Markets pare losses in noon deals; Sensex regains 24,700 mark

Trimming most of their initial losses, Indian equity benchmarks have recovered from day’s low but continued to trade in red terrain in noon deals as traders remained on sidelines ahead of fourth quarter corporate earnings. A weak quarter could hit sentiment further after the Reserve Bank of India failed to impress markets on Tuesday by cutting interest rates by 25 basis points, as some had hoped the central bank would act more boldly. Losses remained capped as some support came with industry body CII terming the GDP calculation methodology an ‘imprecise science’ and pegging the country's economic growth at around 8 per cent for the current fiscal, higher than the RBI's projection of 7.6 per cent. Appreciation in Indian rupee too provided some solace too markets. Rupee strengthened by 14 paise to 66.52 against the US dollar in noon deals on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green at this point of time after Federal Reserve meeting minutes reaffirmed that US policy makers aren't in a rush to raise interest rates and as the recovery in crude oil prices solidified. Closer home, telecom stocks are reeling under pressure despite Union cabinet deciding to allow telecom companies to use spectrum allocated to them without auction to offer new services to consumers at a provisional price recommended by the telecom regulator. The cabinet decision will allow companies to deliver third generation or fourth generation mobile services as well as to share and trade the spectrum with other operators. The broader indices too were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,200 shares on the gaining side against 1,050 shares on the losing side while 103 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24757.17, down by 143.46 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 24648.21 and 25013.13. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.12%, while Small cap index up by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.27%, Energy up by 0.60%, Oil & Gas up by 0.41%, PSU up by 0.35% and Bankex up by 0.07%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.19%, IT down by 1.05%, TECK down by 1.00%, FMCG down by 0.81% and Auto down by 0.62% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.84%, Lupin up by 1.62%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.28%, Axis Bank up by 1.15% and ONGC up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.79%, HDFC down by 2.55%, Adani Ports &Special down by 2.11%, ITC down by 1.87% and Infosys down by 1.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has given its approval to implementation of the National Hydrology Project (NHP). It will be a central scheme with an outlay of over Rs 3,679 crore. The project is expected to boost India's prestige in the field of scientific endeavour. It will help in gathering Hydro-meteorological data which will be stored and analysed on a real time basis and can be seamlessly accessed by any user at the State/District/village level.  The project envisages to cover the entire country as the earlier hydrology projects covered only 13 States.

The project includes Rs.3, 640 crore for National Hydrology Project and Rs. 39.7674 crore for National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC) to be taken up in two stages. It also provides for establishment of NWIC as an independent organization under the control of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Fifty per cent of the total project amount, that is Rs 1,839.8 crore, would be loaned from World Bank while the remaining amount would be central assistance from budgetary support.

The project will help in the development of real-time flood forecasting and reservoir operations in a manner that does not result in sudden opening of gates leading to the inundation of the areas.  Further, NHP will facilitate integrated water resource management by adopting river basin approach through collation and management of hydro- meteorological data. It will also help in water resource assessment and prioritize its allocations and use for irrigation.  Besides, the project is expected to assist in promoting 'efficient and equitable' use of water, especially groundwater, at the village-level and provide information on quality of water.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7588.40, down by 25.95 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 7542.15 and 7630.75. There were 23 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.21%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.12%, Lupin up by 1.68%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.36% and Axis Bank up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Tata Power down by 3.23%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.83%, HDFC down by 2.47%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.92% and Infosys down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index rose 2.57 points or 0.13% to 1,973.89, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 3.48 points or 0.2% to 1,720.49, Jakarta Composite increased 16.36 points or 0.34% to 4,884.59, Nikkei 225 added 34.48 points or 0.22% to 15,749.84, Hang Seng was up by 43.18 points or 0.21% to 20,249.85.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 31.65 points or 1.04% to 3,018.94 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 23.05 points or 0.27% to 8,490.25.