Local bourses continue journey in red; Nifty tests key support level of 5,150

Indian equity markets continued trading in red and currently near low point of the day amid sustained selling in several blue chip stocks. Nifty tests key support level of 5,150, while Sensex lost 120 points. However, Reliance Industries falls 0.45% on media reports that the petroleum ministry has struck down its plans to recover $1.2 billion in costs before the energy major starts sharing profits with the government from its gas field off the Andhra coast. On sectoral front realty stocks cracked further in trade today. Capital goods sector extends losses with BHEL hitting a 52 week low. Information technology stocks, which started off on a somewhat steady note this morning, have drifted lower now. FMCG and healthcare stocks were finding some support. On the global front, Asian shares fell for a second successive day on Friday as another batch of lacklustre US data stoked concerns that the recovery in the world's biggest economy is faltering. Back home, the market breadth favoring negative trend; there were 812 shares on the gaining side against 1,580 shares on the losing side while 92 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,028.49 down by 122.70 points or 0.72%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,121.37 and 17,018.01 respectively. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The broader indices too were trading lower; the BSE mid cap and small cap indices declined 1.16% and 0.82% respectively.

The top laggards in the BSE sectoral space were Capital goods (CG) down by 1.68%, Realty down by 1.64%, Bankex down by 1.56%, Metal down by 1.32% and Auto down by 1.19%. On the flip side, Health Care (HC) up by 0.57% and Fast moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) up by 0.29% were the only gainers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 2.77%, Tata Power up by 0.89%, Wipro up by 0.82%, ONGC up by 0.53% and Sun Pharma was up by 0.36%.

On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.12%, BHEL down by 3.29%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.01%, DLF down by 2.91% and Tata Steel down by 2.45% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the government's public debt for the period January-March 2012 increased by 5.4% to Rs 35,98,791 crore over the previous quarter. This takes the total public debt of the government to Rs 35,98,791 crore at end-March 2012 from Rs 34,13,683 crore at end-December 2011.

Out of the total debt, internal debt constituted 89.7% in March 2012 end, compared with 89.1% at the end of the December quarter. The outstanding internal debt of the government constituted 36.2% of GDP and stood at Rs 32,27,288 crore compared with 34.1% at end-December 2011.

Liquidity conditions remained tight during the Jan-Mar quarter with liquidity deficit remaining above the Reserve Bank's stated comfort zone of about 1% of Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) of commercial banks. Gross tax collections were 78% of revised estimate (RE) during April-February of FY’12 as compared to 79.8% a year ago. As far as the direct taxes were concerned, corporation tax collections showed a moderate growth of 7.1% while personal income tax collections increased by 17% as against growth rates of 9.7% and 17.3%, respectively, in the RE for FY’12.

Among the major indirect taxes, collections from custom duties showed a healthy growth rate of 13.7% and service tax collections grew by 36.5%, respectively, during April-February FY’12. Collection from excise duties grew at a lower rate of 5.2% against 9.0% in the RE.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,151.15, down by 37.25 points or 0.72%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,177.20 and 5,145.35 respectively. There were 16 stocks advancing against 33 declines on the index and one remained unchanged.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Cipla up by 2.80%, Tata Power up by 1.14%, Asian Paints up by 1.09%, Wipro up by 0.84% and ACC was up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.16%, Axis Bank down by 3.68%, BHEL down by 3.40%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.11% and DLF down by 2.80% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices continue to trade in the red; Hang Seng declined by 0.71%, Jakarta Composite lost 0.20%, Straits Times was down by 0.26% and KOSPI Composite shed 0.30%.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was marginally up by 0.20%, KLSE Composite gained 0.45%, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.54%. 

Stock markets in Japan remained closed on Friday.