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Benchmark indices ended lower amid range bound trading with financials contributing most to the decline along with oil shares. Gains in cement and paint stocks limited losses Nifty.
Provisionally, the 30-share Sensex ended down 159 points at 27,425 and the 50-share Nifty closed down 24 points at 8,299.
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(updated at 2:55 PM)
Benchmark indices have declined in late trade dragged by losses in oil shares, select index heavyweights and financials.
At 2:55PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 223 points at 27,362 and the 50-share Nifty was down 43 points at 8,280.
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(updated at 2:15 PM)
Benchmark indices continue to move on a divergent note as gains in cement, paints and select banks shares have pushed the Nifty higher while losses in select index heavyweights like Infosys and ICICI Bank and oil shares have capped the gains in Sensex.
At 2:10PM, the 30-share Sensex was flat at 27,598 and the 50-share Nifty was up 30 points at 8,352.
In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have performed better than the front-liners with gains of 0.7% and 0.5% each. Market breadth in BSE is positive with 1,518 advances against 1,217 declines.
Data released on Monday showed that after contracting 4.2% in October, industrial production increased at a five-month high of 3.8 per cent in November. Another set of data showed Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation rose to 5% in December from 4.38% in the previous month, primarily due to a rise in food prices.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 245 crore on Monday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
Buzzing Stocks
BSE FMCG index, up 0.7% is the lead gainer followed by BSE Capital Goods index, up 0.6% and BSE Healthcare index, up 0.5%. Realty and Oil & Gas indices, down 1.2% and 0.7% are the top losers.
Shares of cement majors such as UltraTech Cement, Grasim Industries, ACC and Ambuja Cement are trading higher between 2-5% in noon trades in an otherwise subdued market.
Financials are trading mixed in today’s session as hopes of a rate-cut by RBI during its next policy review meeting in February were strengthened after CPI data for the month of December came largely in-line with market expectations.
Axis Bank has gained over 1%, SBI is up 0.6% and mortgage lender HDFC has gained marginally by 0.1%. On the other hand, ICICI Bank is down 0.5% and HDFC Bank is flat.
Auto shares in the Sensex are largely trading firm with the notable exception of Hero Motocorp which has lost over 1%. M&M has gained around 1.5%, and Maruti Suzuki has gained around 0.6%. According to media reports, in this fiscal year Maruti Suzuki is aiming for a 20% growth in exports of its vehicles, focussing particularly on the non-European markets like Africa, Latin America and the Middle East where sales are already increasing.
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Cipla has gained around 1.3% on media reports that it may re-start supplying anti-HIV drugs to the National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) in the next two months. Dr Reddys Lab has gained around 0.5% while Sun Pharma is flat after paring early gains.
Further fall in crude prices has brought pressure on oil shares. ONGC has declined more than 2% while RIL is down 0.5%.
Sesa Sterlite has gained around 0.8%. In its clarification to BSE on media reports which suggested possible merger of Cairn India and Hindustan Zinc with Sesa Sterlite, the company has said that at this point of time there is no definite proposal for any merger and no such event or negotiations have taken place.
NTPC has declined around 0.5%. Media reports suggest that NTPC will invite tenders this month for the construction of a $1.2 billion, joint venture power project to be built in Bangladesh.
Profit-booking has dragged stocks like Infosys which has declined around 1% and HUL which has lost over 1%.
Global Markets
Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Tuesday as weak U.S. stocks and falling oil prices dampened risk appetite, but a pause in the yen's strength helped the market trim earlier losses. The Nikkei ended 0.6% lower. Chinese markets have gained after trade data of China for the month of December showed that exports rose 9.7% from a year earlier in dollar-denominated terms while imports dropped for a second month in a row by 2.4%. That left the country with a trade surplus of $49.6 billion for the month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday. Hang Seng index has gained 0.7% and Shanghai Composite index is up 0.2%.
European markets have opened on a cautious note as fall in crude prices and fall in US markets have kept the sentiments subdued. FTSE 100 and DAX indices have gained marginally and are up by 0.1% while CAC 40 index is flat.
