Markets extend loses; Central banks' meet in focus

Markets extended loses in the afternoon session this Monday on back of selling pressure witnessed in FMCG and metal stocks.

Investors traded cautiously ahead of Reserve Bank of India, Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England meet this week.

At 2:10PM, the 30-share Sensex traded lower 145 points at 19,603 and the 50-share Nifty declined 48 points at 5,837 levels.

The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy tomorrow will be a key trigger for markets in terms of any cue on liquidity measures to support rupee.

Meanwhile US Federal Reserve will unveil its policy decision on Wednesday with investors awaiting clarity on tapering of the stimulus.

Asian stocks ended lower today. Japan’s Nikkei declined 3.4% to 13,661, Singapore Straits Times fell 0.07% to 3,233, China’s Shanghai Composite index was down 1.7%  at 1,976 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.5% to 21,850 today.

European stocks advanced for the first time in three days as companies from Danone to Reckitt Benckiser Group reported better results. France’s CAC gained 0.18% to 3,975, Germany’s DAX ROSE 0.2% to 8,265 while UK’s FTSE was up 0.15% to 6,564.

Among the key sectoral indices , FMCG, metal, realty, bankex, power indices dropped while auto sector gained on the BSE.

The gainers included counters such as Wipro surging 5%, Jindal Steel gained 2.6%, Sun Pharma rose 2%, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp gained 1-1.7%  on the BSE.

The laggards were Hindalco and Sterlite Industries dropped 4% and 5% respectively, HUL  fell 4%, ITC declined 3% while Dr Reddy’s shed 2.6% on the BSE.

The key notable movers included counters such as Godfrey Phillips India that has surged 10% to Rs 2,865 after reporting more-than-double net profit before exceptional items at Rs 59 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 (Q1) on back of healthy operational performance. The country’s second largest cigarette maker had a profit of Rs 28 crore during year ago quarter.

Force Motors has rallied 7% to Rs 264, in otherwise weak market, after reporting a strong 38% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 14 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013 (Q1) on the back of robust operating performance. The company had reported a loss of Rs 23 crore in March quarter.

The broader markets traded lower with mid-caps and small-caps falling over 1 per cent on the BSE.

The market breadth was negative. Out of 2,172     stocks traded, 1,298 stocks declined while 765 stocks advanced on the BSE.