Recap of today's Indian stock market

On the first day of a new F&O settlement and the last day of weekly trading, Indian equities closed with smart gains. After starting the day on a positive note, Indian stock markets continued to trade positive for the entire session today. Towards the final hour of trading, markets moved steadily higher and finally closed the day well in the positive.
The benchmark BSE Sensex closed at 19,444.84, up by 121.04 points (0.63%), while the NSE Nifty rose 38 points (0.65%) to close at 5908.35. Sensex opened at 19,364 while Nifty opened at 5887. Sensex tested a day’s high of 19,465 and a day’s low of 19,346. While Nifty managed to reach a day’s high of 5915 and a low of 5879.
Among the 13 sectoral indices eleven sectors closed in green zone while remaining two sectors closed in red zone. Top gainers were, BSE Oil & Gas up by 2.38%, BSE IT up by 1.21% and BSE PSU up by 0.89%. To losers were, BSE HC fell by 0.19% and BSE Bankex fell by 0.01%. The BSE Mid Cap index closed 0.8% higher and the BSE Small Cap 0.3% higher.
Gains in Indian equity market were in line with Asian shares that gained on Friday as investors continued to eye the U.S. "fiscal cliff" negotiations with optimism, that lawmakers attempt to hammer out a deal, before Monday. European shares were steady in early trade on Friday as investors waited to see if a deal to avoid the US fiscal cliff would be reached. US stock index futures pointed to a steady opening at the Wall Street.

Review of today's Indian equity market

Though Indian equity market started trading on a positive note, but could not maintain the gains till the end and closed in the red zone. The markets slipped further during the last half hour of trade, mainly due to F&O settlement which expires today and lack of investor participation. The key Indian stock indices kept swinging between gains and losses throughout the day, oscillating on both the sides of equator within a narrow range. However the highlight of today’s market was the record F&O turnover as volumes surpass 4.2 trillion Indian rupees. The previous highest turnover was 3920 bn Indian rupees. Analysts opined that unwinding of the long contracts accounts for such huge turnover.

The BSE Sensex closed the day at 19323.80, down by 93.66 points, however it opened at 19479. It had earlier touched a day's high of 19504 and a day's low of 19302. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty closed the day at 5870.10, down by 35.50 points, however it opened at 5930. It earlier touched a day’s high of 5,930 and a day’s low of 5864.
All the sectoral indices closed in the red zone except BSE PSU and Auto which closed higher by 0.09%. Top losers are, BSE IT down by 0.77%, BSE Oil&Gas down by 0.69% and BSE Metal slipping by 0.65%. Even the BSE Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap index lost 0.5% and 0.75% respectively.
The market breadth stood in favor of declines. Of the 3026 stocks traded on the BSE, 1228 (40.588%) rose, 1664 (54.99%) fell and 134 (4.43%) stocks remained unchanged.
Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, ONGC, Dr Reddys Lab, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Steel were among gainers in Sensex and Nifty. While, share prices of RIL, TCS, Infosys, Wipro, NTPC, Sun Pharma, BHEL, HDFC , SBI, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, M&M, HUL and ITC were among losers in Sensex and Nifty.
Asian stock markets surged today, (December 27, 2012) amid caution as US lawmakers prepared to resume negotiations to avoid a fiscal crunch by December 31. The Nikkei index of Japan was up 1%, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose by 0.35%, the Straits Times edged higher by 0.15%, the Kospi index rose 0.26% and Taiwan index added 0.2%. Only the Shanghai Composite index in China ended lower by 0.60%.
European shares are steady and the euro edged higher on Thursday, as US lawmakers prepared to resume negotiations to avoid a fiscal crunch. The FTSE index in UK was up 0.2%, the CAC index in France added 0.62% and the DAX index in Germany rose by 0.20%. Even,US stock index futures pointed towards a steady opening at the Wall Street on Thursday.

Post mortem of today's Indian stock market

Short coverings ahead of Futures and Options (F&O) expiry tomorrow, pushed up Indian stock market to register its biggest single day gain since 169 point rise of the BSE Sensex on November 30. Another factor that pushed the Indian indices up was the uptrend witnessed in all major Asian stock markets. The market today opened on a positive note, maintained itself in green zone throughout the day’s trading and ended up in positive territory as well.
Traders rushed to cover positions on the eve of the December contracts expiry, which saw the BSE Sensex close at 19417.46, rising 162.37 points or 0.84 per cent. It had earlier touched a day's high of 19468 and a day's low of 19274 points. It opened at 19302. The NSE Nifty firmed up by 49.85 points or 0.85 per cent to 5905.60. It earlier touched a day’s high of 5917 and a day’s low of 5859. It opened at 5864.
Reports like, cabinet has approved selling 12.5% stake in Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd., as a part of RBI’s liquidity measure central bank would continue to inject liquidity in the bond market and India to extend subsidy for some exports until March 2014 also lifted the market sentiment. These measures by the Government of India shows, the commitment of the government for economic reforms.
Broader sentiment was also underpinned by strong recent buying by foreign institutional investors, FII, who bought a net $719 million in domestic stocks on Dec. 24, the biggest single-day inflow since Oct. 5, bringing their total for the year to $24.05 billion.
Throughout Asian markets, there was a sense of optimism surrounding US fiscal-cliff issue after US President Obama cut short his Christmas holidays to arrive at a quick resolution over it. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.4% to 10122.82. South Korea's Kospi added 0.8% to 1996.49. Stocks in mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines also posted smart gains.
All the 13 BSE sectoral indices closed in the green zone except BSE IT which closed 0.17% lower. Top gainers are, BSE CG (Capital Goods) up by 1.68%, BSE Bankex rose by 1.36% and BSE Realty surged by 1.22%. The BSE Midcap index gained 0.66-%, while the BSE Small cap index rose 0.36% today.
The market breadth stood in favor of advances. Of the 3066 stocks traded on the BSE, 1523 (49.67%) rose, 1416 (46.18%) fell and 127 (4.14%) stocks remained unchanged.
Share prices of RIL, ONGC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, M&M, Hindalco, SBI, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, BHEL, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank and L&T were among the gainers in Sensex and Nifty. While shares of TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Dr Reddy’s Lab, HUL HDFC Bank and L&T were among losers in Sensex and Nifty.

Outlok for today's Indian stock market

Year-end holidays and US fiscal cliff worries are the two major factors that will definitely have its impact on the Indian Stock Market. The day’s trading will be marked by thin volumes, directionless trading and sideways movements of the indices. In the absence of any major global cues, and ahead of the F&O expiry for the December series due on Thursday, bears are likely to have the upper-hand. 
Asian markets have opened on a mixed note today. Japan's Nikkei 225 index was trading 0.4 per cent higher while China's Shanghai index was trading 0.03 per cent lower. Thus, Indian markets is expected to open soft on Wednesday tracking muted Asian markets, while investors will keep a close eye on CARE which will make its debut on bourses later today. Credit rating agency, CARE has fixed the issue price at higher end of price band of Rs 700-750 per share. 
As far as technical charts are concerned, NSE Nifty seems to be struggling around the short-term Daily Moving Average on the charts. The bears are likely to have the upper-hand as long as the index trades below 5890. On the downside, the index can slip 5750-odd levels. Momentum oscillators continue to remain in favour of the bears hence aggressive buying at these levels should be avoided. 
Stocks that are most likely to be in action today, includes, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, Kingfisher Airlines and IndusInd Bank.

Review of today's Indian stock market

Indian stock market was flat without volumes ahead of Christmas holiday tomorrow and expiry of derivative contracts on December 27. Despite opening with a positive gap market turned choppy as in late trading session as investors were making adjustments ahead of December expiry on Thursday. Indian stock market seems to have adopted a wait-and-watch policy and await the outcome of the U.S. fiscal cliff crisis. 

After trading in a tight 110-point range, the benchmark BSE Sensex closed 13.09 points (0.07%) higher at 19255.09, snapping a two-session of falling trend where it had lost 234 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 19347 and a day's low of 19237. It opened at 19278. The broader NSE Nifty rose by 8.05 points (0.14%) to close at 5855.75 points. It earlier touched a day’s high of 5871 and a day’s low of 5844. It opened at 5869. 
Though the total turnover dropped sharply to Rs 1,646.65 crore against Rs 2,226.13 crore last Friday, the total market breadth was slightly better as 1,449 stocks closed with gains while 1,430 finished with losses. 156 stocks remained unchanged. 
12 out of 30 shares that constitute the BSE Sensex closed higher. Tata Motors was the top gainer with a rise of 2.44 %, followed by Wipro (1.78 %), Sun Pharma (1.46 %), Infosys (1.15 %), Tata Power (1.09 %), Bajaj Auto (0.84 %). Among losers, Jindal Steel declined by 1.93 %, followed by ONGC (1.88 %), Maruti Suzuki (1.60 %) and Sterlite Industries (1.50 %). RIL also lost marginally by 0.36 %.
Among the 13 sectoral indices, six sectors closed in green zone while remaining seven sectors closed in red zone. Top gainers were BSE TECk up by 0.95%, BSE Realty rose by 0.91% and BSE IT surged by 0.87%. Top losers include BSE Metal down by 0.53%; BSE Oil & Gas fell by 0.43%, BSE CD declined by 0.16%. 
Turning towards Asia, markets in most of the Asian countries, ended with narrow gains. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea inched up by 0.07-0.27 per cent while Taiwan's Weighted index eased by 0.06 per cent. The Japanese market was closed today. European stocks were trading dull in afternoon trades. In Europe, the UK's FTSE was trading 0.28 per cent up while France's CAC eased by 0.09 per cent. The German stock market remained closed today.