Nifty ends below 8,400 on Greek woes; June F&O expiry eyed

Markets ended lower, snapping their eight-day winning streak, amid profit taking in late trades on reports that the new proposal presented by Greece to avoid debt default was not acceptable to the creditors.

Further, investors turned cautious ahead of the June derivative contracts set to expire tomorrow.

The 30-share Sensex ended lower by 74.70 points at 27,729.67 and the 50-share Nifty dipped 20.70 points at 8,360.85 after hitting an intra-day high of 8,421.35.

In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices ended lower, down 0.4-1% each. The market breadth ended weak, with 1,502 losers and 1,211 gainers on the BSE.

Further, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday halved the time required between listing and closing of an initial public offering (IPO) to six days. The stock market regulator also eased the framework for start-ups to raise capital from the stock market.

In the currency front, the Indian rupee was trading lower at 63.65 to the US dollar compared to the previous close of 63.63.

MARKET VIEW

According to Ranak Merchant, Technical Analyst - Strategies of Sushil Financial Services, “The rally gained momentum this week, from the indicated support of 7,939 and the Weekly Double Bottom formation, and thus Index managed to scale above its 200 Day EMA of 8,199 and 200 Day EMA of 8,364. The week till now once again managed gains on all days and the expiry related two way volatility is yet to set in.”

Further she adds, “As we cross above the 8,400 mark, a downward sloping trendline resistance on weekly charts stands tested and hence may offer some resistance. That coupled with F&O expiry may lead to some pull-back. While a quick correction would deem healthy for the market, the resistance zone continues to be around 8,470 levels.”

SECTORS & BUZZING STOCKS

BSE Metal index slumped by almost 2% followed by counters like Auto, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas, Power and Realty, all falling between 0.5-1%.

The top losers from the Sensex pack included Hindalco, Tata Steel, M&M, SBI, NTPC, GAIL and Tata Motors.

Mahindra & Mahindra today launched its all-new small commercial vehicle Jeeto from its Zaheerabad plant in Telangana. The stock ended nearly 3% lower.

BHEL was the top Sensex gainer, up 4%. The PSU engineering major said it has commissioned a 250 MW unit of NTPC's Bongaigaon thermal power plant in Kokrajhar district in Assam.

HUL was up nearly 2% on reports that the FMCG major is in advanced discussions with Mosons Extractions Pvt. Ltd to buy the Indulekha brand of hair care products, including an ayurvedic hair grooming oil and shampoo, for around Rs.500 crore, media reports suggest. ITC was up 1%.

Lupin was up almost 2% after the Board of Directors of Lupin has given an in-principle approval for raising funds of up to Rs. 7,500 crore. Among other pharma shares, Sun Pharma was up 2% and Dr Reddy's Labs was trading marginally higher.

ICICI Bank was up 1% amid renewed buying interest after the stock corrected in the previous sessions.

Among other shares, Sun TV Network dipped nearly 9%, extending their previous day’s 2% decline on the NSE on the back of heavy volumes after media reports suggested that the Union home ministry was not in favour of reviewing its decision to block the broadcasting licence of the company.

Shares of Persistent Systems shed nearly 13% after the company said that the revenue growth in dollar terms is expected to be marginally lower in the current quarter.