Benchmarks trade positive on supportive global cues

A bout of volatility was witnessed in early trade and Indian equity markets opened in the green terrain on the back of supportive global cues. The US markets rose on Monday, sending the Dow industrials to their highest close since 2008 while, all the Asian counters were trading in the green at this point of time. However, the gains were capped after weak result from India’s largest telecom player Bharti Airtel. The stock tanked about 3.5 percent after reporting less than expected numbers in Q3. It’s consolidated net profit 22.40% to Rs 1011.30 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011 as compared to Rs 1303.30 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. On the sectoral front, consumer durable, software and realty remained the top gainers while, banking, healthcare and auto remained the only losers on the index. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,018 shares on the gaining side against 523 shares on the losing side while 55 shares remained unchanged. Moreover, traders remained on the safer side in opening trade and all eyes are on Greece and developments on that front will influence the direction of the local markets in second half.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,631.69; about 9 points higher compared to its previous closing of 17,622.45, and has touched a high and a low of 17,689.99 and 17,631.69 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 17,681.70, up by 59.25 points or 0.34%. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 63.78% stocks advancing against 32.77% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 0.69% and 0.73% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were CD up by 1.76%, IT up by 1.35%, Realty up by 1.30%, Oil and Gas up by 1.07% and Power up by 1.05%. While, Bankex down by 0.68%, HC down by 0.52% and Auto down by 0.14% were the only losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.96%, DLF up by 1.79%, GAIL India up by 1.76%, RIL up by 1.61% and Infosys up by 1.40%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel was down by 3.32%, ICICI Bank was down by 2.02%, Tata Motors was down by 1.26%, M&M was down by 1.17% and ONGC was down by 0.77% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, reacting to the recently released national income estimates by Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee has said that the numbers are a bit disappointing as compared to expectations but an upward revision in the GDP growth can be expected when the full data for year 2011-12 becomes available.

He further stated that though the numbers look disappointing due to the recent growth experience, they were not totally unexpected given the current global scenario and the slowdown in the domestic industrial sector in particular. He observed that the main reason for decline in the GDP is slowdown in industrial growth, in particular in investment growth. The negative growth in the mining sector along with slowdown in construction sector have also contributed to the decline.

Finance Minister is of the opinion that there have been some encouraging signs in the recent weeks on business sentiments, rupee exchange rate, moderation in headline inflation, possibility of a bumper rabi crop, and continued strong performance of the service sector which should help in recovering the growth momentum later in the fiscal and will reflect when actual numbers are released.

The CSO has recently released the advance estimates of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and related aggregates. The growth in GDP at factor cost during 2011-12, at 2004-05 prices, is estimated at 6.9% as compared to the growth rate of 8.4% in 2010-11. In terms of sectoral break-up, the GDP growth is estimated at 2.5% in agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, 3.9% in manufacturing and 9.4% in services sector.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,343.80; about 8 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,335.15, and has touched a high and a low of 5,354.90 and 5,335.75 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,349.95, higher by 14.80 points or 0.28%. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were RPower up by 3.40%, RInfra up by 2.82%, Cairn up by 2.51%, TCS up by 2.12% and JP Associates up by 2.08%.

Bharti Airtel down by 3.38%, Dr Reddy down by 2.55%, ICICI Bank down by 2.13%, Tata Motors by 1.22% and M&M down by 1.10%, were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite was up 0.91 points or 0.04% to 2,292.82, Hang Seng was up 122.87 points or 0.59% to 20,822.06, Jakarta Composite was up 1.01 points or 0.03% to 3,956.46, Nikkei 225 was up 85.78 points or 0.96% to 9,003.30, Straits Times was up 12.56 points or 0.42% to 2,970.34, Seoul Composite was up 16.31 points or 0.82% to 1,997.90 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 126.21 points or 1.64% to 7,833.65.