Rupee, weak exports weigh on market; autos biggest losers

After opening on a positive note, the markets shed most of their gains in the afternoon and finally closed in the red with the Sensex down 17 points to 17301 while the Nifty was down 9 points to 5239. The market breadth also skewed towards the negative side. On the NSE, 805 stocks declined, 673 advanced while 66 were same.

A sharp drop in the rupee against the US dollar, weak exports for March and slowdown in the core sector growth are among the other factors dampening the sentiment for the Indian market.The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, rose to 54.9 in April from 54.7 in March. The index has remained above the 50-mark that divides growth from contraction for more than three years.

Earlier, the indices had advanced on the back of positive manufacturing PMI data out of the US and China.

Manufacturing activity in the debt-stricken eurozone too contracted at a faster-than-estimated pace in April, reinforcing a growing fear that the region has slipped into another recession owing to a long-running credit crisis.

Since car numbers were mixed, autos were the biggest losers among the sectoral indices as they declined by 1.8 percent followed by power (-1.34 percent) and Capital Goods (-1 percent).Auto stocks like Tata Motors (-3.65 percent) and Bajaj Auto (-1.8 percent) fell after reporting disappointing auto sales numbers for April. However, M&M closed higher by 0.8 percent after auto sales rose 27 percent to 40,719 units.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 20 ended in the red while 10 were in the green. Apart from autos, Coal India and Tata power fell more than 2 percent. Bharti Airtel, DLF, HUL were the top gainers. Bharti gained after CLSA upgraded its outlook on the company. It was also a heavy day with respect to earnings announcement. KPIT closed higher by 20 percent after the management said that it was optimistic on future outlook. Titan Inds also rose by 4.4 percent to Rs 243 per share after net profit jumped 72 percent to Rs 144 crore.

United Phosphorus was also up 3.2 percent to Rs 120 per share after the company said that its board of directors will meet on 7 May 2012 to consider share buyback proposal.

Cable companies including Hathway and WWIL too rallied in today’s session after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)’s notification on digitizing cable TV distribution which recommended a mandatory ‘carriage fee’ - or, the money that broadcasters have to pay to cable companies for them to carry their channel.

Kingfisher Airlines also ended in the red on reports that a section of the airline staff including engineers and pilots is mulling the option of moving the labour court to expedite settlement of their dues.

Hero MotoCorp’s shares fell by 0.8 percent to Rs 2217.95 per share after net profit rose at a lower than expected number. VIP Industries shed 5 percent to Rs 92 after consolidated net profit declined 52.14% to Rs 7.8 crore for the March quarter. Century Textiles & Industries fell 3% to Rs 318 after the company reported net loss of Rs 23.89 crore in Q4 March 2012.