Markets end flat on 1st day of FY13

Indian markets closed a volatile session on a flat note on the first trading day of FY13. Sensex ended up by 74 points and nifty rose 22 points. Major Headlines: February imports up 20.7% to $39.8 bln Real estate regulator to make registration compulsory ACL dispatches for March 2012 grew by 12.4% on yoy Maruti Suzuki March sales at 1.25 lakhs: Highest ever in its history M&M March sales up 25% Indian Indices: The Indian markets remained volatile throughout the day and closed the session on a flat note. Sensex ended up by 74 points and nifty rose 22 points. Buying in majority of the sectors helped markets while profit booking in oil & gas, metal, pharma and auto stock capped the upside. Major heavyweight supporters were - L&T, TCS, HDFC Bank, HDFC, SBI, NTPC and M&M. The major news in the markets was that BSE launched trading in equity index derivatives on March 30, 2012 enabling Indian investors to bet on their economies. This gives an extra opportunity to Indian investors who can now buy or sell futures contracts listed on overseas stock exchanges. Auto and Cement companies rose after posting healthy auto sales and cement dispatches numbers. Imports rose 20.7% to $39.8 billion in the month of February and Exports grew 4.3% annually to $24.6 billion in February. Chinese manufacturing data jumped to 53.1% in March from 51.0% in February, which boosted the sentiments in the markets. Sensex closed 74 points higher at 17478 and the nifty settled at 5318, up by 22 points. Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favour of advances. Of the 2879 stocks traded on the BSE, 1932 (67.11%) rose, 852 (29.59%) fell and 95 (3.30%) remained unchanged. Viewing volumes An integrated infrastructure development company - Lanco Infratech was traded the most, with over 0.75 crore shares changing hands on the BSE. Following that Wind turbine major - Suzlon Energy (0.51 crore shares), a real estate development company - HDIL (0.46 crore shares), a global generic crop protection, chemicals and seeds company - United Phosphorus (0.32 crore shares) and a Jaypee Group company - Jaiprakash Associates (0.26 crore shares). Sectoral & stock screening Out of 13 sectoral indices, nine sectors stood higher. The Topmost gainers were - BSE CD which gained 3.89%, BSE Power up 1.89% and BSE CG advanced 1.74%. Topmost losers were - BSE Oil & Gas which dipped 0.28%, BSE Metal fell 0.27% and BSE HC slid 0.13%. Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were - Titan Industries which advanced 6.17%, Godrej Industries gained 6.09% and Bata India surged 5.25%. Top three losers were - Aurobindo Pharma which dropped 4.21%, Oil India fell 3.80% and Pidilite Industries declined 2.87%. Global Signals The European stock markets edged higher on Monday (April 2, 2012), led by miners and drug makers, after official Chinese manufacturing data showed a fourth consecutive monthly increase. The Asian stock markets rose on Monday after a Chinese survey showed that manufacturers in the world's No 2 economy boosted production for a fourth straight month. The US stock index futures pointed to higher opening on Wall Street on Friday. As the Dow Jones futures are up 0.29% and Nasdaq 100 futures up by 0.48%. Market Outlook: Data to be released in the US on Monday is: - ISM Manufacturing Index and Construction Spending.