Weakness increase in market; banking stocks major draggers

Weakness increased in the Indian equity market and benchmark indices and the broader markets were all trading with some losses, as investors booking profits on concerns about rising global oil prices and the country's widening fiscal deficit. Meanwhile country’s largest lenders such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were among the big losers as market expectations for a rate cut in March was tempered by the rally in world oil prices, which is likely to make it difficult for the central bank to ease policy. However Brent crude climbed above $124, on track for a fifth straight weekly gain but upbeat US economic data offset concerns that high oil prices could snuff out demand. On sectoral front metal and consumer durable stocks were trading with moderate gains while rate sensitive stocks were trading with huge losses. On the global front, Asian shares crept mixed on Friday as solid US data improved sentiment, but gains were limited by concerns on rising oil prices.  Back home, the market breadth favoring the negative trend; there were 1,027 shares on the gaining side against 1,441 shares on the losing side while 124 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,946.02, down by 132.48 points or 0.73%. The index has touched a high and a low of 18,198.15 and 17,903.88 respectively. There were 15 stocks advancing against 14 declining ones and one remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices also following the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index down by 0.44% and 0.28% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 1.42%, CD up by 1.21%, IT up by 0.78%, TECk up by 0.64% and FMCG up by 0.07%. While, Bankex down by 1.97%, CG down by 1.67%, Realty down by 1.62%, Oil & Gas down by 0.77% and Auto down by 0.51% were the only losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sterlite Industries up by 4.91%, Hindalco up by 1.16%, TCS up by 1.09%, Jindal Steel up by 1.07% and Tata Steel up by 0.82%.

On the flip side, HDFC down by 4.55%, ICICI Bank down by 2.10%, L&T down by 1.93%, SBI down by 1.93% and DLF down by 1.90% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, one of world’s leading oil producers and exporters has recognized India’s importance as one of the fastest growing markets in the world and has indicated that it will fulfill its energy requirements on a long-term basis.  India, which imports nearly 2 million tonnes of LPG from Saudi Arabia, has sought 5 million tonne of additional crude oil from the nation for the next fiscal.

RPN Singh, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas who was called by the Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister for Petroleum Affairs, Saudi Arabia to hold discussions on matters of bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector, conveyed India’s requirement of incremental quantities of Saudi Arabian oil imports in the years ahead considering the ongoing expansion in India’s refining capacity. The Saudi side assured affirmative consideration of India’s request for larger quantities of crude oil and LPG while also agreeing to look into the issues raised by India relating to the hydrocarbon trade and investment between the two countries.

At a time of heightened uncertainty in the international oil markets, Saudi Arabia, a leading producer of crude oil and India, the world’s 4th largest oil importer also discussed the global oil outlook, especially the growing demand for hydrocarbons in Asia and India during the delegation level talks. Besides, India also expressed its growing requirement of LPG (Butane and Propane) considering the accelerated expansion of LPG coverage in the country’s rural areas under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitran Yojana (RGGLVY).

Saudi Arabia, which is the largest crude oil supplier to India, had supplied 27 million metric tonnes of crude oil to India during 2010-11. India has also invited Saudi participation in upcoming investment opportunities in its petroleum upstream and downstream sector including OPaL’s Petrochemical project at Dahej and OMPL’s Petrochemical project at Mangalore.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,436.60, lower by 46.70 points or 0.85%. The index has touched a high and a low of 5,521.40 and 5,428.05 respectively. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 declining ones and one remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sterlite Industries up by 4.56%, Hindalco up by 1.94%, SAIL up by 1.58%, Sesa Goa up by 1.32% and Jindal Steel up by 1.26%.

On the flip side, HDFC down by 4.78%, IDFC down by 4.44%, PNB down by 2.80%, Kotak Bank down by 2.65% and DLF down by 2.34%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite gained 0.69%, Nikkei 225 amassed gains of 0.29%, Straits Times was up by 0.18%, Seoul Composite added 0.56% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.28%.

On the flip side, Hang Seng declined 0.07%, Jakarta Composite plunged 1.94% and KLSE Composite descended 0.13%.