Post Session: Quick Review

Late hours sell-off reversed the trajectory of Indian equity markets, which ended lower for third consecutive and final session of the week. Shrugging off all the early optimism, local equity markets succumbed to ferocious selling pressure by the close of trade and concluded with a cut of over quarter of a percent, near the psychological 20,250(Sensex) and 6,000 (Nifty) respectively. While, the benchmarks remained sanguine up-till the early afternoon deals on positive global set-up, bout of selling pressure gripped markets in late hour ahead of the volatile F&O expiry week. Besides, select investors also squared of their position on reports suggesting of dwindling FII purchases into local equities. As per exchange and regulatory data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold a net of Rs 59.8 crore in shares on Thursday to snap a 32-day buying streak that totaled Rs 23,884 crore. Thus, after three straight sessions of losses, barometer gauges for the week, Sensex and Nifty, ended with a cut of over a percent. Only, smallcap index outperformed larger peers to end with gains of close to half a percent. On the flip side, CNX Midcap index too witnessed loss of over a percent.

On the global front, Asian stocks rose broadly on Friday, with a positive lead from the U.S. markets overnight, a weaker yen and also as some bargain hunting supported sentiment following three days of losses. Additionally, confirmation of Janet Yellen nomination to become chairwoman of the Federal Reserve by a 14-8 vote by Senate Banking Committee also  limited the fall of Asian pacific shares as Janet is considered a fiscal dove and the one who favours keeping the Fed's stimulus programme in  place for as long as needed. Meanwhile, European shares were trading higher on Friday, lifted by Swiss drugmaker Novartis after a $5 billion share buyback announcement, with sentiment also supported by rallies in US and Japanese shares overnight. Adding to the positive market sentiment, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and a voting member of the FOMC, said late on Thursday that the inflation data gives the central bank some leeway to keep the accommodative policy.

Closer home, sectorally, Auto, Realty and Fast Moving Consumer Goods counters underpinned the downslide of the bourses, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods pivotal were the top performers of the session. Meanwhile, banking shares, which were up on bargain-buying in early deals, too succumbed to selling pressure by the close of trade. Meanwhile, telecom stocks hogged substantial limelight during the session ahead of EGOM meeting later in the day to discuss the details of the third round of spectrum auction as well as M&A guidelines for the sector.

The market breadth on the BSE ended in red; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1195: 1238, while 164 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex gained 36.26 points or 0.18% to settle at 20265.31.The index touched a high and a low of 20388.12 and 20137.67 respectively. Among the 30-share Sensex, 13 stocks gained, while 17 stocks declined. (Provisional)

The BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices ended higher by 0.02% and 0.19% respectively. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Capital Goods up by 1.67%, Oil & Gas up by 1.02%, Consumer Durables up by 0.82%, PSU up by 0.58% and Power up by 0.31% were the top gainers, while Auto down by 1.19%, Realty down by 0.53% and FMCG down by 0.32% were the only losers in the space. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.20%, ONGC up by 2.92%,  L&T up by 2.28%, HDFC up by 2.18% and Gail India up by 2.11%, while, SSLT down by 2.70%, Tata Motors down by 2.48%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.33%, Sun Pharma down by 1.13% and ITC down by 0.98% were the only losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the inflation based on consumer price index (CPI) for agricultural labourers (AL) eased to 12.65 percent in the month of October on y-o-y basis as against 12.78 percent recorded in the previous month. While, the retail inflation for rural labourers (CPI-RL) increased to 12.48 percent in reported month from 12.44 percent recorded in September. Further, inflation based on food index of CPI-AL and CPI-RL are stood at 13.62 percent and 13.11 percent respectively during October, 2013.

Meanwhile the increase or fall in index varied from state to state. Referring to agriculture inflation, the index recorded an increase which varied between 2 to 17 points in 18 states and a decrease of 1 and 4 points in two states. Haryana with 846 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh with the index level of 616 points stood at the bottom. Further, Agricultural labourers index for Tripura registered the maximum increase of 17 points, while, Maharashtra registered a decline of 4 points.

In case of rural labourers, it recorded an increase between 2 points and 16 points in 18 states, a decrease of two points in one state and remained stationary in one state. Haryana with 840 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh with the index level of 651 points stood at the bottom. Further, rural labourers index for Gujarat and Orissa states registered the maximum increase of 16 points each mainly owing to the rise in the prices of rice, wheat atta, fish, onion, vegetables and fruits and bus fare. On the other hand, Maharashtra registered a decline of 2 points mainly due to decrease in the prices of wheat, jowar, bajra, groundnut oil and fish.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility lost 4.77% at 20.13 from its previous close of 21.14 on Thursday. (Provisional)

The CNX Nifty gained 6.25 points or 0.10 % to settle at 6,005.30. The index touched high and low of 6,049.60 and 5,972.80 respectively. Out of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 26 ended in the green, while 23 ended in the red and one stock remains unchanged.

The major gainers of the Nifty were ONGC up 3.25%, Cairn up by 3.23%, Tata Steel up by 2.85%, Gail up by 2.25% and L&T up by 2.21%. The key losers were SSLT down by 2.79%, Tata Motors down by 2.36%, Bajaj-Auto down by 2.27%, IDFC down by 1.50% and SBI down by 1.39%. (Provisional)

Most of the European markets were trading in red with, the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 down by 0.10%and Germany’s DAX down by 0.08%, while France’s CAC 40 up by 0.28%.

The Asian markets concluded Friday’s trade mostly in green with Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies being the best performers for the week. In Hong Kong, overall consumer prices rose 4.3% year-on-year in October, less than September’s corresponding 4.6% increase, the Census & Statistics Department reported. Netting out the effects of all one-off Government relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite Consumer Price Index in October was 4%, also smaller than September’s 4.2% increase. 

Bank of Japan has been ratcheting up its economic growth outlook, with its most recent forecast predicting an average 2.7% expansion in the year to next March, with inflation at 0.7%. Last week, official data showed economic growth halved year-on-year in the July-September quarter as exports weakened and consumer spending slowed