Markets consolidate in a tight range; Nifty modestly in green

The budget euphoria seems to be waning out with the markets consolidating in a tight range, though there is not much profit taking but the major indices are finding it difficult to sustain in green. A slew of weak economic data continues to weigh on the sentiments, and traders are pondering whether RBI will go for a rate cut in its next policy meet or not after growth in eight core industries, slowed down to 1.8% in January, compared to by 3.7% in January 2014 and 2.4% in December 2014. The concern has heightened as the RBI has signed an agreement with the government under which the central bank will prioritise controlling price rise above the other objectives of the monetary policy, interest rates and the foreign exchange rate. Back on street, while the bluchips are witnessing sluggish demand, good buying is being seen in the broader markets and they are outperforming the benchmarks with quiet a margin. On the sectoral front, metal, realty and auto down by over a percent on BSE were dragging the markets lower, while some support was coming from healthcare, oil & gas and technology counters.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29475.21, up by 16.07 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 29364.87 and 29530.69. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.78%, while Small cap index surged by 0.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.74%, IT up by 0.95%, TECK up by 0.79%, Consumer Durables up by 0.46%, INFRA up by 0.38%, while Metal down by 1.26%, Auto down by 1.07%, Realty down by 0.92%, Bankex down by 0.64%, PSU down by 0.52% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 3.16%, TCS up by 2.40%, Sun Pharma Inds up by 1.99%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.84% and Cipla up by 1.75%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 4.66%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.05%, Axis Bank down by 2.14%, Tata Motors down by 1.69% and BHEL down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth in eight core industries, contributing 38% to the overall industrial production has slowed down to 1.8% in January, compared to by 3.7% in January 2014 and 2.4% in December 2014. The growth is lowest in last 13 months, due to negative expansion in crude oil and natural gas. The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 174.8 in January, 2015. Its cumulative growth during April to January, 2014-15 was 4.1%.

Crude Oil production having weight of 5.22% declined by 2.3% in January, 2015 over January, 2014 and the Natural Gas production having weight of 1.71% declined by 6.6% in January, 2015. On the cumulative index basis during April to January, 2014-15 Natural Gas declined by 5.2% over the corresponding period of previous year, while the cumulative index of Crude Oil during April to January, 2014-15 declined by 1.0% over the corresponding period of previous year.

On the other hand, Coal production having weight of 4.38% increased by 1.7% in January, 2015 over January, 2014. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2014-15 increased by 8.1% over corresponding period of previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having weight of 5.94%, increased by 4.7% in January, 2015. Its cumulative index during April to January, 2014-15 increased by 0.7% over the corresponding period of previous year.

Other industries, Fertilizer production increased by 7.1% in January, 2015. Though, its cumulative index during April to January, 2014-15 declined by 0.5% over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production increased by 0.5 % in January, 2015. Its cumulative growth during April to January, 2014-15 was 7.1% over the corresponding period of previous year and Electricity generation having weight of 10.32% increased by 2.7% in January, 2015, registering a cumulative growth of 8.9% during April to January, 2014-15 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8957.75, up by 1.00 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 8925.55 and 8969.80. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 2.82%, TCS up by 2.55%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.92%, Sun Pharma Inds up by 1.86% and Cipla up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 4.75%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.36%, Ambuja Cement down by 2.28%, Axis Bank down by 2.16% and DLF down by 1.88% were the top losers.

The Asian markets are mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted increased was up by points or 0.05% to 9,605.77, KOSPI Index gained 4.57 points or 0.23% to 2,001.38, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 5.58 points or 0.31% to 1,822.71, Jakarta Composite moved up by 13.07 points or 0.24% to 5,490.90 and Straits Times surged by 22.58 points or 0.66% to 3,426.47.

On the other hand, Hang Seng lost 49.34 points or 0.2% to 24,838.10, Shanghai Composite declined by 48.03 points or 1.44% to 3,288.27 and Nikkei 225 was down by 11.72 points or 0.06% to 18,815.16.