Sensex closes 128 pts down on institutional selling

The BSE Sensex lost as much as 190 points intraday on Wednesday as heavy fall in major blue chips indicated that the foreign institutional investors may have offloaded some exposure. The Indian rupee too depreciated by 25 paise to 55.91 against the US dollar. But the defensives like HDFC, ITC, HUL and TCS managed to limit the downside in late trade.

Another reason could be that investors may have lost patience to hold on positions on hopes of new reforms, new strategy to limit the rising fiscal deficit and diesel price cut by the government. Both houses of parliament were adjourned for the 11th day of monsoon session as the Bharatiya Janata Party stuck to its protest over coal allocation scam.

The BSE benchmark fell 127.53 points to close at 17,313.34 after hitting an intraday low of 17,250.80. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark declined 48.30 points to 5,225.70.

On September 15, 2012, FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 188.65 crore in equities. They made gross purchase of Rs 2135.61 crore and gross sales of Rs 2324.26 crore. (Provisional figures as per nseindia website)

But the broader markets slightly outperformed benchmarks as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down 0.3-0.5% as compared to 0.7% fall in benchmarks.

European markets were volatile as investors looked bit edgy ahead of a meeting of European Central Bank tomorrow. Experts don't expect too much announcements from the ECB. Bhanu Baweja, head of research and EM strategy of UBS says he doesn't think the ECB is going to give huge amount of detail tomorrow.

"We first have to wait for the German Constitutional Court to ratify the ESM. They are likely to do that somewhere close to the middle of this month. Once they do that, that's when the ECB will go forward with giving you more details on its bond purchases," he adds.

Asian markets too closed lower due to weak US economic data yesterday.

Back home, country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank plunged 3.56% while its rival State Bank of India was down over 2%.

Private sector lender Axis Bank went down 5% after the research firm Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight from equal weight and cut its target price to Rs 800 from Rs 900.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and software services exporter Infosys declined 1% each.

The BSE Capital Goods Index tanked 2.5% as engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro tumbled nearly 3%. State-run power equipment manufacturer BHEL topped the selling list with a loss of 5%.

Metals stocks hit quite badly as the BSE Metal Index was down 2.6%. Jindal Steel plummeted nearly 5%. Hindalco Industries, Sterlite Industries and Tata Steel were down 2.6%-3.4%.

Commercial vehicle major Tata Motors lost 2.6%. Country's largest IT services exporter TCS gained 1.4%.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel topped the buying list with 3.3% gains. FMCG majors ITC and HUL were up 0.66% and 1.84%, respectively.

Housing finance company HDFC and private sector lender HDFC Bank rose 0.3% each.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing by 856 to 570 on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, Jain Irrigation lost 3.66% on concerns over equity dilution. S Kumars Nationwide was down another 3% after losing 5% yesterday.

Indiabulls Real, Sintex, Yes Bank and Ashok Leyland were down 1.6-3%. PFC and REC fell 3-5%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell more than 100 points, weighed down by ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries. SBI and L&T too were under pressure. European markets were also down nearly 0.5% as pressure and expectations mounted that the European Central Bank would announce action at Thursday's decisive meeting. Even the services purchasing managers' index stood at 47.2 in August, which was lower than expectations of 47.5.
 
The BSE benchmark plummeted 146 points to 17,295 and the NSE benchmark slipped 51 points to 5,223.

India's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were down 2% and 3.4%, respectively. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped 1.5%.

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro extended losses to 3% and state-run power equipment maker BHEL crashed more than 4.5%. Power producers NTPC and Tata Power declined 1.5% each.

Metal sector topped the selling list with more than 2.6% losses. Sterlite Industries, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel tumbled 3-4%.

Infosys, India's No. 2 software services exporter was down 0.5% while its rival TCS rebounded with gains of 0.8%.

FMCG majors ITC and HUL stayed in the bull grip with gains of 0.7% and 1.6%, respectively. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained nearly 3%.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by 813 to 586 on the National Stock Exchange.

Indian equity benchmarks dropped close to 1% in afternoon trade due to further fall in banks, capital goods and metals stocks. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and software services exporter Infosys lost more than 1%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex went down 126 points to 17,315.20 and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 45 points to 5,229.35. But European markets were flat in early trade as investors awaited the European Central Bank meeting tomorrow.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank tanked 2.6% while its rival State Bank of India was down more than 1%.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro plummeted 2% and state-run power equipment maker BHEL tumbled nearly 4%.

Metals stocks widened losses as the Metal Index plunged 2%. Jindal Steel crashed 4% while Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries were down more than 2.5%. Aluminium major Hindalco Industries declined 1%.

Commercial vehicle major Tata Motors and utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra went down 1% each. Power producers NTPC and Tata Power moved down close to 1.5%.

However, telecom operator Bharti Airtel outperformed other blue chips with gains of more than 2.6%. Housing finance company HDFC remained on buyers' radar with 0.7% gains. FMCG majors ITC and HUL were up 0.4-1%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex remained under pressure since early trade that fell 62 points to 17,378.77. The fall was in line with Asian peers as investors looked cautious ahead of a European Central Bank meeting tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 26.50 points to 5,247.50, weighed down by metals, technology, infrastructure and major banking stocks. The broader markets were flat due to neutral market breadth.

Private sector lender Axis Bank tanked over 3% after the research firm Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight from equal weight and cut its target price to Rs 800 from Rs 900.

The firm says the underlying loan book of the bank appears riskier compared to its peers. "EPS growth is likely to slow as growth unwinds and the shadow of rising impairments remains," says the firm.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank lost 1.5% while its rival State Bank of India was down 0.8%. However, HDFC Bank gained 0.8%.

Capital goods majors Larsen & Toubro and BHEL dropped 1.4% and 2.7%, respectively. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries, TCS and Infosys slipped more than 0.5%.

India's largest commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors and drug producer Sun Pharma declined 1% each.

Steel manufacturer extended losses; Tata Steel and Jindal Steel tumbled 2-3%. Sterlite Industries was down 1.8%.

Bharti Airtel retained its top position in the buying list with 2.5% gains. Housing finance company HDFC and FMCG major Hindustan Unilever were up 0.8% and 1.4%, respectively.

In the second line shares, KSK Energy, Prestige Estate, Glodyne Tech, Shree Global and Emami rallied 3-7% while Jain Irrigation, Opto Circuits, Nava Bharat Ventures, Info Edge and Motilal Oswal lost 2.5-3%.

The NSE Nifty was struggling again (like yesterday) to hold the 5250 level amid selling pressure in morning trade, weighed down by steel, infrastructure and technology stocks. ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and SBI too were down while HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, HDFC and FMCG stocks were trying to offsetting those losses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 58 points to 17,382.87 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 25 points to 5,249.55. The Indian rupee depreciated by 15 paise to 55.81 against the US dollar.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were down 0.5-1% while their rival HDFC Bank outperformed with 0.5% gains.

Steel producers Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Steel lost more than 1.5%. Technology majors TCS and Infosys declined 0.5%.

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro went down 1% and state-owned power equipment manufacturer BHEL was down nearly 2%.

Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors moved down 0.7% while Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki and M&M were down 0.3-0.7%.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel topped the buying list with nearly 2% gains. Housing finance company HDFC, cigarette major ITC and India's largest coal mining company Coal India were marginally trading lower.

The broader markets were listless as the market breadth was neutral.

Indian shares erased all yesterday's gains in early trade on Wednesday due to weakness in global markets. Investors looked cautious ahead of European Central Bank's meet tomorrow and preferred profit taking ahead of that event.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 58 points to 17,382.76 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 21.2 points to 5,252.80.

Among Asian markets, Hang Seng and Kospi were down over 1%. Nikkei, Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted declined 0.6-0.9%. Investors awaited for ECB's move on Thursday and US jobs data on Friday for signs of more action to counter European debt woes and support growth.

Reliance Infrastructure lost 2% as the 50 ft slab of Metro Rail bridge collapsed at construction site in Mumbai. HCC, a sub contractor to the project, too was down 2%.

BHEL, JSPL, Sterlite, Sesa Goa, Tata Steel, JP Associates, L&T, ACC, Tata Motors, DLF, ONGC, Cipla, Sun Pharma Infosys and Wipro were down in early trade.

BPCL moved up over 1% as The Financial Express reported that the Kelkar panel suggested to raise LPG prices by Rs 50 and diesel prices by Rs 4.

ITC, HUL, GAIL, HDFC and TCS were offsetting losses on the benchmarks.

The CNX Midcap Index was down 18 points at 7,119. About two shares declined for every shares advanced on the National Stock Exchange.

In the second line shares, Tata Sponge rose 1%.

Ind-Swift Laboratories lost nearly 4% as the company denied the news of selling entire stake.

Indiabulls Power rallied 6% and Tulip Telecom shot up 3.5%.

IFCI, Lanco Infratech, GVK Power, Educomp and PFC were down 1%.

Kingfisher Airlines fell 2% ahead of lenders meet today at 11 am.

Balaji Telefilms was locked at 5% upper circuit as Business Standard reported that STAR India is ready to sell 26% stake in company to promoters.