Subject to the Nifty holding itself above the day’s low

Profit booking after nine days of gains led the market lower today. A weak trend in the global markets also played on the sentiments. Today the Nifty saw marginal loss, however, the uptrend is likely to remain intact if the index manages to hold itself above day’s low. The benchmark made a lower high after nine trading days but continued to make a higher low for the fifth consecutive day. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw high volume of 91.62 crore shares while the advance decline ratio was 882:556.

The Indian stock exchanges will remain closed on Wednesday for a local holiday.

The market opened lower today as traders resorted to profit booking following the nine-day rally. A weak trend in the global stock markets also weighed on the sentiments. The Nifty resumed trade at 5,602, down eight points from its previous close and the Sensex started off 27 points lower at 18,515. Metal, auto and banking stocks were under selling pressure in early trade.

Volatility since the opening of trade kept the benchmarks on both sides of their previous close. Buying interest in banking and fast moving consumer goods sectors enabled the market to hit its intraday high at around 10.30 am. At this point the Nifty rose to 5,621 and the Sensex went up to 18,580.

Soaring vegetable prices pushed up the retail inflation to double digits at 10.03% in August, up from 9.86% in the previous month. In the urban areas, the CPI rose to 10.2% during the month as compared to 10.1% in July. The retail price rise in rural areas worked out to be 9.9% during August up from 9.8% in the previous month.

The indices could not maintain their gains as selling pressure pushed the stock market into the negative once again. Subdued opening of the European stock markets kept the local benchmarks in the red in noon trade.

 The market continued to drift further southward in post-noon trade on the back of profit booking in blue chips. The Nifty dipped to its intraday low at the start of trade with the index touching 5,586 while the low on the Sensex was seen in the last half hour as the index fell to 18,469. The market snapped its nine-day winning streak to close almost flat with a negative bias.

The Nifty settled 10 points lower at 5,600 and the Sensex finished the session at 18,496, down 46 points.

It was the day of the broader markets today as they outperformed the Sensex and settled in the green. The BSE Mid-cap index gained 0.88% and the BSE Small-cap index advanced 0.73%.

The top sectoral gainers were BSE PSU (1.58%); BSE Capital Goods (up 0.90%); BSE Power (up 0.88%); BSE Bankex (up 0.69%) and BSE Realty (up 0.49%). The ones that settled at the bottom were BSE Oil & Gas (down 1.13%); BSE IT (down 0.54%); BSE Healthcare (down 0.22%); BSE Metal (down 0.19%) and BSE TECk (down 0.09%).

Thirteen of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The key gainers were BHEL (up 5.44%); State Bank of India (up 3.59%); GAIL India (up 3.01%); Jindal Steel (up 2.64%) and Infosys (up 1.45%). The top losers were Wipro (down 3.79%); TCS (down 3.02%); Hindalco Industries (down 2.13%); Reliance Industries (down 2.11%) and NTPC (down 1.51%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—IFCI (up 13.45%) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (up 12.97%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were—Pantaloon Retail (down 4.05%) and Wipro (down 3.79%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Infomedia 18 (up 20%) and Tanla Solutions (up 20%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—Atlanta (down 13.48%) and Indo Count Industries (down 10.76%).

Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 25 stocks settled in the positive. The major gainers were Punjab National Bank (up 7.90%); BHEL (up 5.20%); SBI (up 3.39%); Bank of Baroda (up 3.02%) and GAIL India (up 2.71%). The top laggards were Cairn India (down 3.81%); Wipro (down 3.78%); TCS (down 3%), Hindalco Ind (down 2.39%) and RIL (down 2.15%).

Markets in Asia closed lower on worries about the slowdown in Chinese growth. The decline in commodity prices in the global stock markets pulled down the Chinese market, making it the worst performer for the second day.

The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.91%; the Hang Seng declined 0.27%; the Jakarta Composite fell 0.74%; the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.39%; the Straits Times retracted by 0.35% and the Taiwan Weighted settled 0.36% lower. Bucking the trend, the Seoul Composite rose 0.13%.

At the time of writing, the key European stock markets were down between 0.81% and 1% and the US stock futures were trading in the negative.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares totalling Rs2,252.17 crore on Monday whereas domestic institutional investors were net sellers of equities aggregating Rs837.72 crore.

Buoyed by the good response to its recent initial public offering, jewellery retailer Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri today said it would invest about Rs1,200 crore in the next three years for opening 43 showrooms across the country. At present, TBZ has 18 showrooms across 11 cities, including metros as well as Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. The stock settled at Rs118.80 on the NSE, up 1.67%.

Software services major Ramco Systems said it has bagged an order from Wadia Group-owned Go Airlines for its maintenance and engineering (M&E) suite of software. Under the agreement, Ramco will deliver its web-based Series 5 M&E system and Ramco ePublications, including engineering and configuration, maintenance program and planning, line maintenance, technical records and complete materials. Ramco rose 0.30% to close at Rs135 on the NSE.

Leading pipe manufacturer Welspun Corp (WCL) said it has raised Rs252.80 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The money was raised by the flagship firm of Welspun Group through placement of secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures to investors including banks and financial institutions, it said in a filing to the BSE. The stock rose 0.69% to settle at Rs102.20 on the NSE.