Nifty yet to show its hand though the trend is mildly down

Most of the Asian indices had negative opening while the others opened flat after the US reported first quarter of negative GDP growth (-0.1% quarter-on-quarter at an annualized rate). The indices back home opened in the negative. The Sensex opened at 19,987 while the Nifty opened at 6,046. Both the indices immediately hit their respective highs of the day and started a small downward trend. Yesterday, we mentioned that indices await fresh cues and only a sharp fall below 6,020 will push the Nifty towards 5,950 while a close above 6,100 will mean a continuation of the creeping bull market. The NSE saw an advance decline ratio of 704:777 and a volume of 99.99 crore shares today.

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday maintained its monthly $85 billion bond-buying stimulus plan, saying economic growth had stalled but indicating the pullback was likely temporary. The Fed repeated that it would keep overnight rates near zero until the unemployment rate hits 6.5%, as long as inflation does not threaten to exceed 2.5%.

The Sensex hit a high of 20,009 while the Nifty manage to hit 6,058. Market was unable to move higher except for a minor pull up when ICICI Bank came up with a forecast beating result. The Indian Government today revised the economic growth for fiscal 2011-12 to 6.2% from the earlier estimate of 6.5%.

With the expiry of the F&O contracts, the indices faced selling pressures and in the last hour of the trading session the Sensex hit a 10 day low (including today) of 19,866 while the Nifty hit a four day low (including today) of 6,025. Soon after, the indices closed marginally above its respective day’s low. The Sensex closed at 19,895 (fell 110 points, 0.55%) while the Nifty closed at 6,035 (fell 21 points, 0.35%).

The Asian indices had a mixed performance. While the major gainer were Nikkei 225 and Taiwan Weighted, where both rose 0.22%, the Hang Seng fell the most, 0.39%. Both the European markets and US Futures were trading in the red.

Tomorrow Markit Economics will unveil HSBC India Manufacturing PMI, which gauges the business activity of India's factories, for January 2013.

The BSE Mid-cap index rose 0.54% while the BSE Small-cap index fell 0.11%.

The top sectoral gainers were BSE Realty (up 1.38%); BSE PSU (up 1.02%); BSE Consumer Durables and BSE FMCG (up 0.61% each) and BSE Power (up 0.46%).  The main losers were BSE Bankex and BSE Oil & Gas (fell 0.42% each); BSE IT (fell 0.26%); BSE TECk (fell 0.23%) and BSE Capital Goods (fell 0.16%).

Eleven of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The chief gainers were BHEL (up 2.36%); Sun Pharma (up 1.33%); Hero MotoCorp (up 1.31%); ITC (up 1.25%) and GAIL (up 1.03%). The key losers were Tata Power (fell 2.18%); ICICI Bank (fell 1.93%); HDFC Bank (fell 1.87%); Bharti Airtel (fell 1.52%) and Reliance Industries (fell 1.39%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Suzlon Energy (up 15.57%) and Essar Oil (up 13.30%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Colgate Palmolive (fell 2.43%) and National Aluminium (fell 2.37%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Murli Industries (up 15.10%) and Panacea Biotec (up 13.28%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were— Midfield Industries (fell 14.09%) and Riba Textiles (fell 12.54%).

Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 25 stocks settled in the positive. The major gainers were Punjab National Bank (up 10.24%); Bank of Baroda (up 4.11%); BHEL (up 3.16%); DLF (up 2.60%) and GAIL (up 1.75%). The chief losers were Tata Power (fell 2.37%); HDFC Bank (fell 2.08%); Bharti Airtel (fell 2.06%); ICICI Bank (fell 1.93%) and Hindustan Unilever (fell 1.52%).

DLF has entered into definitive Business Transfer Agreement with BLP Vayu (Project 1) Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Bharat Light & Power Pvt. Ltd. for transferring of its undertaking comprising of 150 MW capacity wind turbines situated at Kutch, Gujarat on ‘as is where is basis’ by way of slump-sale for a lump sum consideration of Rs282.30 crore. The transaction is in line with the DLF's objective of divesting its non core assets. DLF rose 1.87% to close at Rs277.80 on the BSE.

The Cabinet today approved the Rs200-crore revival package for ailing public sector unit, Scooters India. After the government shelved the plan to sell out its entire stake in SIL, the Department of Heavy Industry had proposed a revival package of more than Rs200 crore for revival of the company. Besides, the department had consulted the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises, which examined the case, and later suggested a revival package for the sick unit. Scooters India rose 4.88% to close at Rs36.55 on the BSE.