After opening in the green this morning, taking positive cues from the global markets, the markets swung between gains and losses. The Sensex traded in a range of 200 points, as tensions on the Libyan oil issue kept mounting. At close, the Sensex was at 17,839 down 40 points, while the Nifty closed at 5,365 down 9 points.
After a brief positive spell in early trades, the markets slipped into the red, and rebounded again before noon. The Sensex had touched an intra-day low soon after trading commenced, dipping to 17,792, down 216 points and touched the day's high of 18,008 at noon. However, the market wasn’t able to hold on to these gains, and slipped in the red in the last hour of trading.
Escalating concerns in Libya exerted pressure on crude prices, as Nymex moved above the $100 mark, after last week's relative price easing. Higher crude oil prices affected sentiment in India whereas Asian markets were up on easing pressures in Japan.
Speaking on the current status of the domestic markets, Moses Harding, Executive VP and Head (Global Markets Group), IndusInd Bank said, "The underperformance of Indian markets was triggered by the risk of fund out flows on the back of improved economic performance in western economies. Currently, the crisis in Middle East and Japan is putting pressure on the markets. So Indian markets are unwinding their extended gains seen in 2010, which are the reasons causing the underperformance."
Gainers on the index were led by metal stock Jindal Steel at Rs 662 up 2%, Mahindra & Mahindra at Rs 642 and Sterlite Industries at Rs 160 both up 1%. Conversely, Hindalco Industries at Rs 191 down 3% was the top loser on the Sensex, while Hero Honda at Rs 1,434 also down 3% and Maruti Suzuki at Rs 1,131 down 2% were the other major losers.
The broader markets under-performed the benchmark marginally, as the Mid-cap and Small-cap indices, both trading in the red, were at 6,492 and 7,775 respectively, down 0.3% each.
In the mid-cap space, Gujarat Gas at Rs 376 and MVL at Rs 28, both down 6% were the top losers, while KGN Industries was down 5% at Rs 111.
Significant losers on the small-cap index were Piramal Life at Rs 111 down 10%, Sujana Towers at Rs 28 down 8%, and Arshiya International at Rs 199 down 6%.
The Healthcare index was the top sectoral gainer at 5,795 up marginally by 0.2%. Amongst the major gainers in this arena were Opto Circuits at Rs 273 up 4%, followed by Lupin at Rs 405 and Cadila Healthcare at rs 760, both up 3%.
The Bankex and FMCG index also closed in the green, although both the indices gained negligibly. The Bankex closed at 12,190, while the FMCG index ended at 3,396.
Realty stocks were dumped by investors owing to the recent rate hike announced by the RBI on March 17. The index closed down 1% at 2,034. Major losers on the index were DB Realty at Rs 109, Phoenix Mills at Rs 172 and HDIL at Rs 151 all down 3%.
The market breadth was negative, with 1,173 advancing stocks versus 1,688 declining stocks.
Major Asian indices picked up steam today, and closed in the green. Japan's Nikkei was up 3% at 9,207, the Shanghai Composite was at 2,910 up 0.1% and the Hang Seng closed up 2% at 22,685. The Straits Times closed up 2% at 2,984, while the Seoul Composite advanced 1% at 2,003, and the Taiwan Weighted gained 1% at 8,468.
