Markets pare losses; US jobs data key

Broader markets recover, gaining nearly 0.2% in late trades

Markets pared losses in late-afternoon session this Friday on back of mild recovery witnessed in broader markets coupled with short-covering in automobiles and metal stocks after recent downfall.

At 2PM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex dropped 22 points at 18,488.81 while the National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty shed 10 points at 5,565.

Foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 3.26 billion in the domestic markets on Thursday, following Rs 3.68 billion selling on Wednesday, provisional exchange data shows.
 

Investor sentiments were jittery over political instability at Asia’s third-biggest economy after Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) veteran LK Advani hinted at an early election on Wednesday.  

Global risk appetite slightly improved after the Bank of Japan’s new governor announced unprecedented monetary easing to end two decades of economic stagnation, however, caution prevailed ahead of US non-farm payrolls data may show U.S. employers hired a net 190,000 workers last month and the unemployment rate held at a four-year low of 7.7 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.5% to 12,833, re-treating from day’s high of 13,225.62

Meanwhile, Chinese markets dropped on concerns airlines may be shut, hurting exports after a new strain of bird flu hit the region.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.7% to 21,726.90 while South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.7% to 1,927.23 today.

Back home, the key sectoral indices such as FMCG, consumer durables, power, banks declined while oil & gas, autos, metals and PSU sectors gained on BSE.

The laggards included counters such as NTPC declining 3%, HDFC dropped 2.6%, ITC fell 2%, SBI and ICICI Bank shed 0.2% and 1.5% respectively on BSE.

The gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki adding 8%, Jindal Steel gained 2%, GAIL rose 2.2%, while ONGC and Wipro were up nearly 2% on the BSE.

The notable movers at this hour include, Shares of GMR Infrastructure were up nearly 2% on reports that the company has reached with an agreement with Megawide Construction Corp to bid for an airport development project in the Phillipines.

Maruti Suzuk India has rallied over 4% to Rs 1,366 after the Japanese yen slid to a three-and-half year low which would result in lower import costs.

The broader markets inched higher with mid-caps and small-caps gaining nearly 0.2% on BSE.

The market breadth was positive. Out of 2,623 stocks traded, 1,316 stocks gained compared to 1,164 declines on BSE.