of $14.92 billion in February, 2013 marginally lower against $14.93 billion in the same month of 2012.

However, for the first 11-month, exports declined by 4% at $265.95 billion against $277.1 billion in April-February, 2011-12. Out of this, petroleum imports increased 11.9% to $155 billion from $139 billion last year, while gold imports fell 7.6% to $52.4 billion ($56.7 billion). On the other hand, imports were up by 0.25% to $448.04 billion against over $446.1 billion in the corresponding period of 2011-12.

With this, trade deficit during April-February 2012-13, stood at $182.1 billion against $169.8 billion in the similar period of 2011-12 and also way closer to $185 billion dollars witnessed in the entire 2011-12.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility gained 6.82% at 14.25 from its previous close of 13.34 on Friday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty lost 13.00 points or 0.22% to settle at 5,932.70. The index touched high and low of 5,971.20 and 5,930.35 respectively. 19 stocks advanced against 31 declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were Siemens was up by 4.78%, DLF was up by 2.71%, Tata Power was up by 2.63%, Asian Paints was up by 2.24% and HDFC was up by 2.18%. On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.82%, Bajaj-Auto down by 1.90%, IDFC down by 1.56%, WIPRO down by 1.49% and TCS down by 1.43% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Most of the European markets were trading in red, France’s CAC 40 down by 0.53% and Germany’s DAX down by 0.34% while the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 up by 0.01%.

Most Asian markets ended firm on Friday, following upbeat economic data from the US. However, some markets backed out from higher levels and turned a bit subdued with a part of investors treading cautiously at higher levels. Japan’s Nikkei went home with green mark as the yen continued its downward trend and by fairly encouraging economic reports, which witnessed GDP growth rose at 0.2% in Q4, boosted market sentiments. However, China's Shanghai Composite closed lower, ahead of February inflation data.