Sensex ends lower on mahurat; midcaps, smallcaps shine

Sensex ends lower on mahurat; midcaps, smallcaps shine

The start of Samavat 2069 was weak for the Indian equity benchmarks on mahurat session. However, the broader markets outperformed led by breweries and media stocks.

The start of Samavat 2069 was weak for the Indian equity benchmarks on mahurat session. However, the broader markets outperformed led by breweries and media stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 51.47 points to close at 18,618.87, weighed down by technology and banking & financials stocks.

Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 16.75 points to 5,666.95.

The last Samavat 2068 was quite good for the market due to rally that started since January. The Sensex surged 8 percent while the Nifty gained over 9 percent on inflow of foreign money compared to last Diwali. Foreign institutional investors have pumped in more than Rs 90,000 crore into Indian equities since last Diwali.

Technical analyst, Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com feels the next Samavat 2069 seems to be rangebound for the market. The market has been rangebound since October; the Nifty has been moving between 5600 and 5750 levels.

More stories on Samavat 2069Worst seems to be over, mkt may hit new highs by next Diwali: Ridham Desai 
Samvat 2069: We are already into bull run; buy on dips, say experts 
Bull market on; see strong reformist govt in 2014: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

However, fundamental analysts are approaching Samavat 2069 with lots of optimism. Ridham Desai, Managing Director of Morgan Stanley feels that the worst is over for the market now. He is positive that the market is likely to hit new highs by next Diwali.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he said, "Certainly as we approach next Diwali we will have a bit more political uncertainty because there may be elections that may be drawing closer. Overall we should be looking at market that should rise to higher levels over the course of the next 12 months."

According to SP Tulsian of sptulsian.com, midcaps will be the theme for the next Samavat, though benchmarks would be rangebound.

The BSE Midcap Index was up 0.7 percent while the Smallcap gained 1.24 percent. Since last Diwali, the midcap gained 8 percent and Smallcap rose 2.7 percent.

In the second line shares, United Spirits (that rallied 35 percent yesterday on Diageo deal) fell 1.5 percent on profit booking today.

But the sentiment effect of the Diageo deal continued in other breweries & distilleries stocks. Empee Distilleries, Radico Khaitan and Pioneer Distilleries were up 3-5 percent. United Breweries jumped over 15 percent.

Dhanlaxmi Bank rallied 6 percent amid high volumes ahead of second quarter earnings this week.

L&T Finance Holdings shot up 16 percent, which hit a new 52-week high of Rs 84.30. The company is planning to raise Rs 325 crore via issue of of unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures.

Media and entertainment stocks too were in bull grip. Shares of Cinemax India, Dish TV, DQ Entertainment, Fame India, Mukta Arts, Reliance Broadcast, Sun TV, TV Today, TV18 Broadcast and Zee Entertainment were up 1-7 percent. (Moneycontrol.com and Television Eighteen Network are both part of the Network18 Group.)

Among largecaps, technology majors Infosys and TCS fell nearly 1 percent.

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India was down 0.85 percent while its rival HDFC Bank slipped 0.45 percent. Housing finance company HDFC went down 1.33 percent.

Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors and drug producer Dr Reddy’s Labs were down over 1 percent.

Shares of ONGC, Tata Steel, Cipla and Maruti gained over 0.5 percent.

Top telecom operator Bharti Airtel rose over 1 percent while private oil & gas producer Reliance Industries was up 0.34 percent.

Diversified conglomerate Jaiprakash Associates and real estate firm DLF fell 2.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively after poor second quarter numbers.

The market will be shut for Balipratipada holiday on Wednesday.

On the global front, European markets were trading 0.5-0.8 percent lower (at 17 hours IST) due to disappointing German sentiment survey.

Asian markets closed lower on US fiscal worries. Shanghai dropped 1.5 percent and Hang Seng slipped 1.13 percent.