Sensex erases early losses, up 116 points in morning trade

Erasing early losses, the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark index, Sensex, rose by almost 116 points in morning trade today as speculators covered pending short positions amid selective buying by funds.

The index, which lost 56.74 points in opening trade, bounced back by 115.91 points, or 0.70 per cent, to reach 16,503.75 points at 1045 hrs. Auto, capital goods and oil and gas sector stocks led the recovery.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 32.25 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 4,949.65 points. Brokers said apart from covering up of outstanding short positions by speculators -- with today being the last session of monthly expiry in the derivatives segment -- buying by funds at select counters also helped stocks reverse the weak trend that had set in earlier in the day.

They added reports of a rebound on the other Asian bourses also influenced the trading sentiment. In the auto segment, Mahindra and Mahindra was being traded 2.95 per cent higher at Rs 534.75 after the company acquired a majority stake in electric car-maker REVA. Other gainers were Tata Motors, up 1.78 per cent at Rs 721.90, and Maruti Suzuki, which rose 0.76 per cent to Rs 1,208.40.

source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Sensex-erases-early-losses-up-116-points-in-morning-trade/H1-Article1-549111.aspx

Nifty ends near 4800 in global meltdown

Indian markets ended near 3-month lows on Tuesday, reacting to fears over a widening debt crisis in Europe and rising hostility between South and North Korea. Stocks from metals, capital goods and banks were amongst the worst beaten sectors.

Equities opened gap-down on reports that North Korea was readying its military against any action by South Korea and the US. The fall was triggered further by negative opening of Europe which led to the benchmarks slipping below crucial support levels.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 4806.75, down 137.20 points or 2.78 per cent. The index breached the crucial support of 4800 and touched an intraday low of 4786.45.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 16,022.48, down 447.07 points or 2.71 per cent. The 30-share index fell below 16,000 to touch an intra-day low of 15,960.15.

“Breaching 4,800 is not a comfortable sign. Given the negative cues from across the globe, there is a good possibility of 200 points fall on Nifty. In the short term, the market looks over-sold and we may see a bout of profit booking before the May F&O expiry,” said Anu Jain, Vice President, IIFL Private Wealth Management, India Infoline.

The BSE Midcap Index plunged 3 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index fell 3.43 per cent.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Metal Index fell 5.10 per cent, BSE Capital Goods Index declined 3.09 per cent and BSE Bankex fell 2.62 per cent.

“Most traders are short on the market and they should partially cover their positions, whereas investors must identity value stocks and start buying in small quantities on dips in next 15-30 days,” Jain said.

Reliance Communications (-6.32%), Hindalco (-5.43%), Tata Motors (-4.66%), Sterlite Industries (-4.49%), and Tata Steel (-4.45%) were amongst the top Sensex losers.

Cipla (0.05%) was the only gainer.

Market breadth was negative on the BSE with 1210 losers against 115 gainers.

Europe continued to reel and the US markets are also seen opening sharply lower. At 4:30 pm IST, Dow Jones futures was down 2.11 per cent, S&P 500 futures fell 2.44 per cent lower and Nasdaq 100 declined 2.06 per cent.