Mumbai: The 50-share NSE Nifty saw heavy selling pressure in late trade on Thursday, the expiry day for June derivative contracts, closing tad below the 7500-mark weighed down by oil & gas and banks stocks.
The index slipped 76.05 points or 1 percent to close at 7493.20 and the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 251.07 points or 0.99 percent to 25062.67 but the fall in broader markets was less compared to benchmarks.
The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined 0.3 percent each. It was a bad close for the market on expiry day, say experts, adding it may see further fall in near term. However, they ruled out major correction ahead of Union Budget (on July 10).
Chris Roberts, MD, Asianomics finds this market quite stretched and feels a 5-10 percent correction will make it quite interesting. He, however, rules out a massive setback and sees Sensex hitting 35000-45000 in coming years . Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO of Axis Capital expects the Nifty to remain rangebound from here till Budget. He believes the market will look for investment and growth revival moves or announcements by the government in the Budget.
In the June series, the Nifty gained 3.6 percent and the Sensex was up 3.4 percent supported by capital goods, auto, pharma, IT and metals stocks. The CNX Midcap and BSE Midcap indices shot up 7 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
Today banks forced the market, which already hit by oil & gas stocks, to extend losses in last hour of trade. BSE Oil & Gas Index dropped nearly 4 percent followed by Metal, Bank and Infrastructure with 1 percent. Realty lost 2.7 percent. ONGC topped the selling list, falling 5.9 percent after the government deferred revision in natural gas price. Gail India slipped 1.6 percent.
Oil marketing companies like BPCL, HPCL and IOC plunged 2-4 percent as oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said there was no proposal for any hike in LPG and kerosene prices. India's largest lenders State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank fell over a percent while housing finance company HDFC was down 1.8 percent.
Top power producer NTPC and coal mining company Coal India were down 2.8 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively. However, engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro bucked the trend, rising 1 percent after its subsidiary L&T Technology Services purchased 74 percent equity stake in Thales Software India. Brokerage house CLSA says L&T remains its preferred pick in the infrastructure space.
"It would be a key beneficiary of the revival in highways, oil & gas, railways and urban infrastructure sectors. Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) itself would be a big opportunity with $4 billion ordering expected in FY15," the brokerage house explains. Shares of Wipro and Dr Reddy's Labs gained more than a percent. Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki and M&M advanced 0.3-0.7 percent. In the broader space, Essar Oil was locked at 5 percent upper circuit after its promoter Essar Energy Holdings fixed Rs 108.18 apiece as a floor price for delisting of company.
Dewan Housing Finance Corporation jumped 7 percent as rating agency Credit Analysis & Research (CARE) has upgraded its rating on company's long term bank facilities worth Rs 30,843.45 crore to AAA from AA+.
Kesoram Industries shot up 8.4 percent as company's board of directors created committee to mull steps for reorganisation. It wants to reduce finance cost through reorganisation.
About 1492 shares advanced while 1543 shares declined on the BSE.
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