Markets end flat amid volatility; Nifty holds 8,100

Downside was limited on account of renewed buying among banks and index heavyweight Reliance Industries

Markets ended marginally lower amid volatility extending the fall for fourth straight day dragged by metal and auto shares. However, value buying in financials and index heavyweight Reliance Industries helped cap the downside.

The 30-share Sensex closed lower by 23.78 points at 26,813.42 and the 50-share Nifty slipped 4.45 points at 8,130.65.

According to KK Mittal, Managing Director, Globe Capital, "Investors sentiments are dampened after the rate cut of 25 bps against the possibility and expectation of 50 bps, poor corporate earnings growth and expectation of poor monsoon. Nifty may come down to the levels of 7,800 and then one can start taking positions especially in select IT, banks and pharma sectors”.   

The broader markets ended mixed- BSE Midcap index inched up by 0.2% and the Smallcap index ended flat.

The market breadth was marginally negative. Out of 2,772 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1,277 advancing stocks as against 1,381 declines.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) yesterday said that conditions are favourable for onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala during next 48 hours.

In the currency front, the rupee was trading at 64.09 to the US dollar compared to the previous close after foreign funds turned net sellers in domestic equities tracking overseas gains in the US currency.

GLOBAL MARKETS

A persistent sell-off in bond markets left financial market confidence in short supply on Thursday, with stocks lower globally and not even traditional safe havens like gold and the Swiss franc providing much of a refuge

German 10-year Bund yields, the .benchmark for European debt costs, rose to 2015 highs, dragging down the region's share markets in the process on fears the higher borrowing costs could hurt economic growth and profits.

China's high-flying CSI300 and Shanghai Composite Indexes staged impressive late recoveries to end 0.7% higher having been as much as 3.5% in the red at one point.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ended 1% lower though as Australian shares lost 1.3% in a fourth straight day of losses, while Japan's Nikkei ended flat.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Metal, Consumer Durables, Auto and Healthcare indices plunged by 1% each. However, sectors like Realty, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas gained over 0.5%.  

The top gainers from the Sensex pack were RIL, Wipro, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC and SBI.

Reliance Inds was the top Sensex gainer, up almost 2% ahead of the AGM meet due on June 12.

Wipro, India’s third-largest information technology (IT) services company, announced a salary increase for its employees largely in line with those offered by its peers. The stock gained around 2%.

From the banking space, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and SBI surged between 0.04-1.3%.

Shares of Axis Bank advanced around 1% after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted the restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the bank by foreign investors.

On the losing side side, Tata Steel, Vedanta, ONGC, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto slipped between 1-3%.

Shares of country’s largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank slipped 2% on the BSE after the stock turned ex-dividend for Rs 5 per share today.

Among other shares, Eicher Motors dipped nearly 6% to Rs 17,160 on the BSE after the reports suggest that Volvo has decided to sell the remaining 3.7% stake in Eicher Motors for $278 million.

Nestle dropped over 3% to Rs 6,000 on the BSE after the Delhi government summoned officials of Nestle India claiming that the samples of Maggi noodles fail to meet food safety norms and are unsafe.

With Reuters input