Markets trade flat in volatile session of trade

In the extremely volatile session of trade, local equity markets were trading just about flat with slender gains that were keeping both Sensex and Nifty above psychologically crucial 27,950 and 8,450 levels respectively. Somber global cues and absence of any substantial positive triggers and bit of profit-booking at home front after two consecutive sessions of splendid gains, mainly led to lackluster session  of trade. However, further slide was restricted after reports suggested of Finance Minister likely achieving the challenging fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of GDP for 2014-15, helped by last minute payment of Rs 10,808 crore by telecom companies for spectrum and tax receipts in March. However, the session was productive for broader indices, which went home with gains in the range of 0.80-1.40%.

On the global front, Asian stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday, taking their lead from weaker U.S. shares, also tailing lower crude oil prices, which slipped as negotiations between Iran and world powers over nuclear technology extended beyond a deadline. The protracted negotiations have drawn attention due to their potential impact on crude supply of a settlement.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading into positive territory, nevertheless stocks from Infrastructure, Realty and Fast Moving Consumer Goods were the top gainers of the session. On the flip side, much of the drubbing was witnessed by stocks from Information Technology, Oil & Gas and Auto counters which were the top losers of the session. In stock-specific activity, shares of two airline stocks rose after PSU OMCs cut jet fuel prices by 2.03% effective 1 April 2015. Additionally, Shares of two oil marketing companies rose after further slide in global crude oil prices. Besides, fertiliser stocks rose after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved to supply gas at uniform delivered price to all fertilizer plants for production of urea through a pooling mechanism. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1637:715; while 106 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27964.58, up by 7.09 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 27889.02 and 28011.39. 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 0.88%, while Small cap index up by 1.39%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were INFRA up by 0.87%, Realty up by 0.81%, FMCG up by 0.70%, Capital Goods up by 0.46% and Bankex up by 0.37% while, IT down by 1.53%, TECK down by 0.96%, Oil & Gas down by 0.48%, Auto down by 0.09% and Metal down by 0.03% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 3.49%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.68%, Hindalco up by 1.55%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.51% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.26%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.16%, GAIL India down by 1.41%, BHEL down by 1.40% and TCS down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry has initiated the exercise to facilitate ease of doing business for special economic zones (SEZs) to revive the interest of investors after Finance Ministry in the budget turned down request for removal of minimum alternate tax (MAT) and dividend distribution tax (DDT). Among several measures being contemplated, the Ministry plans to empower the Development Commissioners (DCs) of such zones to reduce paper work. The Ministry for this is also mulling to empower the unit approval committees (UACs) so that a developer or unit would not have to approach the Board of Approval (BoA) for permissions and approvals every time.

Currently, unit in SEZs have to approach the BoA, chaired by the Commerce Secretary, for small things like constructing additional gates or bringing a new co-developer. Nevertheless, these efforts by the ministry would definitely help in further strengthening the single window clearance mechanism of UACs headed by DCs.

Further, the ministry for deliberating upon the slew of measures would be convening a meeting of senior officials of the states including Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. So far, 491 proposals for SEZs have been formally approved by the government. Presently, 199 zones are operational. The maximum of 36 SEZs are operational in Tamil Nadu, followed by 25 each in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana, 19 in Andhra Pradesh and 18 in Gujarat.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8484.10, up by 6.90 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 8464.75 and 8499.70. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.30%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.91%, PNB up by 1.66%, Hindalco up by 1.51% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.51%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 4.09%, Infosys down by 2.45%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.13%, BHEL down by 1.81% and GAIL India down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; with Nikkei 225 were trading lower by 172.15 points or 0.9% to 19,034.84; Taiwan Weighted trading lower by 78.78 points or 0.82% to 9,507.66; Jakarta Composite trading lower by 59.37 points or 1.08% to 5,459.31; KOSPI Index trading lower by 12.58 points or 0.62% to 2,028.45; Straits Times trading lower by 10.13 points or 0.29% to 3,436.88 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI trading lower by 4.83 points or 0.26% to 1,825.95. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 54.75 points or 1.46% to 3,802.65 and Hang Seng increased 165.55 points or 0.66% to 25,066.44.