Markets make a cautious start, tades flat lacking any significant cues

Indian markets after making a positive start have cooled down, lacking any major cues, though the major indices are managing to hold in green but it’s only the broader markets that are showing some strength. PSU stocks were buzzing with the government starting its Rs 58,000-crore disinvestment programme for 2014-15 with dilution of a 5% stake in Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL). The floor price for disinvestment in SAIL has been set at Rs 83 a share, slightly lower than its closing price of Rs 83.35 on the BSE. The power and mining stocks too were seeing some action, as the Coal Ministry is set to launch within a fortnight an electronic platform to address all regulatory hurdles related to coal mines that would be on the pattern of Prime Minister's Project Monitoring Group. On the sectoral front all the sectoral indices were trading in green except IT and tech, which have lost some momentum, as the rupee strengthened against the dollar in early deal ahead of Rs14,000 crore worth of bonds auction by government.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28564.91, up by 2.09 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 28562.40 and 28651.75. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.39%, while Small cap index gained 0.58%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were INFRA up by 0.54%, FMCG up by 0.51%, Capital Goods up by 0.49%, Realty up by 0.39%, Consumer Durables up by 0.33% while, IT down by 0.55%, TECK down by 0.33% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.30%, GAIL India up by 1.13%, BHEL up by 0.99%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.94% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.64%. On the flip side, TCS down by 0.82%, Wipro down by 0.78%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.73%, SBI down by 0.70% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor HR Khan has asserted that some new concerns had emerged recently on e-commerce transactions and the central bank will soon issue few more guidelines to address these issues.  

Earlier, in August, the RBI found that US-based taxi aggregator firm, Uber was flouting payments norms by following practice that falls short on the two-step user authentication norms as laid out by RBI.

Indian e-commerce industry has been growing at brisk pace over the recent years and has become one of most attractive sectors in India. Online travel dominates the e-commerce market but in the future, e-tailing is expected to drive the industry growth. Online travel constitutes 71% of the e-commerce market in India, followed by e-tailing at 16%. Travel has grown at a CAGR of 32% over 2009-13. Heavy discount on online sales is a direct reflection of the industry's competitive intensity. The e-commerce market in the country is expected to grow by 37% to reach $20 billion by 2015 on the back of growing internet population and increased online shoppers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8573.00, up by 8.60 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 8560.30 and 8588.35. There were 29 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.76%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.35%, BHEL up by 1.15%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.04% and GAIL India up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.90%, HCL Tech. down by 1.10%, Wipro down by 1.09%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.85% and TCS down by 0.79% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were showing mixed trend in early session of trade, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was tad higher by 0.33 points or 0.02% to 1,746.02, Straits Times gained 17.43 points or 0.53% to 3,322.25, Jakarta Composite was up by 18.54 points or 0.36% to 5,195.70, Hang Seng surged by 175.13 points or 0.73% to 24,007.69. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 lost 26.25 points or 0.15% to 17,860.96, Shanghai Composite was down by 18.18 points or 0.63% to 2,881.28, Taiwan Weighted lost 2.75 points or 0.03% to 9,222.36 and KOSPI Index was lower by 1.57 points or 0.08% to 1,985.04.