Benchmarks snap four days winning streak

Indian equity benchmarks snapped the first day of new F&O series on disappointing note as investors booked profits in rate-sensitive sectors such as banks, automobiles after four consecutive sessions of gains. Frontline indices ended the session with a cut of over half a percent, declining below their crucial 5,900 (Nifty) and 19,300 (Sensex) levels as investors preferred to remain on the side-lines ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy meet next week. Markets, after a subdued opening, traded range-bound in absence of any positive trigger on domestic front. In the noon session, markets tried to make some recovery backed by better than expected fourth quarter numbers from Maruti Suzuki. The company has reported a rise of 93.74% in its standalone net profit at Rs 1239.62 crore as compared to Rs 639.84 crore in Q4FY12. But, it was not enough to bring markets into positive terrain.

Selling got intensified after European markets opened in the negative terrain as disappointing earnings propelled investors to book profits after five straight sessions of gains. Asian markets ended mixed with Japanese Nikkei retreating 0.3 percent from a nearly five-year high on Friday, as investors booked profits ahead of the Golden Week holidays and as the yen’s weakness paused.

Back home, sentiments also remained dampened as software and technology counters felt selling pressure during the trade on weak economic data in the US, the biggest outsourcing market for the Indian IT firms. Selling in banking stocks too weighed on sentiments as scrips like, SBI, Union Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank and Indusind Bank all edged lower after recent steep gains, as rate-cut hopes were seen as overdone. However, the losses remained capped as investors got some relief after data showed that Foreign Institutional Investors’ net buying was of Rs 1450 crore worth of shares on April 25, 2013. Some encouragement also came in with government pitching for a rating upgrade at a meeting with ratings agency Standard & Poor’s. Officials arguing that the outlook should be changed and the country deserved an upgrade for actions taken by the government to put finances in order and bolster investor confidence.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty declined by about forty five points to decline below its psychological 5,900 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index - Sensex declined by about one hundred and twenty points to finish below its psychological 19,300 mark. The broader markets too struggled to get some traction and ended the session with a cut of over half a percent.

The market breadth remained in favour of declines as there were 949 shares on the gaining side against 1,356 shares on the losing side, while 136 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex lost 120.13 points or 0.62% to settle at 19286.72, while the CNX Nifty declined by 44.85 points or 0.76% to end at 5,871.45.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 19384.95 and 19249.75, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index down by 0.64% and Small cap index was down by 0.54%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were, Maruti Suzuki up by 5.26%, Bharti Airtel up by 4.55%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.09%, Gail India up by 1.78% and L&T up by 1.52%, while Jindal Steel down by 4.29%, Reliance down 3.19%, ICICI Bank down 2.82%, Hindustan Unilever down 2.70% and Tata Steel down by 2.46% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the BSE Sectoral space were Auto up 0.84% and Capital Goods up 0.29%, while Realty down 2.20%, Oil & Gas down 1.61%, IT down 1.51%, Bankex down 1.39% and Metal down 1.38% were the top losers on the sectoral space.

Meanwhile, expressing confidence that India’s economy will get back to its potential growth rate, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the country would be able to return to the 7 to 8 percent growth level in the next two to three years on the back of measures taken by the government. 

Mukherjee said that India's strategy of inclusive economic growth has shown positive results and we have to make economic growth work for the betterment of our people, especially those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid.

Emphasizing the need for innovation, president said that India lags behind major economies in terms of innovation, while, the country's economic progress will depend on its capability to innovate.

Regarding the deteriorating education quality, he said that it is matter of concern that no Indian university is ranked within the top 200 universities in the world. Therefore, there is the need for developing Indian universities to meet global benchmarks by the way of innovative teaching and improving education infrastructure. He also said that our academic environment must be conducive for promotion of research.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and a low of 5,907.05 and 5,860.50 respectively. 

The top gainers on the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 5.22%, Bharti Airtel up 4.99%, Bajaj Auto up 3.37%, GAIL up 1.77% and HDFC up by 1.40%.

On the flip side, the top losers of the index were, HCL Tech down by 5.21%, Jindal Steel down by 4.77%, Reliance down by 3.17%, ICICI Bank down 2.99% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.99%.

Most of the European markets were trading in red, France’s CAC 40 down by 0.97%, the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 down by 0.50% and Germany’s DAX down by 0.48%.

Snapping earlier gains, Asian markets made a mixed ending on Friday, as Japan’s Nikkei fell sharply on the back of a pick-up in the yen after the Bank of Japan held off any new measures to boost the economy. Seoul Composite went home with red mark following sharp drop in Samsung despite it reporting growth in net profit numbers. However, Hong Kong markets closed higher, as robust quarterly earnings spurred gains.