Markets trade flat after a sharp setback; Nifty above 5,200 mark

Choppy trade continues in the market and currently major indices were trading flat in the positive territory after a sharp setback. The BSE benchmark was up 42 points while Nifty started trading above 5,200 level. On sectoral front realty, bank, consumer durables, healthcare and information technology stocks were edging higher, while oil and metal stocks mostly trading weak. A few stocks from FMCG, capital goods and automobile sectors have posted smart gains. On the global front, Asian shares were trading lower on mounting worries over slowing world economies and renewed uncertainty over Greece's economic condition. Back home, the market breadth favoring the negative trend; there were 1,080 shares on the gaining side against 1,300 shares on the losing side while 124 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,215.46, up by 42.17 points or 0.25%. The index has touched a high and a low of 17,239.35 and 17,051.28 respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.17% and Small cap index was down by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 1.46%, Bankex up by 0.77%, Information Technology up by 0.62%, CD up by 0.61% and TECk up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Oil and Gas down by 0.54%, Metal down by 0.50%, PSU down by 0.23% and Power down by 0.06% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 1.93%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.83%, ICICI Bank up by 1.35%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.23% and DLF up by 0.89%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.57%, M&M down by 0.80%, ONGC down by 0.75%, Reliance Industries down by 0.71% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.66% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the United States has opposed India’s five-year-old ban on imports of US chicken meat and eggs at the World Trade Organisation and has requested consultations to resolve the issue.

India had banned the import of poultry products from the US in the year 2007 on the grounds of protecting the country from the spread of avian influenza, or 'bird flu”. But according to USA the ban has no scientific justification and is not in line with international standards as per which bans are not imposed on poultry imports from countries where low pathogenic avian influenza has been detected, which is the only type detected in the United States since 2004. Moreover US have accused India of disguising trade restrictions under the cloak of health safety.

As per US estimates, the Indian poultry market is expanding by 8 to 10% every year and if imports were allowed, could lead to annual US exports of $300m. Also India's broiler meat consumption has risen from 2.23 million metric tonne in 2007 to a projected 2.75 million this year. However India is forecast to produce only about 2.70 million metric tons, providing some opportunity for imports.

This is the fifth time that the US has brought a WTO (World Trade Organisation) case against India and the first under the Obama administration. The world's second-largest exporter of poultry products after Brazil, the United States is also battling with China over its steep anti-dumping duties on imported US frozen chicken meat.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,230.70, up by 8.30 points or 0.16%. The index has touched a high and a low of 5,243.85 and 5,183.50 respectively. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 2.38%, Wipro up by 1.92%, Reliance Power up by 1.75%, Reliance Infra up by 1.74% and Axis Bank up by 1.44%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.83%, BPCL down by 2.12%, Power Grid down by 1.80%, ONGC down by 1.04% and Grasim down by 1.04%, were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian counters were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite was down by 0.03%, Hang Seng declined 0.69%, Jakarta Composite slid 0.84%, KLSE Composite shed 0.82%, Nikkei 225 lost 0.64%, Straits Times edged lower by 0.73%, Seoul Composite descended by 0.91% and Taiwan Weighted registered loss of 0.44%.