Sensex recoups early losses in afternoon recovery

HLL also came under heavy pressure later and kept the sentiment weak. Markets pulled back in late afternoon trading and the indexes pulled back most of their losses.

Sensex closed with losses of 36 points at 13872 and the Nifty gained 4 points to end at 4088. Nifty May futures closed at a premium of 2 points to the spot index.

ICICI Bank saw a sharp fall following its results announcement.

Announcement of a large $5 billion fund raising plan this year worsened the sentiment and the stock ended 7.41 per cent lower. Among other banks, OBC lost 7.91 per cent

HLL also slipped hard after the results were announced and ended 5.48 per cent lower

ONGC continued its poor run and closed 1.37 per cent lower while BPCL gave up 1.68 per cent

Among metals, SAIL lost 1.55 per cent and Hindalco ended 1.25 per cent lower

Bharti Airtel remained weak for most of the session and ended 1.82 per cent lower

Cipla was the other major loser, closing 2.83 per cent lower

Technology stocks had a good day, led by TCS which ended 2.55 per cent higher. Infosys gained 2.28 per cent and HCL Tech added 2.26 per cent

Gail India was the best performer among Nifty stocks with gains of 4.24 per cent

Reliance Communications picked up strength in the afternoon and closed 3.66 per cent higher

Among metals, Sterlite gained 2.38 per cent and Tata Steel added 2.27 per cent

Hero Honda recovered and closed 3.58 per cent higher

Among other major gainers, ACC added 2.04 per cent and M&M closed 2.03 per cent higher

Global markets / crude oil

Most Asian markets continued to correct today as well. Singapore lost 1.1 per cent while Hong Kong and Indonesia ended more than a per cent each lower. Malaysia lost 0.2 per cent while South Korea ended marginally lower.

Shanghai rallied nearly 2.2 per cent while Thailand added close to 0.6 per cent

European markets opened higher and have gained further. Major European indexes are trading with gains of between 0.4 per cent and 0.65 per cent each in afternoon trading.

Crude oil prices remain steady after last week’s gains. Near month NYMEX futures are trading above $66.5 per barrel in European trading today.

Large-cap news flow

Mid-Cap Action

Mid-caps and small caps remained firm even when the large caps were under pressure in morning trading and gained further ground in the afternoon. The CNX Mid-cap index gained 52 points, or 1 per cent, to end at 5246. The BSE mid-cap index gained 1.08 per cent and the BSE small cap index closed 0.75 per cent higher.

Tech Mahindra surged 7.65 per cent and Patni added 4.32 per cent

Among newspaper stocks, HT Media surged 10.46 per cent while Deccan Chronicle ended at 10 per cent upper circuit

IFCI saw a sharp up move and closed 10.9 per cent higher

Visa Steel closed at 10 per cent upper circuit for the second day while Lanxess ABS and Nucleus Software also ended at 10 per cent upper circuits

Sirpur Paper, Emkay Share, Sarla Poly and IL&FS Investment Managers were the other major gainers among mid-caps

Among mid-cap technology stocks, Polaris slipped 8.47 per cent and Aztecsoft lost 6.94 per cent

GHCL closed at 10 per cent down circuit for the third session

Remson Industries, Zenith Birla, Zodiac JRD, FCI OEN and Sundaram Clayton were the other major losers among mid-cap and small-cap stocks

Mid-cap news flow

Thomas White Global Research, part of the Thomas White International Group, publishes capital market research for global institutions and investment banks.

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