 "Why metals and realty were gainers today")
Indian markets today rode the upbeat wave in global markets with the Sensex spurting close to 600 points and closing just below the 16500 mark while the Nifty briefly crossed the 5000 mark and closed above 4930 levels.
Even though the markets witnessed two straight days of gains, there was no fresh buying today, says Firstpost Investing Editor, Shishir Asthana. “Markets opened with a huge gap led by the rally in global markets but closed near the day’s low at 16,483.” Even the market breadth suggests that there was a massive sell-off rally today. In all there were 1,689 gainers and 1,114 losers. This means that for every 17 stocks that gained about 11 fell, says moneycontrol editor Santosh Nair.
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Moreover, sentiments were also hit as the European markets opened lower.
Indices were unable to hold on to their early gains and finished off the day’s high due to some profit booking in the second half.Barring the BSE Pharma index, all the other major sectoral indices ended with gains.
Metal shares were the big gainers today with the metal index gaining 4.1 percent. There was good buying in Hidnalco; SAIL and Sterlite Industries. But the rally in metal stocks is mainly attributed to the base metal rally in world markets.
However, SAIL has witnessed a large amount of sell-off lately. In fact it even touched a one-year low during intra-day trade yesterday because it was dropped out of the MSCI Index. Moreover project delays and the company’s announcement of lowering demand for steel put further pressure on the stock. Since it came out of the index only on 30 November, one saw fresh buying in the counter today.
Among the auto companies, Tata Motors ended up 6.6 percent with a 40 percent rise in sales year-on year. The Nano upgrade and sales figures also helped prop up the stock.
Realty stocks too did well with BSE Realty index ending up 3.5 percent. Shishir Asthana feels this rally is the result of foreign direct investment in the retail sector as real estate companies will be the major beneficiaries once the approval for investment by foreign retailers comes in. Most listed realty companies are heavily into debt, and they need more equity to reduce debt. This is where foreign players in retail come in as they all require large tracts of land to open up stores.
Ranbaxy was another stock in action today. In spite of surging 11 percent in morning trade, the stock experienced consistent loss today because the company, which had 180-day exclusivity for marketing of its drug, had tied up with Israel’s Teva Pharma. The stock finally ended higher by only 2 percent to close at Rs443, losing 8% from day’s high.
3G related issues have impacted telecom stocks. Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were among the prominent losers today as there has been no unanimous decision regarding the 3G roaming pact. Moreover, the two stocks witnessed a decline in market share in November.
More for on today’s market performance, listen to our market wrap below:
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