Andrew D'Cunha
Mumbai, Oct 13: The BSE benchmark Sensex today closed 74 points lower following a choppy session amid weak global cues. The index The Sensex, which had climbed to three-week high failed to sustain psychological 17000 level and closed down 0.44 % at 16,884 today. Nifty declined by 22 points to 5,078.
The index touched a high of 17,084 in the morning session following positive cues from Asia; however, profit booking and nervous European markets pulled the Sensex below 17000 level. The market is locked in a range and is waiting for some big triggers to breach resistance level. The market is expected to be volatile and would move under the influence of September quarter results.
Banking stocks climbed on hopes government moves to shore up the capital of state-run banks would help ease concerns about their outlook. Shares in State Bank of India , the country's top lender, climbed 0.8 % on plans by the government to pump in cash to shore up the capital of the state-run bank. Last week, ratings agency Moody's had downgraded SBI's standalone rating to D+ from C- on a scale of A to E, citing low Tier 1 capital, its recent failure to raise capital and worsening asset quality. ICICI Bank rose 2.3 % and HDFC Bank gained 0.75 %.
IT stocks, which were on a high yesterday after Infosys robust Q2 results were announced, saw profit booking today but still able to close with moderate gains. Infosys gained another 0.65 %, a day after it had jumped 6.83% strong quarterly earnings. Tata Consultancy Services closed up 1.3%, . Jindal Steel and Power fell 3.4 % . Coal India and Hindalco fell 1.75 and 2.8 % respectively. L & T fell 1.7 % and ITC lost 1 %. Energy major Reliance Industries closed down 0.3 %, ahead of its quarterly earnings on Saturday.
Asian markets rallied on Thursday, led by gains in the exporter and commodity shares. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.3% and the China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.8%. The Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average bucked trend, was down 1%.
The European markets were trading lower after French retailer Carrefour cut profit targets citing uncertainty in the global environment. The FTSE 100, CAC40 and DAX were down over 1% each.
After 3 days of gains gold fell to day by Rs 180 to Rs 27,010 per 10 grams owing to slackness in demand at prevailing higher levels and a fresh fall in their prices in the Asian region.
Andrew L D'Cunha, Managing Director, WinWin Fin Advisory Pvt. Ltd. Mangalore. Email: finadvisoryltd@yahoo.com