Nifty holds 5300

Today's major news
Larsen & Toubro arm bags Rs827-crore orders; the stock closes 0.83% down
Bharti Airtel to invest $100 million in Uganda; the stock ends 1.04% lower
Sun Pharmaceuticals gets USFDA nod for generic Optivar; the stock closes 0.28% higher

Global signals
The European shares fell on Tuesday (June 22, 2010), led by commodity and banking stocks, as investors became skeptical that China would allow its currency to rise quickly.
All the major Asian markets ended the session on a negative note except China’s Shanghai Composite index. SGX Nifty closed 35.50 points lower.
The US stock index futures pointed lower opening on the Wall Street ahead of the data relating to existing home sales for May, home price index for April, and Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's June indexes on area manufacturing and service sectors. Investors may remain cautious as they eye on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which begins a two-day meeting on interest rate policy on Tuesday.
Indian indices
Bulls took a pause after yesterday’s enormous rally as the Indian market witnessed profit booking in today’s session. The selling was not only seen in India but also across the globe as euphoria over China's proposed currency reform faded. The euro zone concern resurfaced after Fitch Ratings slashed French bank BNP Paribas’ long-term rating to AA-minus from AA on deteriorating asset quality. This news also led to weak market sentiments. The main draggers in today’s trade were the metal and information technology (IT) sectors. The domestic market ended the session in the red on account of unsupportive global cues.
Tracking subdued global cues, the Sensex opened mere eight points lower at 17868 making such levels its day’s high. The Sensex remained volatile all through the session as traders rolled over positions in the derivatives segment from the June 2010 contracts to July 2010 contracts ahead of the F&O expiry of the June series on Thursday (June 24, 2010). The Sensex extended its losses in the morning session. The index traded weak throughout the day. Post lunch, the Sensex slumped and hit the day’s low of 17726 following a sharp correction in Europe.
At closing, the Sensex finished the day in the red, declining 127 points at 17750. The Nifty held the 5300 mark to close at 5317, sheding 37 points.
Market sentiment
The market breadth was negative. Of the 2,982 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,543 stocks declined, whereas 1,323 stocks advanced. Hundred and sixteen stocks closed unchanged.
Sectoral & stock screening
Previous session’s top gainer was the today’s top loser — BSE Metal slid by 1.90%. BSE IT fell by 1.24%. On the other hand, defensive sectors like BSE consumer durables (CD) and BSE fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) surged 1.01% and 0.71% respectively.
Among ‘A’ group stocks, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) gained the most, up by 4.36%, followed by Dabur India that surged by 3.90% and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) that advanced by 3.64%. On the flip side, Yes Bank slid the most, down by 3.51% after Rabo Bank sold its 11% shares, followed by Sesa Goa that declined by 2.98% and India Cements that was down by 2.82%.
Viewing volumes
Private sector bank — Yes Bank saw highest trading with over 4.19 crore shares changing hands on the BSE on the back of block deal, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) firm – Reliance Natural Resources (1.12 crore shares), industrial finance company - IFCI (0.75 crore shares), India’s second largest developer - Unitech (0.61 crore shares) and iron ore mining firm – Sesa Goa (0.25 crore share).