Cong's UP miss miffs mkt, Sensex ends 190 pts down

The BSE Sensex seems to be disappointed with the UP Assembly election results and wiped out more than 500 points from day's high just before closing.

The benchmark rallied more than 300 points in first half of trade on hopes that there would be SP-Congress alliance in Uttar Pradesh, which would have been helpful for the Congress to take reforms further. However, that remained a dream for the Congress as Mulayam Singh of Samajwadi Party is set to become Chief Minister of UP government without taking any help from other party. This was taken negatively by the market in second half of trade.

SP has emerged as the top party in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections winning 96 seats and leading in 125 other seats, taking the total number to 221, at 3:50 pm. Meanwhile, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party won 32 seats and was leading in 51 other seats. BJP and Congress won 15 seats each and were leading in 45 and 40 other seats, respectively.

Congress also lost elections in Goa (won by BJP), Punjab (won by Shiromani Akali Dal) while it retained its power in Manipur.

Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson of HT Media said the outcome was very disappointing for the Congress. "Performance in state assembly today will not help at centre," she added.

The BSE benchmark fell 189.58 points or 1.09%, to close at 17,173.29 led by downtrend in 21 stocks. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark touched an intraday high of 5,382.05 and low of 5,206.40, before closing down 57.95 points at 5,222.40.

Now the market has shifted its focus to global cues, which remain weak and upcoming two local events: Budget (schedule to be announced on March 16) and RBI's monetary policy (on March 15).

Global markets were down today as renewed concerns over Greece and slowing growth in China overshadowed better-than-expected US economic news. Asian markets closed with a loss of 0.9-2% while European markets were down between 1% & 1.5%.

Depreciating rupee was another cause for concern, which was down by 43 paise to 50.28 a dollar.

Chetan Ahya of Morgan Stanley indicated that the rupee could go down to 52.5 levels against the dollar before recovering.

Metal stocks got butchered quite badly; BSE Metal Index tanked nearly 4%. Shares of Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Hindalco crashed around 5.5% while Jindal Steel was down 3.8%.

Capital goods majors L&T and BHEL fell 2.5-3%. Shares of country's largest lenders ICICI Bank and SBI tumbled 1-2% while rival HDFC Bank was down 0.7%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped 2.7% and telecom major Bharti Airtel lost 3.66%.

However, Infosys and ITC bucked the trend, rising 1.4%. Shares of DLF rallied 2.7% and Maruti gained 1%.

The broader markets too declined 1% and declining shares outnumbered advancing by 1762 to 1042 on the BSE.

Total traded turnover on both exchanges was more than 1.91 lakh crore.

At 15 hours IST: Sensex falls 200 pts; SP set to form UP govt

The market extended its fall in late trade as the Samajwadi Party has crossed the half-way mark in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections and looks all set to form the next government in the state without support from Congress or any other party.

While the party has already won 42 seats, it is leading in 173 other seats, taking the total number to 215 as per the tally at around 2.55 pm.

The BSE Sensex tanked 210 points or 1.2% to 17,153 dragged down by 25 stocks. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty lost 61.7 points or 1.2% to 5,218.65.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and L&T plunged 2-2.5%. State-run BHEL tanked nearly 3% and shares of country's largest telecom player Bharti Airtel was down 3.4%.

Metals stocks took heavy beating among largecaps; Tata Steel, Hindalco and Sterlite Industries were down 5-6% while Jindal Steel fell 3%.

However, Infosys, ITC and Maruti Suzuki bucked the trend, rising over 1%. Shares of DLF gained 2.5%.

At 14:32 hours IST: Choppy Sensex sliding; SP close to half-way mark

The BSE Sensex was hovering around its previous closing value as it seemed to be in a consoliation phase.

The BSE benchmark declined 47 points to 17,315.68 and the NSE benchmark slipped 12 points to 5,268.65. However, the BSE Midcap Index outperformed with 0.3% gain.

The Samajwadi Party appears to be surging ahead to the half-way mark in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections and looks all set to form the next government in the state on its own. While the party has already won 25 seats, it is leading in 173 other seats, taking the total number to 198 as per the tally at around 2:20 pm.

Meanwhile, experts are expect 50 basis points cut in CRR in the forthcoming monetary policy.

"A 50 bps cut in CRR is very likely in this policy meet on March 15, but a repo rate cut is far-fetched right now," Chetan Ahya of Morgan Stanley says.

Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Sterlite Industries and Reliance Infrastructure were top losers among largecaps, falling 2-3.5%.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and L&T were down 1-1.5%.

On the global front, European markets like France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.5-1%. The Dow Jones futures dropped 30 points.

At 13:37 hours IST: Sensex turns negative; focus shifts to weak global cues

The market gave up all its early gains as the Congress party trailed in fourth place as vote counting neared its end in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, a bitter election blow to Rahul Gandhi who had staked his political future on reviving his party's fortunes in the state.

However, Anup Bagchi of ICICI Securities says that the markets had already anticipated that Samajwadi Party would secure 180-185 seats at the upper end. And now that the election results are out of the way, the indices are now shifting focus towards the weak global cues and next set of major local events. (read: Union Budget, RBI credit policy).

The BSE Sensex fell 89 points to 17,273 after shedding more than 350 points from day's high. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty declined 22 points at 5,258.

Shares of India's most valuable company Reliance Industries tumbled 1.9%. ICICI Bank, L&T, BHEL, Sterlite, and Bharti Airtel were down 1.5-2%.

HDFC Bank, TCS and Tata Motors dropped 0.6-1% while SBI, Infosys, ITC and Maruti gained over 1%. Shares of DLF rallied 3.5%.

Volume was very high today - total traded turnover was more than Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

Asian markets like Shanghai, Hang Seng and Straits Times closed 1.4-2% lower on concerns over growth in eurozone and China. Nikkei, Taiwan Weighted and Kospi were down 0.6-0.8%. Even European markets were lower on opening.

At 12:46 hours IST: Volatile Nifty higher; SP with 189 still lacks majority

The BSE Sensex was trading moderately higher amid choppy trade ascounting has almost been done in Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party emerged as the largest party with leads in 187 seats, which may need small support of others to form government. Bahujan Samaj Party with 102 seats stands at second spot while BJP with 51 and Congress+RJD with 49 seats at third & fourth spots, respectively.

The BSE Sensex was up just 54 points at 17,417.03 and the NSE benchmark gained 18 points at 5,298.15.

Shares of Infosys, SBI, ITC, L&T, HDFC and BHEL were helping the market while Reliance Industries, Bharti, ICICI Bank, TCS and Tata Steel were under pressure.

At 12 hours IST: Sensex sheds gains as SP-Cong alliance hopes wane

The market lost more than half of gains as Uttar Pradesh appears to be heading towards a hung assembly with the Samajwadi Party (SP) emerging as the single largest party in the state, falling short of a clear majority.

According to the trends at 12.10 am, the SP was leading in 190 seats, BSP with 100, Congress+RLD alliance with 50 while BJP was lagging behind with leads in 49 seats.

The BSE benchmark gained 101 points or 0.58% at 17,464 and the NSE benchmark rose 32 points or 0.6% to 5,312.

Banks, capital goods, realty, auto and FMCG stocks were supporting the market to keep its uptrend.

The market breadth was positive; about 1462 shares advanced while 900 shares declined on the BSE.

At 11:38 hours IST: Nifty off day's high; SP with 183 may not need Cong support

The BSE Sensex continued to trade sharply higher, though it shaved off some gains. According to the leads at around 11.30 am, the SP leads in 183 seats while the BSP manages to lead in 95. The Congress and the BJP stand at 50 and 47 respectively each whereas others lead in 13 assembly seats.

The BSE benchmark gained 199 points at 17,561.70, supported by 25 components. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark climbed 62 points to 5,342.15.

Shares of DLF topped the buying list, rising 5%. State-run BHEL gained 3.35% and country's largest lender SBI moved up 3.5%.

At 11:10 hours IST: Sensex surges 300 pts; SP leading in UP with 174, Cong 50

The BSE Sensex extended rally quite sharply as the market priced in election event and started concentrating other events like Budget and monetary policy.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has taken a big lead in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) together pose a tough challenge for it. Going by the trends the SP is well on its way to emerge as the single largest party.

The BSE benchmark shot up 296 points to 17,659.14, helped by 28 components. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark surged 89 points to 5,369.50.

All sectoral indices were in green; the BSE Realty, Capital Goods, Bank, PSU and Auto indices moved up 2-3.7%. Power, IT, Metal, FMCG, Healthcare and Oil & Gas gained 1-1.7%.

However, only Cipla and Hindalco were down.

At 10:34 hours IST: Sensex up 100 pts, SP leading in UP with 157, Cong 49

The Sensex continued to hold its 100 points gain as it seemed to be priced in that Samajwadi party will be in a leading position in Uttar Pradesh and there will be alliance with Congress for majority.

The BSE benchmark gained 101 points at 17,464 led by 20 stocks and the NSE benchmark rose 30 points to 5,311.

Shares of Infosys, SBI, ITC, HDFC, L&T, Tata Motors, ONGC and BHEL gained 1% whlie Reliance and Bharti fell over 0.5%.

The market breadth was positive; about 787 shares advanced while 450 shares declining on the National Stock Exchange.

Stocks in Focus

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's stocks have been rising since yesterday as Samajwadi Party is likely to be emerged as a leader in Uttar Pradesh. Anil Ambani has a good relationship with Samajwadi Party. Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance MediaWorks and Reliance Capital gained 0.5-0.9%.

Subex shot up 8% as the company bagged multi-million dollar order from West Asia Mobile Op.

Coal India rose 1.5% as sources of Coal Ministry say next round of coal blocks allocation is likely this week and more than 50 coal blocks will be allotted.

Most active shares

Reliance Infrastructure - 33 lakh shares

Reliance Power - 31.5 lakh shares

Axis Bank - 16 lakh shares 211,982

At 9:45 hours IST: Nifty above 5300; Is mkt still hoping for a SP-Cong pact?

As Congress faces rout in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand, the market has started putting on a show by recouping losses and getting back above the 5300 level. The market's behaviour has perplexed experts who analyse that possibly it is still expecting a SP-Congress alliance in UP.

The BSE benchmark was up 85 points at 17,447.81 and the NSE benchmark rose 27 points to 5,306.95. Beaten down sectors in early trade too bounced back; banks, capital goods, realty, auto (barring Hero Motocorp) and FMCG stocks were on buyers' radar. However, fall in Reliance Industries, Hindalco, Bharti, Tata Steel and Sterlite has somewhat cropped the upside.

ADAG stocks have been in limelight since yesterday; Reliance Communications, Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure were up 1-2%.

In the Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party is the leading party with 122 seats while Mayawati's BSP was leading with just 55 seats.

The Indian rupee slipped below 50 a dollar, down 16 paise.

At 9:19 hours IST: Sensex falls 100 pts ahead of UP election results

The Sensex fell more than 100 points in early trade following weak global cues and ahead of UP Assembly election outcome today. Banks, capital goods and metals stocks were under pressure.

Weaker growth expectations in China and less than expected economic data in eurozone dented sentiment globally, though US economic data was positive. Asian markets like Shanghai, Hang Seng, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted fell 1-1.4%; Nikkei was down 0.44% and Straits Times declined 0.9%.

The BSE benchmark fell 138 points to 17,225.24 and the NSE benchmark was down 44.5 points at 5,235.90.

Jaypee group were biggest losers as UP Assembly election results may not be favouring Bahujan Samaj Party. JP Associates tanked 5% and Jaiprakash Power was down 4%. However, Reliance Power, Reliance Communications and Reliance Infrastructure gained 1-2% as Samajwadi Party is in a leading position as suggested by vote counting.

Among frontliners, DLF, Axis Bank, Hindalco, L&T, BHEL, Bharti, IDFC, Bajaj Auto, Ambuja Cements and Hero Motocorp were down 1-2%.

The CNX Midcap was down 54 points to 7,474. Even the market breadth was negative; about two shares declined for every share rising on the NSE.

In the second line shares, Bajaj Hindusthan and Triveni Engineering gained 1.5%.

IGL was up 2% post the company increased CNG prices by Rs 1.90/kg in Ghaziabad, Greater Noida

Kingfisher Airlines gained 0.65% after Business Standard reports that TPG, Blackstone and Cerberus are eyeing stake in the company.

Thomas Cook was up 1%.