Nifty ends above 4500; Realty down 7.4%, IT slips 4.2%

It was one of those days at the markets when you know beforehand that things are going to be really bad. The US markets had tumbled on Friday after the ugly unemployment data and record crude prices. The Asian markets followed suit, and soon it was India's turn.

The markets opened deep in the red, and slipped further to the lowest levels in 2008 as the session progressed. Huge volumes saw the benchmark indices breaking their psychological levels. The Nifty broke the 4,500 mark for the first time this year, hitting a new year low of 4,448.05 while the Sensex cracked below 15,000 in intra-day trade. However, a mild recovery of nearly 80 and 280 points respectively from the day’s low saw the indices close off the day's lows. The Nifty ended at a new yearly closing low of 4,500.95, down 126.85. It hit a high and low of 4,626.45 and 4,411.60, respectively. The Sensex, which was down around 700 points at one stage, recovered to close down 506 points at 15,066, after hitting an intra-day high of 15,202.74.

Heavy selling pressure was seen in realty, technology, capital goods, oil & gas, power, and banking stocks. Midcap and smallcap stocks also fell prey to the bear onslaught. However, some buying support was seen in major pharma and metal stocks in the second half of the session.

Turnover stood at Rs 76,668.53 crore. This includes Rs 13,292.26 crore from the NSE cash segment, Rs 58333.52 crore from NSE F&O, and the balance Rs 5,042.75 crore from BSE cash segment.

The biggest losers of today’s session include Jai Prakash Associates down 8.13%, DLF 7.10%, ONGC 7.09%, HDFC -5.37%, Unitech -8.8%, and BPCL -7.31%. The gainers were led by Nalco up 5.68%, Cairn India 4.51%, Hero Honda 4.49%, Ranbaxy Laboratories 4.16%, Reliance Communications 1.5%, Hindalco 1.08%, and Tata Steel 0.35%.

The market breadth was weak with about 614 shares advancing to 2,348 declines; 153 shares remained unchanged.

The realty Index has hit the hardest in today’s session and underperformed other indices. It fell 7.05%, or 437.65 points, to settle at 5,772.65. Since the start of the correction, it has fallen over 58% from its high of 13,848.09. Heavy selling was seen in Unitech, DLF, HDIL, Phoenix Mills, Ansal Properties, Peninsula Land, Akruti City, Sobha Developers, Indiabulls Real, Anant Raj Industries, Puravankara Projects, Parsvnath, and Omaxe, which was down 4-10% in a day. DLF hit a new lifetime low of Rs 475 and closed at 481.55, down 7.39% over previous close. The stock is down over 8% from its issue price of Rs 525.

Technology stocks took a beating in today’s session lot with the index crashing 4.2%, or 193.61 points, at 4,404.98. Selling in Wipro, HCL Technologies, TCS, Infosys, Patni Computer, Satyam, and Tech Mahindra weighed the index down. Infosys slipped below Rs 1,900 during the day but managed to close above that level.

Capital goods stocks like Alstom Projects, Jyoti Structures, Astra Microwave, Reliance Industries Infrastructure, Punj Lloyd, Areva T&D, Kalpataru Power, BEML, BHEL, and L&T pushed the index lower by 397.01 points, or 3.3%, to end at 11,635.63.

Oil & Gas also fueled the turmoil in the markets. The index tumbled 3.29%, or 329.53 points, to close at 9,676.55 due to weakness in HPCL, BPCL, ONGC, Petronet LNG, Essar Oil, IOC, Reliance, and GAIL. Cairn India was the only exception trading sharply higher due to surge in oil prices. Nymex Crude touched a new all-time high of USD 139.12 per barrel on Friday but slipped today below USD 137 a barrel on reports that North Sea Brent shipments will increase 8.6% next month.

The auto index fell 2.45%, or 103.68 points, at 4,123.64. Stocks like Amtek Auto, Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Hind Motors, Cummins, TVS Motor, Maruti Suzuki and MRF ended lower.

Investors seemed to have pulled the plug on power stocks like Suzlon Energy, Reliance Infrastructure, CESC, Reliance Power, Torrent Power, GVK Power, NTPC, and Power Grid Corporation. This in turn pulled the index down by 2.99% to close at 2,619.28.

The Bankex lost 232.96 points, or 3.21%, to close at 7,033.32 due to a huge sell-off in Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank, Allahabad Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, and Andhra Bank.

FMCG stocks like United Spirits, ITC, Tata Tea, HUL, Colgate, Godrej Consumer, and P&G plunged in today’s trade. The index was down 2.06% at 2,313.24.

The metal index recovered nearly 547 points from the lows of the day due to buying in some heavyweights, it finally closed at 15,389.61 down 125.78 points, or 0.81%. Selling was seen in Jindal Stainless, Jindal Steel, Jindal Saw, Hind Zinc, Sterlite, and Maharashtra Seamless. However, buying was seen in Nalco, Sesa Goa, JSW Steel, and Hindalco.

The midcap index slid 2.83%, or 179.82 points, to close at 6,170.33. The major losers include BGR Energy, Orbit Corporation, Hind Construction, Patel Engineering, Bombay Dyeing, SpiceJet, IBN18 Broadcast, National Fertilisers, Phoenix Mills, Ansal Properties, KS Oils, Deccan Chronicle, and DCB.

Smallcaps like Bajaj Auto Finance, Rajapalayam, Lumax, Mahindra Forgings, Unity Infraprojects, Prajay Engineers, Panchmahal Steel, Khaitan Electric, Sical Logistics and Gujarat Ambuja Exports plunged over 10% each. The index fell 279.51 points, or 3.63%, to close at 7,416.54.

It was not all red in the markets today. The healthcare index showed a smart rebound with the index up 0.53% to close at 4,318.75 due to buying in Lupin, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Piramal Health, and Sun Pharma. Selling was seen in Wockhardt, Matrix Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Panacea Biotech, Orchid Chemical, Aventis Pharma, Pfizer, Novartis India, Divi’s Laboratories, and Cadila Healthcare.

The most active counters in today’s session were Reliance Industries, Reliance Communications, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Petroleum, and Cairn India.

On the global front, Asian markets closed lower. The Nikkei was down 2.13%, Taiwan Weighted 1.8%, Straits Times 1.99% and Kospi 1.27%. European markets did not see any major impact of the US market crash. They were trading flat, at the time of writing this report.

 Markets Snapshot

• Markets witness sharp fall falling U.S. market cues and in line with Asian peers
• Nifty hits new 2008-low during the day; manages to close at 4500; Nifty recovers nearly 80 pts from day's low
• Sensex ends down 506 pts at 15066; falls below 15000 during the day
• Reliance Ind hits new 2008-lows at 2111
• BSE Smalll-cap Index down 3.6%, Nifty Junior down 3.8%
• Bank, Realty & Cap Goods hit new 2008-lows
• BSE Realty Index down 7%; Unitech down 9.6%, DLF down 7.2%
• BSE IT Index down 4.2%; TCS down 3.4%, Wipro down 5%, Infosys down 4.6%
• BSE Cap Goods, Oil & Gas Index down nearly 3.3%
• Index losers; Suzlon down 6.5%, ONGC down 6.3%, HDFC down 6%
• Index Gainers; Nalco up 4.8%, Cairn India up 4.4%, Ranbaxy up 3.7%, RPL up 2.9%
• Non-Index losers; Bajaj Auto Fin down 13.5%, Neyveli Lignite down 9.2%, HCC down 10%, Alok down 9.3%
• NSE Advance Decline at 1:8
• Total market turnover at Rs 76668 cr; FNO turnover at Rs 58333 cr

F&O Snapshot

• Nifty futures discount at 14 pts; add 33.5 lakh shares in OI
• Some short covering in Nifty futures seen in last half an hour of trade
• Unwiding seen in momentum stocks; Fresh long seen in Cairn, Ranbaxy, R Comm
• Fresh shorts seen across sector: oil & gas, realty, infra stocks
• Fresh shorts: Suzlon, NTPC, Power Grid, RIL, ONGC, JP Ass, GMR Infra. DLF
• Unwinding of long positions seen in Ispat, Alok, Ambuja Cem, Nag Fert, IFCI
• Options Action
  Nifty 4200 put add 26 lakh shares in OI
  Nifty 4500 call add 24 lakh shares in OI
  Nifty 4400 put add 12.5 lakh shares in OI
  Nifty 4700 call shed 12 lakh shares in OI

Asia Today

• Asian markets fell following US markets cues
• Nikkei down 2%, Kospi down 1.5%, Straits Times down 2%
• Hang Seng, Australian & Shanghai markets were shut today
• Crude down nearly $2/bbl on reports that North Sea Brent shipments will increase 8.6% next month
• UK PPI increased at the quickest rate in last two decades

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