 "Markets have a tepid closing; Q4 earnings in focus")
Markets finished the session on a tepid note as participants remain cautious ahead of the March quarter earnings due to kick start in the forthcoming week. Also, sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and volatility in the oil and commodity segments dented sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex closed 12 points lower to end at 24,674 and the Nifty50 gained 9 points to close at 7,555
“Nifty has breached the support level 7,580, as a result of which the down side target is seen at 6,800 levels by end of May 2016. Now our stop loss for aggressive traders for the Nifty is 7,780. We continue to remain negative on markets from a medium term perspective with Nifty seen to be hitting 6,600 & 6,300 levels. We advise investors to sell Nifty between 7,800-8,040 levels. We maintain a downside target of 6,600 & 6,300 levels for the span of next 3-5months,” said AK Prabhakar, Head of Research, IDBI Capital.
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Overseas, Asian equities closed mixed mirroring decline in the US equities after concerns over global economic slowdown resurfaced. China's Shanghai fell by 0.8% and Singapore Straits by 0.2%, while Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose by 0.5%, each.
US stocks closed lower yesterday, with financials leading declines on profit-taking in an overall risk-off environment ahead of earnings season amid slip in the crude oil prices after on a sudden surge in Iraqi oil exports.
SECTORS & STOCKS
Shares of car makers finished lower after the domestic passenger car sales declined 0.3% to 1,75,730 units in March from 1,76,260 units in the same month last year. Tata Motors shed 0.3%. Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki slipped nearly 1% as s the rising yen is likely to hurt the operating margins.
Meanwhile, the technology pack fell for the fourth consecutive sessions.TCS, Infosys and Wipro shed between 0.4%-1.5%. Infosys is scheduled to post the quarter results on Friday, April 15.
Among other individual stocks, Reliance Industries ended with marginal gains after Supreme Court dismissed plea against the Reliance Jio saying the allocation of 4G spectrum license to the company is legal and valid. The court directed the government to fix spectrum usage charges.
Tata Steel fell 0.6%. UK’s Serious Fraud Office has initiated a criminal investigation into Tata Steel’s operations, the Telegraph reported on Thursday.
According to media sources, cash-rich public sector firms ONGC, NTPC and Coal India were asked to adopt one shut urea plant each for revival which would cost about Rs 18,000 crore over the next four years. NTPC ended higher by 4% while ONGC and Coal India shed between 0.2%-1%.
Lupin surged 2% after the pharma major said that is US-based subsidiary Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc., has launched the first product from its GAVIS pipeline.
Austrian company KTM AG and Pune-based Bajaj Auto have decided to extend their distribution network to Indonesia, the biggest motorcycle market in South East Asia. Bajaj Auto ended nearly 1% up.
Shares of Reliance Communications were down nearly 1% at Rs 49.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after ratings outlook downgrade by Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
Simplex Projects stocks zoomed 20% after it sold 51.21% stake in its arm Simpark Infrastructure, proceeds of which will be utilised for business purposes.
Tata Power International (TPIPL), a Singapore company and wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Power has signed an agreement with KS Orka Renewables for the sale of its 50% stake in OTP Geothermal (OTP). Tata Power surged 2%.
Shares of Ipca Laboratories dropped 10% on concerns that revenues may take a hit after the company said it would not get orders for Artemisin in based Combination Therapy (ACT) from Swiss-based The Global Fund.
