Markets get a soft start; IT and technology stocks see some buying

Indian equity markets, tailing their global peers have made a soft start, though the cuts are not that severe but the impact of ratings downgrade by the S&P’s of the various European nations is clearly visible. Most of the Asian markets too under impression of that are reeling in red after the US markets closed lower on Friday. Back on the Dalal Street, IT and technology stocks are witnessing some buying after the severe beating in last session on getting flat guidance of the sector bellwether Infosys. On the same time, the rate sensitive sectors are witnessing profit booking ahead of the monthly inflation number, speculation are rife that the Reserve Bank of India might not go for policy easing very soon despite the continuous decline in food inflation. The expectations are that headline inflation probably fell to 7.5 percent year-on-year in December from 9.11 percent in the previous month. Meanwhile there is a buzz in non sectoral gauge of cable companies after a report that Reliance Industries is planning to pick up a minimum 26 per cent stake in leading cable operators, including multi-system operators. Stocks like Hathway Cable & Datacom and Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom have surged by 7-9 percent in early trade.

The BSE Sensex opened at 16,086.74; about 67.88 points lower compared to its previous closing of 16,154.62, and has touched a high and a low of 16,127.11 and 16,069.33 respectively. The index is currently trading at 16,091.62, down by 63 points or 0.39%. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The broader indices were in negative territory in similar to the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were lower by 0.14% and 0.08% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, TECk up by 0.88%, IT up by 0.79%, FMCG up by 0.31% were the only gainers. While, CG down by 1.18%, Metal 1.08%, HC down by 1.03%, Oil & Gas down by 1.01%, Bankex down by 0.91% were the losers.

The top gainers of the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 7.11%, Coal India up by 5.56%, L&T up 3.84%, NTPC up by 3.11% and Jindal Steel up by 3.07%.

On the flip side the top losers of the Sensex were Sun Pharma down by 1.90%, Tata Motors down by 1.82%, HDFC Bank down by 1.78%, L&T down by 1.62% and Hindalco Inds down by 1.61%.

Meanwhile, intensifying the historically strong bilateral relations between the two nations, Indian and Japanese officials held talks on increasing co-operation in Indian infrastructure sector. India has been a major beneficiary of Japanese cooperation through Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

A high level delegation led by Japanese Minister for Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Takeshi Maeda met  C P Joshi, Minister of Road Transport and Highways and discussed bilateral cooperation in infrastructure sector with special reference to road construction. A Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) which is being prepared by India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is in the process of finalizing which will be signed by Japanese minister of MLIT.

The proposed MOC will enable India and Japan to exchange technical knowledge and expertise in the Road Transportation and Highways sector including capacity building and advanced technology for road transport management system and intelligent transport system. Japanese companies have been participating in National Highways Development Programme (NHDP) of India as Supervision Consultants. Four projects have already been completed where their performance has been satisfactory.

The Japanese minister of MLIT also held extensive talks with Dinesh Trivedi, Indian Minister of Railways on bilateral issues in the field of rail transportation and various aspects of high speed train corridors. Japan’s External Trade Organisation and Oriental Consultancy along with Parsons Brinkhoff India have secured the contract to conduct pre-feasibility study of the Hyderabad-Vijayawada-Chennai corridor, one of the six corridors identified by Indian Railways for high speed train operations.

Union Minister of Shipping GK Vasan also was called upon by Takeshi Maeda for discussion on bilateral issues concerning the port and shipping sectors and other issues of mutual interest like ship-breaking, ship-building, connectivity projects to ports and exchange programmes, etc. Specific issues relating to development projects with respect to connectivity to the ports, draft, new berths, terminals and other facilities especially relating to Chennai and Ennore ports were also discussed.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 4,844.00; about 22 points lower compared to its previous closing of 4,866.00, and has touched a high and a low of 4,852.05 and 4,835.95 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 4,838.65, lower by 27.35 points or 0.56%. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 1.72%, TCS up by 1.13%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.02%, Tata Power up by 0.99%, HCL Tech up by 0.89%

On the flip side, RPower down by 3.08%, Sun Pharma down by 1.98%, SAIL down by 1.95%, JP Associates down by 1.90% RCom down by 1.83%, were the major losers on the index.

All Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite was down 12.60 points or 0.56%, Hang Seng down by 182.57 points or 0.95%, Jakarta Composite down by 30.30 points or 0.77%, Nikkei down by 130.67 points or 1.54%, Straits Times down by 35.13 points or 1.26%, Seoul Composite down by 28.17 points or 1.50% Taiwan Weighted down by 79.86 points or 1.11%.