Sensex ends 161 pts dn, investors wary of Jackson Hole meet

Indian shares fell 1% on Friday - last session of the August month - due to slowdown in the growth momentum, political & policy paralysis and unlikely of QE3 hint by Ben Bernanke in the Jackson Hole meet today evening. Unwinding of long positions as the market head into September month too added fuel to the fire in the second half of trade.

Even the less room for rate cut (after today's GDP) by the Reserve Bank of India in the upcoming monetary policy, which is scheduled for September 17, too was spoilsport for the market. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 56.55 points to close at 5,258.50 after showing a recovery from four-week low.

Nischal Maheshwari of Edelweiss Financial Services feels the RBI has very limited elbow room to do anything. "We do not expect any rate cuts as far as September is concerned."

Meanwhile the 30-share BSE Sensex lost 160.89 points to 17,380.75, weighed down by FMCG, technology, metals, infrastructure and banks stocks.

According to the statistical report, the gross domestic product grew 5.5% in the first quarter of FY13 as against 5.3% in previous quarter, which was slightly ahead of analysts' expectations of 5.3%. Growth in agriculture, manufacturing, industrial and services sector was less in the quarter as compared to corresponding quarter of last fiscal. Private final consumption grew at 3.9% as against 4.8% during the same period, which also dampened mood.

Given the inflationary pressures, unsatisfactory monsoon and the policy stasis, Arun Singh, senior economist of Dun & Bradstreet India expects growth to remain subdued during the second quarter of FY13 with GDP growing below 6%. "We have revised downwards our GDP growth forecast from 6.7% to 6.2% for FY13," he said.

On the global front, France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE gained 0.5% each ahead of central bankers' meet at Jackson Hole today evening. However, experts do not expect any hint of QE3 by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

Patrick Legland of Societe Generale, says that I don't think that we will have QE3 at this stage because US economy will relatively slide. Certainly, global investors are more focusing on the outcome of European crisis and solution that could be found.

Back home, index heavyweight Reliance Industries and top software services exporter TCS fell 1.3% each. Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro and IT services provider Infosys dropped 0.7% each.

Fast moving consumer goods majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever were down 0.8% and 1.6%, respectively. Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank declined 0.9% while its rival State Bank of India was up 0.26%.

State-run power producer NTPC and power equipment manufacturer BHEL went down 2%. Among auto stocks, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp and M&M were down 1-2%.

Metals stocks were off day's low in late trade; Sterlite Industries and Hindalco Industries, which fell nearly 4% intraday, closed with 2% losses. Coal India tumbled 2% and Tata Steel was down 1%.

Housing finance company HDFC, telecom operator Bharti Airtel and drug producer Cipla gained 1.2-1.6%.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing by 812 to 602 on the National Stock Exchange.

For the week, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty tumbled more than 2%, but foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained buyers this week.

In fact, FIIs have consistently bought more than Rs 10,000 crore worth of shares in August and more than Rs 64,000 crore in the current calendar year 2012. The market gained more than 0.5% in the month gone by and 13% in the year.

Nifty falls to 4-week low; RIL, ICICI, Tata Motors drag

The NSE Nifty fell to a four-week low of 5,238.90 due to downward journey in Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. TCS and Tata Motors too extended losses, but HDFC, Bharti, Cipla and ONGC remained on buyers' radar.

The BSE benchmark tanked 187 points to 17,354.33 and the NSE benchmark fell 70 points to 5,245.20 despite upmove in European markets. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE declined nearly 0.5%.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank and top IT services exporter TCS tumbled 1.9% each.

Metals and mining stocks extended losses in afternoon trade. Sterlite Industries plummeted 3.7% and Hindalco Industries was down 3.4%. Tata Steel and Coal India were down 2-2.6%.

Commercial vehicle major Tata Motors and two-wheeler maker Hero Motocorp lost 2.5% each.

Among fast moving consumer goods stocks, ITC was down 1% and Hindustan Unilever dropped more than 2%.

Shares of Larsen & Toubro, M&M, NTPC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto and Wipro fell 1-2%.

About 569 shares advanced while 812 shares declined on the National Stock Exchange.

Sensex drops 100 pts; Sterlite, Hindalco, Coal India dip 2%

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses due to weakness in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Larsen & Toubro. Banking and financial majors State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and HDFC trimmed gains to 0.5-0.7%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 107 points to 17,435 and the 50-share NSE Nifty plummeted 45 points to 5,270, even after a marginal rebound in European markets.

Political uncertainty due to parliament logjam for second consecutive week, fall in private consumption in Q1 and unlikely hint of QE3 by Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke at today's Jackson Hole meet may be added fuel to the fire.

Private oil & gas producer fell 1% and private sector lender ICICI Bank was down 0.9%. Country's largest software services exporters TCS and Infosys were down 1.2% and 0.6%, respectively.

Fast moving consumer goods majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever declined 0.9% and 1.8%, respectively.

Two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp tumbled 2.6% while other auto stocks like Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and M&M declined 0.5-1%.

State-run power equipment maker BHEL and power producer NTPC tanked 2% each. Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro plummeted 0.85%.

Among metals and mining stocks, Coal India, Sterlite Industries and Hindalco Industries were down 2% each.

IDFC topped the selling list with a fall of 4%. Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel and drug producer Cipla were biggest gainers with 1.3% upmove.

In the second line shares, NIIT Tech, Jyothy Labs, Biocon, STC India and Infotech Enterprises were up 4-5% while Glodyne Tech, IFCI, Nava Bharat Ventures, Jain Irrigation and MTNL lost 3-5%.

Sensex pares losses; banking & financials gain

The 30-share BSE Sensex pared losses in afternoon trade, supported by HDFC, HDFC Bank and SBI. The marginal recovery indicated that the market priced in the June quarter gross domestic product data and now is waiting for the conclusion of the global central bankers' meet at Jackson Hole today evening.

Today's fall was also attributed to the current political paralysis as the parliament logjam over CAG report continued in the second week of monsoon session.

The BSE benchmark was down 50 points to 17,492.74 and the NSE benchmark moved down 26 points to 5,289.05. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks with 0.5% gains.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the April-June quarter grew a better-than-expected 5.5%, after eight successive quarters of declining growth. A CNBC-TV18 poll had estimated that quarterly GDP would grow 5.3%. However, the slight improvement in the figure failed to enthuse the market.

Banking and financial stocks recovered smartly, may be on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India may consider rate cut in the upcomgin policy that is scheduled for September 17. Country's largest lender State Bank of India gained 0.9% while its rival HDFC Bank was up 0.7%. Private sector lender ICICI Bank was down just 0.2%. Housing finance company HDFC rallied 1.6%.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel and drug producer Cipla remained on buyers' radar, which went up 0.9% and 1.4%, respectively.

FMCG majors ITC and HUL fell 1-1.7%. India's largest IT services exporters TCS and Infosys lost 1.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Auto stocks remained under pressure; Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra were down 0.5-1.4%.

Aluminium major Hindalco Industries and top coal mining company Coal India topped the selling list with a fall of 2%.

In the second line shares, Jyothy Labs, Biocon, Indraprastha Gas, STC India and Pidilite Industries gained 4-6% while Glodyne Tech, Nava Bharat Ventures, S Mobility, Phoenix Mills and MTNL went down 2-5%.

Advancers outnumbered decliners by 754 to 594 on the National Stock Exchange.

Nifty stays below 5300, ignores Q1 GDP

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty continued to trade near day's low as the gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of financial year 2012-13 could not show any major change over previous quarter data. Growth in every major sector explained itself that the economic growth has been slowing down while the spike in construction sector growth was one-off, say experts.

GDP improved to 5.5% as against 5.3% in the previous quarter. Agriculture sector grew 2.9% as against 3.7% in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal. Industrial sector rose 3.6% versus 5.6% and services 6.9% versus 10.2% during the same period. Manufacturing sector growth stood at 0.2% in the June quarter whereas construction grew 10.9% as against 3.5%.

The BSE benchmark was down 72 points to 17,469.51 and the NSE benchmark declined 32 points to 5,283.15.

Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank fell 0.7% while its rivals State Bank of India and HDFC Bank were marginally higher.

Capital goods majors Larsen & Toubro and BHEL were down 0.6-1.35%. Among FMCG stocks, ITC and HUL lost 1-1.5%.

Top software services exporter TCS moved down 1.24% while its rival Infosys declined 0.5%.

Auto stocks like Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp, M&M and Maruti Suzuki went down 0.7-1.4%.

State-run power producer NTPC extended losses to 2% as reports indicated that the company has slashed investments by Rs 50,000 crore due to coal supply uncertainty.

Housing finance company HDFC, drug producer Cipla and telecom operator Bharti were up 1%, 1.9% and 0.7%, respectively.

Sensex declines 80 points; Cipla, Bharti, HDFC outperform

Indian shares remained under pressure, weighed down by weakness in banks, infrastructure, fast moving consumer goods, auto and technology stocks. However, drug producer Cipla bucked the trend with gains of 2%. Housing finance company HDFC and top telecom operator Bharti Airtel were up over 0.7%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 83 points to 17,458.67 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 33.4 points to 5,281.65. The broader markets were flat as the market breadth was neutral.

Major Asian markets too were down ahead of central bankers' meet at Jackson Hole today evening, as the hopes of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will give a hint about QE3 may be waned. Nikkei declined over 1% while Hang Seng was down 0.3%.

Back home, the gross domestic product for the first quarter ended June 2012 will be announced today. Analysts on an average do not expect any change on quarter-on-quarter basis; they expect it at around 5.3%.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 0.3-0.8%. FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever declined 0.8% each.

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro dropped 0.9% and state-owned power equipment maker BHEL tanked 1.5%.

Top software services exporters TCS and Infosys went down 1.5% and 0.6%, respectively.

Among auto stocks, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp and Mahindra & Mahindra moved down 0.6%-1.2%.

State-run power producer NTPC tumbled 1.7% as the leading newspaper reported that the company has slashed investments by Rs 50,000 crore due to coal supply uncertainty.

Nifty slips below 5300 to kickstart September series

The 50-share NSE Nifty opened below the 5300 level on first day of the September series, erasing all its yesterday's gains. First quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data will also be closely watched today; Analysts on an average expect it in the vicinity of 5.3%, which will be largely unchanged compared to previous quarter.

The BSE benchmark lost 63 points to 17,478.98 and the NSE benchmark slipped 28 points to 5,287.45, weighed down by banks, FMCG, technology and infrastructure stocks.

Globally, investors have been eagerly waiting for the central bankers' meet at Jackson Hole today evening; wherein the discussion will be on global economic growth and majorly on Eurozone's credit crisis.

Back home, JP Associates, JSPL, Hindalco Industries, DLF, GAIL, Ambuja Cements, ACC, TCS, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Coal India, PNB, BHEL, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Reliance Industries were down in early trade.

NTPC was down 1.8% as the Business Standard reported that the company has slashed investments by Rs 50,000 crore due to coal supply uncertainty. NHPC tanked 4%.

HDFC, ONGC, Grasim, Asian Paints, Bank of Baroda and SAIL were among gainers.

The CNX Midcap Index was down 8 points to 7,063 as the market breadth was slightly in favour of declines.

In the second line shares, MTNL crashed 10% after yesterday's multiple block deals.

IFCI was down another 2%. IDBI Bank, Jain Irrigation, Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra, Suzlon Energy, Kingfisher Airlines and Lanco Infratech were under pressure.

Neyveli Lignite gained 2.6% as sources said the government is seeking request for quotation (RFQ) from bankers for 5% stake sale in the company.

RCF rallied 3% as the company is going to invest Rs 4,000 crore over next three years to ramp up urea capacity at Thal plant near Mumbai.

JSW Steel, Alok Industries and S Kumars Nationwide gained 1%.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings was up 1.5% on reports that the company may be looking to sell stake in IPL team.