Weak global cues weighed heavily on Indian markets

Indian markets remained highly volatile during the day on the back of weak global cues. The Sensex was up 15 points from the previous day’s close, ending the day at 17,701, while the Nifty closed at 5,282, up four points.

Yesterday we had said that the bourses would open higher but would not sustain gains throughout the day and so was the case. The market may be under pressure tomorrow, but there is a lot of buying interest as global markets are swinging both ways. 

During the day, Larsen & Toubro announced that the company’s buildings & factories operating company—part of its construction division—had bagged new orders aggregating Rs2,325 crore during the third quarter of fiscal year 2009-10 for the construction of residential towers, hospitals, exhibition centres, IT parks and factory building projects. The stock was down 1%.

PSL rose 3%, after the company said that it had recently bagged fresh orders aggregating Rs425 crore for supply of pipes.

Sunil Hitech Engineers rose 2% after the company received an order worth Rs488 crore from Maharashtra State Power Generation Company.

Raj Television Network rose 1% on reports that the company had acquired the exclusive distribution rights of upcoming Tamil movie ‘Kutty’, for some specified areas in Tamil Nadu.

Steel Strips Wheels Ltd said that BMW had nominated the company for the supply of spare wheels for its prestigious MINI model. The stock shot up 5%.

Ruchi Soya rose 6% after the board of directors of the company approved investment in equity share capital of Gemini Edibles and Fats India Pvt Ltd, engaged in the business of refining edible oil.

According to an HSBC survey, business activity among Indian services companies expanded at its fastest pace in 15 months in December 2009 and helped create more jobs, but the outlook for 2010 is wary. The HSBC Markit Business Activity Index, based on a survey of 400 firms, rose to 57.41 in December, its highest since September 2008, after slowing to 55.20 in November. However, the business expectations sub-index slowed for a second straight month to 65.56 in December, to its lowest level in 10 months. It stood at 71.58 in November. The degree of positive sentiment fell sharply since November, as a greater proportion of companies reported that they expect activity in 12 months’ time to be broadly similar to current levels, HSBC Markit said in its report.

During the day, Asia’s key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose by between 0.15%-1.42%, whereas the Chinese index remained flat.

A monthly survey released by HSBC indicated improvement in China’s services sector, with December business activity rising at the fastest pace in three months. HSBC said that its China Services Purchasing Manager’s Index rose to 57.2 for the month, up from 57.1 in November 2009.

On Tuesday, 5 November 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 12 points while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were up four points and 0.29 points respectively.

A big decline in pending home sales, which fell in November for the first time in nine months, increased concerns over the housing market. As per US media reports, pending home sales tumbled 16% in November 2009, much steeper than the 5% drop expected and the 3.7% gain logged in October 2009. But factory orders rose 1.1% in November, more than double of what was expected.

In premarket trading, the Dow was trading 34 points lower.