Profit booking drags Sensex 167 points lower

Main Sensex losers were GAIL, BHEL, M&M, Tata Power, SBI, Coal India, ONGC and HDFC

Markets have closed the trading session on a lower note as investors turned cautious and booked profits with oil and financial shares leading the decline.

The Sensex closed lower by 167 points at 24,550 mark and the Nifty slipped by 41 points at 7,318 levels. The Sensex and Nifty touched an intra-day low of 24,422 and 7,275 levels, respectively.

Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell between 0.4-1%. The market breadth in BSE ended weak with 1,652 shares declining and 1,296 shares advancing.

The market will remain volatile in the near future as traders roll over positions in the futures & options segment from the May 2014 series to June 2014 series. The near month May 2014 derivatives contract expire on Thursday.

As per the latest data, India's CAD sharply narrowed to 1.7% of the GDP or $32.4 billion in 2013-14 from a record high of 4.7% in FY13.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 84.13 crore on Monday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

EXPERT VIEW

Adds Chandan Taparia - Derivative Analyst, Anand Rathi Financial Services, “Nifty has seen strong move of more than 7% in the may series but now finding hurdle and hovering around 7300 levels. It has màjor support at around 7235 levels and hurdle at 7365 then 7450-7480 zone. Fresh put writing at 7300 strike indicating downside multiple supports while call writing at 7400 strike indicating a limited upside for next couple of days. We are observing better roll in selective metals n capital goods stocks. Less rolls in Bank Nifty index. Roll cost is less which indicating that longs are less interested to carry their position aggressively in next month.”

POLITICAL NEWS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office today, a day after being sworn-in by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Among the key Cabinet Ministers, Arun Jaitley has been allotted Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, Rajnath Singh, Home Affairs, Ananth Kumar, Chemicals & Fertilisers, Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs, Nitin Gadkari, Surface Transport & Shipping, Sadananda Gowda, Railway Minister.

GLOBAL MARKETS

World shares hovered just off an all-time high and the euro was steady on Tuesday, as the European Central Bank made sure there was little doubt in investors minds that global liquidity will continue.

Britain's FTSE 100 opened up 0.3% as it played catch-up after a holiday. The rest of Europe's main bourses, which saw mostly steady starts, had made gains on Monday following European election results.

Asian trading had been timid too, but another solid session for Japan's Nikkei and shares in China, nudged MSCI's 45-country all-world index up to 420 points leaving it just below its 2007 record high of 428.63 points. Asset markets around the world continue to be supported by record-low interest rates in most of the world's big economies.

INDIAN RUPEE

The rupee led losses among emerging Asian currencies on Tuesday as investors took profits amid weaker regional stocks, while the South Korean won edged up with exporters lined up to buy it for month-end settlements. At 15:45, rupee was trading at 59.07 against dollar.

The rupee fell as profit-booking hit local shares after India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi named his cabinet, including the finance minister Arun Jaitley.

SECTORAL INDICES

BSE Power and Oil & Gas indices plunged by 2% each followed by counters like Banks, Realty, Consumer Durables and Auto, all declining by 1% each. However, BSE IT, TECk and Healthcare indices gained by over 0.2% each.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

The main losers on the Sensex were GAIL, BHEL, M&M, Tata Power, SBI, Coal India, ONGC and HDFC.

On the gaining side, Tata Steel, Hindalco, L&T, Infosys and HDFC Bank were up 1-2%.

Gail India ended lower by 7.56% to Rs 379 after reporting a lower than expected net profit at Rs 972 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014 (Q4), due to lower volumes.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T), a engineering giant, made its entry into the list of the top-10 most valuable companies by market capitalisation (m-cap), after a sharp rally in its stock. The stock ended higher by 1% at Rs 1,565.

Wonderla Holidays soared 11% to Rs 215 on back of heavy volumes in otherwise weak market on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

India Cements dipped 5% to Rs 93 after reporting a net loss of Rs 31 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014 (Q4FY14), due to lower realization and higher interest cost.

Orbit Corporation tanked 5.5% to Rs 20, extending its previous day’s 15% fall, after IFCI sold over three million shares in past one week through the open market.

Sonata Software rallied 20% to Rs 53 on NSE after reporting over three-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 23.57 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014 (Q4FY14).

Wockhardt tanked 7% to Rs 653 after reporting a sharp 78% year on year decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 74.45 crore for the quarter ended March 2014 (Q4FY14) mainly due to regulatory issues with US and UK health regulators.