The market volatility is down even as the indices are rising slowly. A quick correction may be round the corner

The Indian market closed higher for the third day in a row on buying in blue-chips and a positive trend in the European markets. The market volatility is down even as the indices are rising slowly. A quick correction may be round the corner. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a volume of 61.04 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 763:931.

The market opened in the green on the positive trend shown by domestic corporates in their third quarter earnings reports. Reliance Industries (RIL) which announced better-than-expected December quarter numbers, after the market closed on Friday, led the gainers in opening trade. However, Asian markets were mostly down on nervousness ahead of the Bank of Japan’s two-day meeting which begins today.

The Nifty opened trade 22 points higher at 6,086 and the Sensex resumed trade at 20,133, a gain of 94 points over its previous close. A minor bout of profit booking saw the indices paring part of their gains and trading sideways in the morning session.

The sell-off in realty, auto and banking stocks led the market to its lows in noon trade with the Nifty falling to 6,065 and the Sensex retracting to 20,056.

However, a positive opening of the European markets as finance ministers of the countries in the region are expected to meet in Brussels today to discuss the European Stability Mechanism, boosted domestic sentiments in post-noon trade.

The market continued moving northwards on support from capital goods, oil & gas and fast moving consumer goods stocks. The gains helped the benchmarks hit their day’s high with the Nifty rising to 6,094 and the Sensex climbing to 20,163.

The market closed off the highs as the indices pared a part of their gains in late trade but ended in the positive for the third day in a row. The Nifty closed 18 points (0.30%) higher at 6,082 and the Sensex finished the trading session at 20,102, a gain of 63 points (0.31%) over its previous close.

Among the broader indices, the BSE Mid-cap index declined 0.14% and the BSE Small-cap index added 0.02%.

The top sectoral gainers were BSE Capital Goods (up 1.49%); BSE Oil & Gas (up 1.31%); BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (up 1.06%), BSE Power (up 0.75%) and BSE TECk (up 0.29%). The main losers were BSE Realty (down 1.31%); BSE Healthcare (down 0.41%); BSE Auto (down 0.31%); BSE Bankex (down 0.21%) and BSE PSU (down 0.15%).

Seventeen of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The chief gainers were Reliance Industries (up 2.35%); BHEL (up 2.25%); Larsen & Toubro (up 2%); Maruti Suzuki (up 1.87%) and Bharti Airtel (up 1.82%). The key losers were Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.86%); Tata Motors (down 1.55%); NTPC (down 1.46%); TCS (down 1.45%) and Cipla (down 1.38%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—United Breweries (up 9.43%) and Reliance Communications (up 6.91%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Opto Circuits (down 8.53%) and Oberoi Realty (down 3.96%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—JMT Auto (up 19.92%) and Hathway Bhawani Cablenet and Datacom (up 19.90%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Quintegra Solutions (down 18.82%) and Gujarat Themis Biosyn (down 13.57%).

Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 30 stocks settled in the positive. The major gainers were Reliance Infrastructure (up 3.99%); Bharti Airtel (up 2.36%); BHEL (up 2.23%); RIL (up 2.19%) and L&T (up 2%). The chief losers were DLF (down 2.53%); Sun Pharma (down 1.69%); HDFC (down 1.67%); TCS (down 1.50%) and Tata Motors (down 1.40%).

Markets in Asia settled mostly lower as investors await the outcome of the two-day meeting of the Bank of Japan, which began today, for expectations of fresh stimulus measures to spur the economy. Analysts termed the performance as an “adjustment” after the recent highs.

The Hang Seng shed 0.05%; the Jakarta Composite dropped 0.57%; the KLSE Composite tumbled 2.43%; the Nikkei 225 tanked 1.52%; the Seoul Composite fell 0.05% and the Taiwan Weighted lost 0.10%. On the other hand, the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.48% and the Straits Times rose 0.31%.

At the time of writing, the CAC 40 of France was up 0.25%; the DAX of Germany rose 0.35% and UK’s FTSE was up 0.63%. At the same time, the US stock futures were marginally in the green. Markets in the US will remain closed today for a local holiday.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares totalling Rs1,165.69 crore on Friday while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of equities aggregating Rs967.62 crore.

Tecpro Systems has bagged Rs139.8 crore worth of orders from the the West Bengal Power Development Corporation for supply of ash handling plant turnkey package for its upcoming project. With the new order, the total order book stands at Rs4,500 crore, the engineering, procurement and construction company said in a statement. The stock jumped 3.18% to close at Rs154 on the NSE.

Leading healthcare provider Apollo Hospitals has decided to set up a Proton Therapy centre in India for cancer treatment, which is stated to be the first of its kind across South-East Asia, Africa and Australia. Hospital sources said that this launch, which would mark the beginning of the next wave of advancement in radiation therapy in India, would cost approximately Rs400 crore. The stock declined 1.65% to close at Rs780 on the NSE.

Pharma major Aurobindo Pharma today said it has received final approvals from the US health regulator to manufacture and market Oxacillin for Injection used for treating bacterial infections in the American market. The company has received final approvals from the USFDA to manufacture and market Oxacillin for Injection USP, packaged in 1g and 2g vials and Oxacillin for Injection USP 10g/vial pharmacy bulk package, Aurobindo Pharma said in a statement. The stock climbed 1.79% to settle at Rs196 on the NSE.