Friday, March 20, 2009

Markets Opened Lower- March 20, 2009

The markets opened lower today on the back of weak global cues. The Asian markets are however trading mixed due to uncertainty about the US Federal Reserve''s decision to buy Treasury and mortgage-backed debt. The Metal index outperformed the benchmark index in the opening trade and s trading with a gain of more than 2%. However, the Realty, Banking, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas stocks are witnessing significant selling pressure in the early trade. The broader markets are however trading flat.

The Asian markets are trading mixed today as Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng and Nikkei index are trading down by (0.37%), (1.58%) and (0.33%) respectively. However, the Straits Times and Seoul Composite index are trading up by (0.46%) and (0.76%) respectively.

The US stock markets on Thursday fell after a choppy session with the financial shares drag due to uncertainty about the Federal Reserve''s plan to buy bonds to stem the US recession. Further weak economic data and a sharp rise in the crude oil and gold prices also heightened the fall. However, the energy and materials stocks logged solid gains due to the stronger commodity prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped by 85.78 points to close at 7,400.80. The NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) index decreased by 7.74 points to close at 1,483.48 and the S&P 500 (SPX) fell by 10.31 points to close at 784.04.

The BSE Sensex is now trading below the 9,000 mark and the NSE Nifty trading below the 2,800 mark.

Hindalco Industries reported the top gainer from the BSE Sensex pack, as it is trading higher by (4.88%) at Rs. 47.25 while ICICI Bank reported the top loser down by (3.05%) at Rs. 327.80.

The overall market breadth is negative as 645 stocks are advancing while 670 stocks are declining on BSE.

At 10.35AM, the BSE Sensex was down by 54.72 points at 8,947.03 and the Nifty was down by 14.15 points to 2,793.

The BSE Mid Cap decreased by 1.15 points to 2,772.97 while the BSE Small Cap grew by 9.85 points to 3,107.38.

BSE Metal index is trading higher by 23.93 points or (0.46%) to trade at 5,201.10. The top gainers are Gujarat NRE increased by (6.67%) to Rs.20, Hindalco Industries up by (5.66%) to Rs.47.60, Jai Corp inclined by (5.06%) to Rs.81 followed by Tata Steel grew by (2.34%) to Rs. 77.25.

BSE Realty index is trading lower by 81.82 points or (5.04%) to trade at 1,541.45. The major losers are Akruti City declined by (25.84%) to Rs. 1,652, Orbit Co down by (3.13%) to Rs.51.15, DLF decreased by (2.62%) to Rs.168.80 followed by Mahindra Life down by (2.59%) to Rs.112.90.

Unitech is trading lower by (1.66%) at Rs. 26.70. The company plans to launch residential projects in the range of Rs 5-10 lakh in metro and suburban cities like Gurgaon, Chennai and Kolkata over the next few months.

No comments: