Sensex trades with moderate gains as sell-off in Auto, Oil & Gas counters weighs

Stock markets in India continue to trade with a positive bias in an extremely tight range in Wednesday afternoon trades as the frontline equity indices gyrated around the psychological 17,400 (Sensex) and 5,250 (Nifty) levels. The benchmark equity indices traded with meager gains of around one third of a percent on a day when the global markets showed strength with most Asian peers rallying by over a percent as sentiments got supported by the unexpectedly strong manufacturing reports from the US and China, the two top economies of the world, which lifted risk appetite of investors. Besides, the European markets too got off to a gap up opening after a day’s break as investors added positions with conviction ahead of a slew of economic reports due out from the Euro-zone later in the day. Domestic sentiments were supported by the strong fourth quarter earnings announcement by telecom major Bharti Airtel and FMCG bellwether HUL. Cable companies including Hathway and WWIL rallied in the session after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)’s notification on digitizing cable TV distribution recommended a mandatory 'carriage fee' - or, the money that broadcasters have to pay to cable companies for them to carry their channel. Meanwhile a HSBC survey indicated that India's manufacturing sector inched up in April, supported by rising order books, but slower output growth and rising price pressures dampened sentiment. Also, another data showed growth in the eight core industries' slowed down to 2% in March as against 6.5% in the same month last year reflecting a slowdown in the economy. Moreover, the Indian rupee breached the 53 mark against the US dollar to reach the lowest levels in around four months on sustained American greenback demand, undermining investor sentiments and raising concerns over slowing economic activity and drying inflows from foreign funds. Investors were also seen squaring off positions from the rate sensitive Automobile counter after heavyweights like Maruti and Tata Motors reported disappointing monthly sales numbers.

Moreover, the broader markets too came off from their intraday high levels in tandem with their larger peers, and were trading with moderate gains of around half a percent. The bourses consolidated on weak volumes of over Rs 0.5 lakh core, on the third day of a new F&O series. While the market breadth on BSE was in favor of advances in the ratio of 1372:1152 while 130 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,386.55 up by 67.74 points or 0.39% after trading as high as 17,432.33 and as low as 17,363.26. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.35% and Small cap rose 0.59%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Consumer Durables up 2.18%, TECk up 1.06%, FMCG up 0.92%, IT up 0.89% and Bankex up 0.80% were the major gainers, while Auto down 0.66%, Oil & Gas down 0.37%, Power down 0.36%, PSU down 0.14% and Capital Goods down 0.03% were the only laggards in the space.

HUL up 3.01%, Bharti Airtel up 2.01%, DLF up 1.98%, Jindal Steel up 1.89% and TCS up 1.79% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Tata Motors down 2.04%, Coal India down 1.79%, Maruti down 1.60%, Bajaj Auto down 1.55% and ONGC down 1.41% were the major losers in the index.

Meanwhile, the retail inflation for industrial workers measured in terms of All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) rose to 8.65% in March from 7.57% in February. The increase was mainly on account of a rise in the prices of food.

According to data released by the Labour Ministry, food inflation jumped to 8.16% in March, 2012 compared to 5.08% in February 2012. The rise in has been attributed to increase in the prices of rice, wheat, groundnut oil, poultry (chicken), vegetables and fruits, bidi, cigarette, dhoti (cotton) and saree among others.

The maximum increase of 7 points was seen in Bhilwara, Vijaywada and Salem centres and 6 points each in Belgaum, Ajmer, Ghaziabad and Mundakkayam centres. The index decreased by 2 points in Tripura centre and 1 point each in Darjeeling, Sholapur and Puduchery centres.

Bangalore recorded index at 206, followed by Mumbai (204), Ahmedabad (201), Kolkata (190), Chennai (187) and Delhi (185).

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,260.65, higher by 12.50 points or 0.24% after trading as high as 5,279.60 and as low as 5,254.30. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were HUL up 2.59%, SAIL up 2.22%, Bharti Airtel up 1.93%, DLF up 1.66% and TCS up 1.58%.

Tata Motors down 2.21%, Coal India down 1.97%, Maruti down 1.76%, Bajaj Auto down 1.69% and ONGC down 1.57% were the major losers on the index.

In the Asian space, Shanghai Composite surged 1.71%, Hang Seng soared 1.26%, Jakarta Composite advanced 0.39%, KLSE Composite climbed 0.53%, Nikkei 225 gained 0.31%, Straits Times Index rose 0.55%, KOSPI Composite garnered 0.86% and Taiwan Weighted jumped 2.33%.

The European markets got off to a strong start as France’s CAC 40 surged 1.60%, Germany’s DAX rose 1.57% and Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.05%.