Thursday, May 3, 2012

Indian Stock Market : Nifty ends below 5,200; auto, metals, banks down

The Nifty closed below the intermediate support level of 5,200 as a weak rupee and lack of conviction among investors hurt sentiment.

The benchmark has drifted closer to the lower end of the trading range of 5,180-5,300 as foreign institutional investors await clarity on GAAR, a proposed retrospective taxation of cross-border transactions and a reduction in fuel subsidies. The Finance Bill will be debated in Parliament early next week.

The rupee slipped below 53 per dollar, a new four-month low, on increased demand for the greenback from importers and foreign banks. The rupee was at 53.44 per dollar, down 48 paise, against its previous close of 52.96 per dollar.

The Nifty ended at 5,188.40, down 50.75 points, or 0.97 percent. It touched an intraday high of 5,217.30 and a low of 5,180.65.

The Sensex closed at 17,151.19, down 150.72 points, or 0.87 percent. It touched an intraday high of 17,271.77 and a low of 17,120.86.

The BSE Midcap Index fell 1.02 percent and the BSE Smallcap Index declined 1 percent.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Auto Index was down 2.43 percent, the BSE Metal Index declined 1.75 percent and the BSE Bankex was 1.74 percent lower. The BSE IT Index was up 0.71 percent.

Banks witnessed selling pressure following the Reserve Bank of India's directive to set aside more capital to meet the BASEL III requirements.

Hero MotoCorp (7.55%), Axis Bank (3.94%), Bank of Baroda (3.39%), Maruti Suzuki (3.24%) and IDFC (2.89%) were among the top Nifty losers.

Hero MotoCorp posted a 20% increase in net profit to Rs 603 crore in the quarter ended March, narrowly missing analysts' estimates, as higher raw material costs damped gains from record sales of bikes and scooters. Its total turnover (net sales and other income) in the fourth quarter rose 12% to Rs 6,035 crore driven by higher volume growth as sales jumped 8% to 15.72 lakh units. The company announced a dividend of Rs 45 per share.

Hero MotoCorp results were largely in line with estimates, but net profit came in 4% below estimates due to a higher tax rate, said a CLSA report.

The announcement of Rs 45/share dividend will come as a disappointment given expectations were of Rs 80 plus and it could take a toll on Hero's premium multiples, it added.

Asian Paints (2.37%), Hindustan Unilever (2.32%), Wipro (2.05%), BPCL (0.94%) and TCS (0.74%) were the among the index gainers.

The market breadth was negative on the NSE with 429 gainers against 1,047 losers.

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