Bernanke spoils mkts' mood; Nifty to slip below 6000 today?
Global markets turned volatile after Fed chairman indicated that it could gradually taper off its bond buying programme.
US markets ended lower on Wednesday after a volatile trading session after Fed chairman raised the possibility that it could at least slow its bond purchases and European markets ended higher.
Indian benchmark indices drifted lower. Renewed weakness in the rupee and tepid fourth quarter earnings from engineering major Larsen & Toubro weighed on sentiment. The BSE Sensex closed at 20062.24 , down 49.37 points over the previous close. The Nifty shed 19.60 points to close at 6094.50.Meanwhile, Asian markets were trading weak today, as Hang Seng and Taiwan Weighted were down more than 1 percent. Back home, in key earnings today, State Bank Of India may report it's first net profit decline post six quarters of profits on account of wage revision provision. Core net interest income is expected to still be under pressure. However asset quality will be cushioned by higher recoveries/ upgrades. Also watch out for BHEL & Tata Steel that report numbers today.Stocks to watch out for in trade todayDaiichi Sankyo, the Japanese owner of Ranbaxy appears to be moving towards taking legal action against Ranbaxy. After Ranbaxy paid USD 500 million in settlement with the US FDA and US Department Of Justice on felony charges, Daiichi Sankyo said that it is exploring legal options to sue former shareholders of Ranbaxy for concealing facts. JSW Energy OFS was subscribed 1.7 times yesterday. It got bids for nearly 5 crore shares and the indicative price is seen at Rs 61.79/share versus floor price of Rs 61.50/share.The Puravankara Projects IPP will open and close today. The floor price has been set at Rs 80 a share and the price band was between Rs 80-85 a share. Also post market hours yesterday, company said the chairman Ravi Puravankara will sell up to 1.41 crore equity shares amounting to 6.6% stake via the OFS route. Naresh Goyal will acquire up to 67.09% stake from tailwinds in Jet Airways. He will be acquiring stake at up to Rs 551.95/share today. In news from the primary market space, the Justdial IPO has been subscribed 12 times. The QIB portion was subscribed 10.1 times, HNIs 22.3 times while the retail segment saw three times subscription.Meanwhile, UPA-II has presented its four year report card. The report card points out that the UPA has undertaken 42 major reforms since last May to bolster growth in the country. These include multi-brand retail and steps to re-energise the MF industry. US & EuropeThe US markets closed down nearly 1 percent in a volatile session after the minutes from the last Fed policy setting meeting suggested the central bank is divided on when it may start to pull back on its monetary stimulus. The market had moved higher earlier in the session when Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that tapering bond purchases will depend on an improvement in the economic data. The minutes from the Fed meeting noted that "a number of participants expressed willingness" to reduce quantitative easing as early as the June meeting if the economic data received by that time showed evidence of sufficiently strong and sustained growth. But officials differed about what evidence would be necessary and the likelihood of that outcome, the minutes said.On the economic data front, US existing home sales data for April rose 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.97 million units, the highest level since November 2009.In key events to watch out for in US, weekly jobless claims are seen coming in lower at 34500. New home sales are expected to rise to 425,000 in April. Also watch out for data from PMI manufacturing indexIn Europe, markets closed higher after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated his commitment to maintaining loose monetary policy. However, both European and US markets pared some gains after Bernanke's more hawkish comments in the Q&A session. In the currency space, the dollar gained versus major currencies after Fed chairman raised the possibility the Fed could at least slow its bond purchases. The euro slipped to 1.28 levels. The dollar index was back above the 84 markIn commodities, Brent crude slipped to USD 102 per barrel after data showed an unexpected jump in US gasoline stockpiles. From precious metals space, gold prices slipped over a percent to USD 1364 an ounce. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
