The last two sessions of the February series futures and options contract expiry week turned out to be days of correction for the Indian stock markets which have seen the bulls losing their stronghold over the crucial 5,500 (Nifty) and 18,100 (Sensex) levels. The F&O expiry day turned out to be yet another disappointing session for the benchmark indices which went through extremely volatile trades to eventually snap the session with around half a percent cuts on extremely large volumes. The drift in markets in last two sessions has forced market participants to give a rethink to their strategy on domestic markets especially at a time when international crude oil prices have spiraled to unsustainable levels and are showing little signs of correcting any time soon. Nevertheless, the frontline indices managed to extend the gaining momentum after the January series over 10% rally and amassed another around six percent gains in February series. On the expiry day, the psychological 5,450 (Nifty) and 18,000 (Sensex) levels proved as strong supports as the key indices staged a sharp recovery from those levels in the afternoon session and touched session's highs in late hours. Investors took largely across the board position squaring after the recent strong rally in domestic stock markets, lacking any significant upside triggers. Sentiments across the globe remained gloomy as worries over financial meltdown in Euro-zone persisted while global economic growth woes too prevented markets from moving higher. Meanwhile the recent sharp spurt in international crude oil prices has set alarm bells ringing, stoking nervousness not only among market participants but also the policy makers. The rally in oil prices would certainly have spiraling effect on the Indian economy as the nation imports more than 70% of the commodity for domestic requirements, thus re-fuelling the inflationary concerns. However, the positive opening for European markets did prop up sentiments in local markets for a brief period in late trade but the optimism fizzled out completely by the end.
The NSE's 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, declined around half a percent and settled below the psychological 5,500 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index - Sensex shed around sixty points to close above the psychological 18,050 mark. The broader markets too managed to trim some part off their losses but still settled with notable losses, underperforming their larger peers for the third straight session. On the BSE sectoral front, the high beta Realty counter led the losers in the space with 2.5% losses. The Metal, Auto and Capital Goods counters too went home with losses. On the flipside defensive - FMCG pocket along with the Power and Oil & Gas counters settled on a positive note. The markets snapped a volatile session on extremely large volumes of over Rs 3.29 lakh core while the turnover for NSE F&O segment also remained on the higher side as compared to that on Wednesday at over Rs 2.58 lakh crore. The market breadth remained pessimistic as there were 1092 shares on the gaining side against 1786 shares on the losing side while 108 shares remained unchanged.
On the F&O front, February series Nifty and Sensex staged a strong feat by jumping around 6% each. Besides, the broader markets managed to outperform their larger peers by a fat margin as by the end of February series the mid cap and small cap rallied around 8.6% and 7.6% respectively. The rate sensitive counters like Realty, Bankex and Auto remained among prominent gainers in the series as they ended with handsome gains of about 13.5%, 8.7% and 10.8% respectively. From the expiry perspective, market wide rollover of 62.71% was observed which was higher than the three month average of 61.33% while Nifty rollovers were at 57.83%, lower than 3 month average of 58.16%. Sectorally, the Sugar, Power and Capital Goods counters witnessed high rollovers while sectors like Technology, Realty and Cement pockets observed relatively low rolls. Among individual stocks, vast rollovers were witnessed in heavyweights including Infosys (74%), Cairn (73%), HDFC (72%), Suzlon (78%) and GMR Infra (74%) while low rollovers were seen in stocks like HCL Tech (49%), ACC (53%) and ONGC (55%).
Finally, the BSE Sensex lost 66.75 points or 0.37% to settle at 18,078.50, while the S&P CNX Nifty declined by 22.05 points or 0.40% to close at 5,483.30.
The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 18,249.53 and 18,005.28 respectively. The BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were down by 0.55% and 0.91% respectively.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up 2.22%, BHEL up 1.74%, NTPC up 1.15%, RIL up 0.59% and TCS up 0.59%, while, Sterlite Industries down 4.09%, Hero MotoCorp down 2.68%, Bharti Airtel down 2.59%, Mahindra & Mahindra down 2.31% and Maruti Suzuki down 2.09% were the major losers on the index.
The top gainers on the BSE sectoral space were FMCG up 0.82%, Power up 0.64% and Oil & Gas up 0.35% while Realty down 2.46%, Metal down 1.41%, Auto down 0.79%, Capital Goods (CG) down 0.52% and TECk down 0.51% were the top losers on the BSE sectoral space.
Meanwhile, describing introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) as the most significant reform in the history of indirect taxes in the country, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee affirmed that once implemented it will bring about a paradigm shift in the arena of indirect taxation. With India being at the door step of implementing the crucial reform, the finance minister remained confident that GST will prove to be a more efficient system of taxation and is likely to give a boost to the tax revenues of the Centre and the States by removing barriers amongst States and converting the entire country into a common market.
Commending the performance of the Central Customs and Excise Department in adapting quickly and successfully to the changing economic environment, the finance minister stated the Central Excise revenue has more than doubled over the last ten years from Rs. 68,282 crore in 2000-01 to Rs 137,427 crore in 2010-11, which is 40% of the total revenue from Indirect Taxes. However, he said that still further efforts are required to ensure to meet the target of indirect tax collections for the current fiscal.
With India's indirect tax collections increasing to Rs 317,233 crore till January 2012 in the current financial year, which is 15% more as compared to the revenues of the corresponding period last year, the government was optimistic that the Budget Estimates for the financial year will be completely met.
The S&P CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 5,537.40 and 5,460.80 respectively.
The top gainers on the Nifty were BPCL up 6.47%, HUL up 2.51%, Powergrid up 2.46%, BHEL up 1.55% and Tata Power up 1.31%.
On the flip side, JP Associates down 6.56%, Sterlite Industries down 3.85%, Sesa Goa down 3.66%, PNB down 3.10% and Hero MotoCorp down 2.44% were the top losers on the index.
The European markets were trading mixed as France's CAC 40 down 0.14%, Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.23% and Germany's DAX down by 0.30%.
Stocks in Asian region fell on Thursday as investors remained concern that the rescue package of $170 billion announced for Greece on Tuesday will not be sufficient to keep the debt-laden country from eventually defaulting. Moreover worries over slowdown in the global economy, including higher oil prices and data showing the euro zone may be sliding toward recession, too dampened the sentiments.
Seoul composite lost over a percentage point as foreign investors remained sellers of a net 95.9 billion won ($85.17 million) worth of stocks, poised to end a four-session buying streak. Institutions continued selling for a seventh straight session, offloading 82.9 billion won worth of stocks. Indonesia and Singapore's index too lost near a percentage point in the trade, however, Japanese Nikkei share average advanced on Thursday to end just below 9,600, with a softer yen underpinning market sentiment.
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