Nifty closes sub 6K, midcaps bleed; Infy ends up 17%

A surge of 16 percent by India's Number 2 software services provider Infosys could not repair dented sentiments in the market. Although Sensex began the day with a 100-point gain after Infosys raised its guidance unexpectedly in Q3 , the spell on the market died within an hour; and the euphoria remained restricted to tech stocks only. Disappointing November IIP data and December trade deficit kept investor moral low.

On the last day of the week, Sensex closed 24.21 points down at 19639.34. Nifty ended the week with a loss of 17.35 points or 0.29% at 5951.30. Heavy selling by institutions left the Nifty with a cut of 1 percent and Sensex 0.5 percent this week. CNX IT and BSE Auto were the index gainers rising 7.9 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.

Infosys, Wipro (up 6 percent) and TCS (3.81 percent) were the top gainers on Nifty. Other gainers include Tata Motors, ONGC and HCL Tech. Big Nifty losers include Ambuja Cement, JP Associate, Ultratech, BHEL, L&T, Siemens which closed with cuts ranging from 5 percent to 9.5 percent.

CNX Midcaps saw relentless bloodshed as the cut deepened. At the end of the week CNX midcap was down 2.2 percent. Top midcap losers were PC Jewlers ( down 16.5 percent), Indiabulls (14.5 percent), Balarmapur Chini (11.5 percent)Srei Infra ( 11 percent), JM Financials (10 percent), Karnataka Bank (7.5 percent) and IVRCL (7 percent).

Profit-taking intensified on the street as December data showed trade deficit rising to USD 17.7 billion versus USD 14.7 billion in the December of previous year. At 14.25 PM, the Sensex was up 28.47 points or 0.14% at 19692.02, and the Nifty down 8.30 points or 0.14% at 5960.35 with tech sector holding up in the green. .

IT stocks continued its run with Wipro (up 5.10 percent), TCS (4.22 percent, HCL Tech (0.95 percent), and Mahindra Satyam (4.38 percent) following on the footsteps of Infosys whcih gained over 16 percent.

Top index losers were Hindustan Lever (down 2.81%),  ITC (2.71%), Reliance (1.24%) and HPCL (1.42%). Infosys which has a significant weightage on the benchmark indexes was up 16.4% at at Rs 2,701.

Key equity benchmarks came under a bit of selling pressure, giving up their early morning gains, after a disappointing set of IIP numbers, ignoring better-than-expected results for IT bellwether Infosys.

CNX IT has so far maintained its momentum after Infosys declared better-than-expected third quarter numbers. Infosys, Wipro, TCS and HCL Tech were the top performers on the Nifty rising 14.2 percent, 3.31 percent, 3.20 percent and 1.48 percent.

 At 12.34 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 57.81 points or 0.29% at 19721.36, and the Nifty up 4.15 points or 0.07% at 5972.80.

Shares in Sterlite Industries (India) were up 2 percent to Rs 117.90 after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "neutral" and raises its target price to Rs 142 from Rs 110.20.

Among the major laggards, FMCG majors HUL and ITC were down nearly 2.5 percent.

Oil was trading mixed in Asia today with some traders taking profits after stronger-than-expected trade data out of China. Back home, refinery major HPCL was trading at Rs 327.25 down 1.16%. Index heavyweight Reliance was trading at Rs 839.70 down 1.16% from its previous close of Rs 849.55.

Shares of debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines were under pressure once again after Reuters reported via a source that the planned investment of Rs 6.5 billion will to not enough to restart operations at the grounded Indian carrier.

About 929 shares have advanced, 1661 shares declined, and 799 shares are unchanged.

Infosys continues to be the star of the market today although the 50-share NSE benchmark Nifty has been slogging to stay afloat above the 6000 mark. There has been no reaction to the November data for industrial production, which came in at -0.1 percent versus a CNBC-TV18 poll of  -0.64 percent.

CNX IT has so far maintained its momentum after Infosys declared better-than-expected third quarter numbers. Infosys, Wipro, TCS and HCL Tech were the top perormers on the Nifty rising 14.2 percent, 3.31 percent, 3.20 percent and 1.48 percent.

At 11.04 AM, the Sensex was up 93.52 points or 0.48% at 19757.07, and the Nifty up 16.30 points or 0.27% at 5984.95.

Despite good numbers from Infosys and positive cues from the globe, Indian Equity benchmarks have failed to revive themselves meaningfully. S&P 500 closing at a five-year high, positive December exports data from China and European Central Bank choosing to keep rates unchanged have had no impact on the market so far.

Index heavyweight Hindustan Lever was trading at Rs 506.25 down 2.01% from its previous close of Rs 516.65. and cigarette major ITC was trading at Rs 276.40 down 1.6% from its previous close of Rs 280.90.

United Spirits remained down 1% as a few contingent agreements in the USL-Diageo deal have not gone well with SEBI. Sources say that Sebi will grant the permission for over 5500cr open offer only after a few clauses are dropped from the agreement.

After a good run in the previous session, oil and gas stocks fell victim to profit-booking. Reliance, ONGC, IOC, GAIL, OIL India, HPCL  were trading with a cut of 0.2 percent to 2 percent.

Sensex opened with a huge gap up led by technology stocks that were celebrating Infosys' third quarter numbers. Infosys opened with a 12 percent gain. At 09.21 AM, the Sensex was up 149.05 points or 0.76% at 19812.60, and the Nifty up 32.60 points or 0.55% at 6001.25.

Top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys, Wipro (3.45 percent), TCS (3.35 percent). From the midcap space Hexaware Tech appreciated 3.60 percent. Metal stocks like Sterlite and Tata Steel were the other gainers on the BSE benchmark index.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for Infosys, which had been one of the poorest performers on the 50-share NSE benchmark Nifty. With conditions improving in the US, experts say the stock has shown sufficient symptoms to get re-rated. However, besides CNX IT (up 7 percent), rest all were trading flat.

Midcaps continue to bleed for the third consecutive day. Bajaj Holdings, Shobha Developer  Amtek Auto etc were trading with a loss ranging from 2 percent to 3.5 percent.