Markets trade in tight range lacking any cues

Market mood continue to remain choppy with traders finding it difficult to make any major move ahead of the long trading weekend. The overhang of decline in growth of eight core sectors to a 17-month low in February at 1.4%, too was weighing on the sentiments amid weakness in the Asian peers and concerns over Greek debt negotiations. Though, there was no selling pressure and the broader markets continued to outperform the benchmarks but there was no major cue to give momentum to the market. On the sectoral front barring IT, Tech and Oil & Gas all others were trading in green led by healthcare and realty. The IT sector stocks were in somber mood after another sector heavyweight HCL Technologies cautioned that a stronger dollar would hurt its January-March (Q3) revenue by 280 basis points. On the other hand, the aviation stocks were flying high, as state-run oil marketing companies have cut jet fuel prices, which contributes one-third of the operational costs of airlines. Auto stocks were reacting to their sales numbers, Maruti Suzuki was down by over 2% after registering a fall of 1.6% in its total car sales for the month of March 2015, on the other hand Ashok Leyland was up by about a percent after reporting 24% rise in its total sales by 24% (YoY) to 12754 units.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27999.19, up by 41.70 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 27889.02 and 28011.39. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.91%, while Small cap index surged by 1.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.89%, INFRA up by 0.83%, FMCG up by 0.75%, Consumer Durables up by 0.65%, Bankex up by 0.57%, while IT down by 1.48%, TECK down by 0.93%, Oil & Gas down by 0.42% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 3.09%, Hindalco up by 1.97%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.75%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.56% and NTPC up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.24%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.03%, GAIL India down by 1.84%, BHEL down by 0.92% and TCS down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth in eight core sectors dipped to a 17-month low in February at 1.4%. India’s infrastructure output growth has been showing a continuous decline since December, reflecting stagnation in the space. The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 161.5 in February, 2015, which was 1.4% higher compared to the index of February, 2014 and compared to 1.8% in January. Its cumulative growth during April to February, 2014-15 was 3.8%.

The core infrastructure industries of coal, crude oil, oil refining, natural gas, steel, cement, electricity and fertilizers which accounts for 37.9 per cent of the industrial output was mainly impacted by the contraction of output in five industries - crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers and steel.

Crude Oil production having weight of 5.22 % declined by 1.9% in February, 2015 over February, 2014. The cumulative index of Crude Oil during April to February, 2014-15 declined by 1.1 % over the corresponding period of previous year. The Natural Gas production having weight of 1.71 % declined by 8.1 % in February, 2015. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2014-15 declined by 5.5% over the corresponding period of previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having weight of 5.94% declined by 1.0% in February 2015. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2014-15 increased by 0.5% over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production having weight of 6.68% declined by 4.4 % in February, 2015, though its cumulative index during April to February, 2014-15 increased by 1.1% over the corresponding period of previous year.

On the other hand, Coal production having weight of 4.38 % increased by 11.6 % in February, 2015 over February, 2014. Its cumulative index during April to February, 2014-15 increased by 8.5% over corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having weight of 2.41% increased by 2.7% in February, 2015. Its cumulative growth during April to February, 2014-15 was 6.1 % over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having weight of 10.32% increased by 5.2 % in February, 2015, registering a cumulative growth of 8.6 % during April to February, 2014-15 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8494.20, up by 3.20 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 8464.75 and 8498.15. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma Inds up by 3.02%, PNB up by 2.01%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.96%, Hindalco up by 1.86% and Bank Of Baroda up by 1.59%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 4.17%, Infosys down by 2.37%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.04%, GAIL India down by 1.55% and BHEL down by 1.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red barring the Chinese regional markets, Shanghai Composite increased by 50.36 points or 1.34% to 3,798.26, while the Hang Seng surged by 152.9 points or 0.61% to 25,053.79.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slumped by 172.15 points or 0.9% to 19,034.84, Taiwan Weighted was down by 78.78 points or 0.82% to 9,507.66, Jakarta Composite lost 58.57 points or 1.06% to 5,460.11, KOSPI Index was down by 12.58 points or 0.62% to 2,028.45, Straits Times declined by 5.5 points or 0.16% to 3,441.51 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lost 4.33 points or 0.24% to 1,826.45.