Markets end Mahurat trading on lacklustre note

DLF, Jaiprakash Associates drop after weak second quarter earnings

Markets ended the customary 'Muhurat' trading session held to usher in the new year Samvat 2069 marginally lower, amid weak global cues, with software and financials leading the decline.

The 30-share Sensex provisionally ended down 67 points at 18,603  and the 50-share Nifty ended down 22 points at 5,662. 

HDFC Bank, HDFC, SBI, Infosys and TCS were among the top Sensex losers.

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(Updated at 16:05 hrs)

Indian shares traded subdued in a narrow range on special Mahurat trading session on Diwali today. Buying stocks on this day is considered auspicious by the trading community but gains were capped on concerns over global growth recovery.

At 4:05PM, Sensex fell 14 points to 18,653.85 while Nifty shed 7 points to 5,675.45 in a 75 minutes trading session that marks the beginning of the New Year as per Hindu calendar, or Samwat 2069.

The top sector gainers on BSE were oil and gas, metals which moved up nearly 0.4% while software makers and bank sector led the declines booking a loss of 0.2% in the opening trades.

Investors were also concerned over growth in Asia's third biggest economy after the government on Monday announced a  disappointing set of IIP numbers for the month of September which led to selling pressure in index heavyweights.
 
Back home, after showing 2.5% growth in August, industrial output declined by 0.4% in September as manufacturing activity showed a decline. This has doused hopes of a revival in the economy and may force the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to review its policy rates earlier than the fourth quarter credit policy.

Global market sentiments reamined muted on Tuesday as investor sentiment were weighed down by concerns over U.S. fiscal woes and amid uncertainty over Greece's bailout.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1% after ending last week down 0.7% at one-week low.

Japan's Nikkei stock average ended down 0.18%. Likewise China's Shanghai Composite, South Korea's Kospi while Singapore's Straits Times fell in the range of 0.1-1.5% each.

Meanwhile, European shares opened down for fifth straight trading session, France's CAC declined 0.7%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.8% while FTSE fell 1%.

Results impact:

DLF, the country’s largest realty company, fell 2% after its said net profit dropped 62.8% for the quarter ended September on the back of gloomy sales activity and economic slowdown.

Leading infrastructure firm Jaiprakash Associates declined 2% to Rs 91.25 as it reported an over 48% decline in its net profit to Rs 128 crore during the quarter ended September 30, 2012, largely due to hefty increases in finance costs and muted sales.

Nestle, one of the largest packaged foods companies India, fell 0.33% as it continued to battle inflationary pressures impacting its net profit, which rose a marginal 2.355 during the July-September 2012 quarter to Rs 267 crore. Net sales were also somewhat sluggish during the quarter, growing just 7.8% to Rs 2,124 crore versus Rs 1,969 crore last year.

The broader markets traded up with the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices tarding higher 0.7% each.

The overall breadth was positive as 1,309 stocks advanced while 515 declined.