Sensex closes flat amid parliament deadlock, EU PMI data

First session of the September was completely lacklustre for the Indian shares despite positive global cues. The 30-share BSE Sensex gained as much as 80 points in early trade after the Parthasarathy Shome panel (set up by the Finance Ministry) recommended the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) should apply from assessment year 2017-18.

But the disruption of parliament’s monsoon session for the ninth consecutive day due to CAG report on coal allocation dented sentiment after initial couple of hours of positive trading. As a result, the market remained lower for rest of the session. The index fell 45.16 points to close at 17,384.40.

Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty touched an intraday low of 5,243.15, before closing 4.75 points lower at 5,253.75.

European markets like France’s CAC, Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE gained more than 0.5% (at 15:31 hours IST) after smart improvement in Eurozone, UK and Germany’s August manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on month-on-month basis. In an initial trade, these markets were down after the world’s second largest economy China’s HSBC PMI fell (lowest since March 2009) to 47.6 in August as against 53.1 in previous month.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke left the door open on Friday for further stimulus if needed and investors are waiting for the European Central Bank's meeting on Thursday. The ECB could cut rates and is also due to detail a new bond-buying plan to ease the funding pressures on Spain and Italy. (With inputs from Reuters)

Back home, country’s largest private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 0.6-0.8% while their rival State Bank of India was up 0.2%.

Oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC fell 1% each. Technology majors TCS, Infosys and Wipro declined 0.2-0.8%.

All Tata group stocks were under pressure; Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Power were down 1-2%. FMCG major Hindustan Unilever lost 0.6%.

Utility vehicle (UV) manufacturer M&M went down 1% as its UV sales were strong in August but tractors sales remained weak. Two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto rallied 3%; its domestic motorcycle numbers continued to be weak but exports were slightly ahead of expectations, indicating normalcy returning to Sri Lanka and Egypt markets.

Two-wheeler major Hero Motocorp gained 0.5% despite weak numbers. Top car maker Maruti Suzuki gained 1.8%; its auto sales numbers in August were very weak, which was expected because of strike at Manesar plant.

TVS Motors tanked 6.5% due to sharp decline seen in export, scooter and motorcycle sales.

Capital goods majors Larsen & Toubro were up nearly 1%. Drug producer Cipla was up 1.8% and country’s largest coal mining company Coal India gained 2%.

The broader markets were flat as the market breadth was neutral.

In the second line shares, Shree Renuka Sugars, Bajaj Hindusthan and Balrampur Chini rallied 2-5%.

JSW Ispat tanked 4% after the JSW Steel said the board approved JSW Ispat merger in the ratio of 1:72.

Kalyani Steels rose 9% after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on category A mines in Karnataka. Everest Kanto Cylinder surged 10% as the company is considering various options to restructure its obligations under the outstanding bonds.