Thursday April 25, 03:30 PM
The heavyweight pull... |
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By Equitymaster.com
Last hour selling in select index heavyweights and cement majors have resulted in a weak close for the markets. There was a hint of buying interest in few commodity stocks like steel and aluminium majors. Banking and financial institutions also had a mixed day. Volumes were comparatively on the lower side.
The BSE Sensex closed at 3,359 (down 52 points) and the NSE Nifty closed at 1,093 (down 19 points). The rupee was trading at Rs 48.93 per US dollar.
Markets were not enthused by the Prime Ministers consent to roll back few budget measures that had a bearing on individuals. On the other hand, it is clear that the government is not consistent with its objective and is favoring more populist measures to gain advantage. Coalition politics is clearly a cause of concern for the markets.
Cement companies were one of the key losers on the bourses probably on account of slower demand growth prospects in the near term. However, cement major ACC expects demand to grow by 8%-10% in the coming fiscal. Price realisations are also move up and it expects the existing demand-supply gap to even out in the medium term. Gujarat Ambuja was the biggest loser (4%).
Zee was down on profit booking. The stock has been on the rise over the last few months following improvement in TRP rating as well as restructuring initiatives. Select PSU majors, which were up yesterday, also closed lower.
Amongst software stocks, Polaris was the top mover. The stock was up 7%. Gainers list also include United Phosphorus, Siemens (SIEM.BO, news) , TVS Motor, ABB, TV 18, Trigyn, BOI, Oriental Bank (ORBC.BO, news) and LIC Housing Finance.
ABB was up after the company declared encouraging results yesterday. The contribution of relatively high margin automation division is increasing as a proportion to total sales. A strong order book position of more than Rs 8 bn is expected to keep sales buoyant in the coming quarters. The stock was up 6%.
Buying remained selective in banking stocks as well. While private sector banks closed in the red, most of the key PSU banks witnessed buying interest. The key gainers were Bank of India (BOI.BO, news) and Dena Bank (DENA.BO, news) . PNB Gilts was up for the second consecutive day after the company declared its fourth quarter results. Its net profits for the full year increased by 139%, while revenues inched up by 5%. The company's active trading in the debt market with short duration maturity portfolio helped it in reducing interest cost and thereby fueling net profits.
Sensitivity analyser
Without any broader trend, index heavyweights continue to determine market movements. With selling in stocks like Infosys, ITC (ITCd.BO, news) , HPCL, Zee and Reliance (RELI.BO, news) Petro gaining momentum in the last hour of trading, markets was dragged downwards. ITC and Infosys together removed 13 points of the Sensex. But the consolation came from Tata Steel (TISC.BO, news) and HLL that added 2 points to the Sensex.
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