Stocks eased back just a bit on Tuesday as investors digested a strong run-up to a 2-month high and traders pressed small sale orders on front line stocks to test the bulls.
As a consequence, the Nifty fell 15 points to end the volume-deficient session at 8,398 points. The index also retraced from an opening high of 8,440 points.
However, some parts of the market are shrugging off the retail impact of demonetization as was evident in the rise in stock prices of some retail oriented companies such as Asian Paints and Hero MotoCorp.
Here are the major events of the trading day:
* The Sensex fell 53 points to shut shop at 27,236 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
* Petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries was the show stopper for the day. Reliance disappointed some investors after it reported, post market hours on Monday, that its third quarter earnings were mostly boosted by surging other income.
* RIL, as it is better known as, was the top loser on both the Sensex and the Nifty. The stock was also the most traded by value with 784 crore rupees worth of shares changing hands on the NSE alone. RIL dropped for a second day and fell to a 1-month low on the exchanges.* Adani Ports, Coal India, ONGC and HDFC were the top losers, down 1.7-3.2% ad were among 35 stocks that fell on the Nifty.
* Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Tech and ITC rose between 1-2.5% and were among 17 stocks advancing on the Nifty.
* It was a day of quarterly earnings releases from mid caps in the tech and FMCG sector. First off the block was software exporter Mastek which reported a third quarter profit of 11.2 crore rupees versus 7.7 crore rupees in the sequential quarter ended September. The stock closed 15.9 rupees higher at 191 rupees, a fresh 52-week high.
* Mastek's larger rival NIIT Technologies' 3rd quarter profit fell 12 percent to 65.4 crore rupees. NIIT Tech's stock dropped 9.60 rupees to close at 416.35 rupees. Havells, a maker of circuit switches and fans, said quarterly profit rose 29 percent to 153 crore rupees from 119 crore rupees a year earlier. The stock saw some profit booking, dropping 2.8 percent to 371 rupees.
* Meanwhile, DLF, Punjab National Bank and NHPC were among the top traded stocks by volume.
* Broader markets ended flat with the NSE 100, 200 and 500 closing barely changed.
* The trend was mixed in the sectoral space with mild losses seen on benchmarks tracking the banking, auto and media spaces. The gash was a bit deeper on the metals index, which shed 1.5 percent. Modest gains were seen on PSU banks, realty companies and software stocks. The FMCG sector was in a strong uptrend, up 1.2 percent.
* Major stocks that saw some unwinding were PFC, HPCL, ABB and JSW Steel. Selling was heavy on Vedanta, Emami and LIC Housing Finance.
* The bears came out on Dalal Street where 1,375 shares fell versus 1,368 that rose.
* Sentiment was even more bearish in the derivatives market where 125 futures fell compared with just 53 that gained.
* Futures of DCB Bank, TV18 Broadcast, PC Jeweller and HDIL saw speculative selling.