Markets trade in tight range; European markets opening eyed

Indian markets are not showing any sign to move in either side, continuing to trade in tight band. Though, they are maintaining to remain in green zone with about half a percent of gains but traders seem to be waiting for the opening of the European markets and follow the leads on how they react to the news of G8 nation extending its support to Greece and the region. The other factor that is restricting the movement of markets is the weakness in rupee against the dollar, which has once again lost its strength. However, the rate sensitive sectors realty, banking and capital goods are keeping their spirit high while the IT and Technology stocks have given up and were down by quarter to half a percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 16,229.87, up by 77.12 points or 0.48%. The index has touched a high and low of 16,286.14 and 16,172.05 respectively.  There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 declining ones on the index.

The broader markets still maintained their leads against the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up by 0.64% and 1.08% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.32%, Bankex up by 1.27%, CG up by 1.19%, Power up by 0.88% and Oil & Gas up by 0.83%.

IT down by 0.54%, TECk down by 0.32% and FMCG down by 0.23% were the only losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were, SBI up by 3.76%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.91%, Tata Power up by 2.68%, Coal India up by 2.03 and HDFC up by 1.62%.

On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 1.37%, NTPC up by 1.34, Wipro down by 1.24%, Tata Steel down by 1.21% and Infosys down by 1.17% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a bid to strengthen relations between India and Australia, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has sought that the Free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Australia should be signed as early as possible. The Nasscom Vice-President (Global Trade and Development), Ameet Nivsarkar has proposed that the treaty should be taken up on priority basis.

India is of the opinion that the Australian economy is a stable economy and the Asian country with its ability in computing solutions can make the association go long way. India has also partnered with Australia this year for CeBIT 2012, an event where technology providers launch and promote new products, services and solutions. The event will see participation by over 70 Indian companies.

Brushing aside concerns of racial discrimination, Nivsarkar stated that those attacks are not happening anymore. Also governments on both sides have made efforts to dissipate such happenings and in spur in the increasing numbers of students enrolling in Australia is reflecting.

Further Indian IT companies have a fair presence in Australia and are growing well. Going further it is expected that business between the two countries can be developed in areas of IT and Telecom, Retail, Banking, Mining and Exploration.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 4,914.25, up by 22.80 points or 0.47%. The index has touched a high and low of 4,933.35 and 4,888.50 respectively. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 declining ones on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were SBI up by 3.77%, Tata Power up by 3.30%, Reliance Infra up by 3.30%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.05% and Kotak Bank up by 2.60%.

On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.50%, IDFC down by 1.39%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.27%, Tata Steel down by 1.24% and Cipla down by 1.19% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian counters trading mixed but some of the indices that were trading lower since morning are showing signs of recovery; Shanghai Composite gained 0.16%, KLSE Composite was up by 0.05%, Nikkei 225 added 0.26%, Kospi Composite was up by 0.94%, Taiwan Weighted was trading higher by 0.57% and Straits Times has added 0.08%.

On the other hand, Hang Seng was down by 0.61% and Jakarta Composite lost 1.27%.