Flat closing for markets

IT, FMCG and RIL aid recovery

Markets closed for the week on a flat note with the Sensex up 10 points at 17,571 and the Nifty closed flat at 5,320 (provisional)
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(Updated at 14:26hrs)
Markets recovered from the lows of the day thus far on account of the strength in IT, FMCG and Reliance Industries counters. At 2:25pm, the Sensex was flat with a positive bias at 17,565 and the Nifty was flat around 5,321 levels.

In the broader markets, the midcap at 6095 and the smallcap indices at 6553 were flat with a negative bias.

On the global front, Asian shares snapped a four-day rally on Friday and extended losses after China's July trade data fell far short of expectations, casting doubts on whether the sputtering global economy will regain traction any time soon. Hang Seng, Nikkei and Shanghai declined between 0.2-1%.

Back home, BSE Consumer Durable, Bankex and Auto indices lost 1% each. Realty, Health Care and Power indices down between 0.1-0.6% were the other notable losers. On the other hand, IT, FMCG, Metal and Oil & Gas sectors were up 0.5-0.8%.

SBI is the top Sensex loser, down nearly 4% after India’s largest bank said its net non-performing assets (NPAs) surged 28% to Rs 20,321 crore for the quarter ended June 2012 from Rs 15,818 crore at the end of March 2012. They were Rs 12,436 crore at the end of June quarter last fiscal. The gross NPA rose to 4.99% in Q1FY13 from 4.44% in Q4FY12. Meanwhile, UBS downgraded State Bank of India to "sell" from "buy", saying a weak monsoon would add to its "already high" non-performing loans. Other banking and financial shares like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and HDFC have declined by nearly 1%.

Auto shares like Tata Motors, Hero Moto, Bajaj Auto and M&M slipped between 0.5-2%. Tata Motors extended yesterday’s losses after reporting 12.26% increase in net profits for the first quarter ended June 30, 2012 at Rs 2,244.91 crore.

Other notable losers include Coal India, HDFC, BHEL, Dr Reddys Lab and Tata Power lost 0.5-0.7%

On the gaining side, shares of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies continue at their upward march with HUL and ITC adding 1-1.5%. . The FMCG companies reported a strong an average 16% year-on-year growth in revenue for the June quarter, as the demand for daily-use items remained buoyant despite inflationary pressure.

 

IT majors TCS and Infosys added nearly 1% each and Wipro gained 0.3%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries advanced nearly 1% at Rs 786.

Among other shares, Wockhardt Limited is trading higher by 2% at Rs 1,182. The stock rallied 18% in the past one week as compared to 2% rise in benchmark Sensex and a marginal 0.37% gain in healthcare sector index after the announcement of June quarter results.

The market breadth continued to remain negative with 1497 stocks declining and 1099 stocks advancing on the BSE.