Sensex keeps a down note as IT and Banking sector slip

Benchmarks were witnessing a fluid session with negative bias Monday beforehand of public holiday tomorrow and January series termination and


Intervening term choices of the day

 Rather a few exponent heavy weights will be announcing their Q3FY10 solutions today. A truncated trading week and the expiry of the derivative takes for the January series will pave way for some volatility. Monetary policy announcement by the RBI on January 29 will be another key trigger to watch out during the week.

Nifty continued to trade below the 50 DMA placed at 5118. The index closed at the support line of a rising stick being formed on the weekly charts. Last week we broke down over a similar pattern on the daily charts which is a fractal of the rising wedge. A close below 5000 level in the coming week might touch off further failing in the market and the index is expected to test 4900 level. The universal trend in the market has become bearish which would negate only on close above 5225,  said Edelweiss report.

National Stock Exchange s Nifty was at 4996.25, down 39.75 points or 0.79 per cent. The index reached an intraday low of 4983.05 and high of 5034.70.

Infy, ICICI drag Sensex by seventy five points

The benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, closed 75 points down, with bluechip stocks such as Infosys, HDFC and ICICI Bank

acting as drag.

The Sensex, which opened at 17,603.87 points and ended at 17,540.29 points, closed 75.43 points, or 0.43% down from its previous close at 17,615.72 points.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty closed at 5,244.75 points against the previous close of 5,263.1 points, a loss of 0.35%. Broader market indices performed only a tad better, with the BSE midcap index ending flat and the BSE small-cap index ruling 0.44% higher. The market breadth was positive, with as many as 1,725 stocks advancing compared to 1,172 on the decline, while 68 remained unchanged.

Among major gainers on the Sensex were DLF, up 4.26% at Rs 390.20; Grasim, up 3.02% at Rs 2,754.50; Sunpharma, up 2.11% at Rs 1,574.55; and Jaiprakash Associates, up 1.8% at Rs 161.55.

Major losers included Infosys, down 2.41% at Rs 2,464.45; TCS, down 1.98% at Rs 700.50; HDFC, down 1.7% at Rs 2,600.35; and Reliance Communications, down 1.5% at Rs 180.70. Other Asian markets ended in the green, with a key Japanese index, the Nikkei, ending 1.09% higher at 10,798.32 points, while the Korean Kospi, was up 0.7% at 1,695.26 points.

In China, the Shanghai composite index managed to end up with slender gains, closing 0.1% higher at 3,196 points, while the Hang Seng, a benchmark index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, closed a meagre 0.12% up at 22,296.75 points.

Key European markets were trading flat, with benchmark index of the London Stock Exchange FTSE 100 index ruling 0.04% up at 5,529.13 points. Among real estate companies, India’s biggest developer DLF soared 4.1% to Rs 389.9 after Goldman Sachs raised it to “buy” from “sell”, citing a potential recovery in office real property and steady growth in key residential markets.

Developer Indiabulls Real Estate advanced 3.4% to Rs 227.4 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’. Overseas funds bought a net $184 million of domestic equities on January 6, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India website.