Benchmarks gyrates around neutral line; inflation data eyed

The Indian equity markets are gyrating around their neutral line. While on the global front, the majority of Asian markets were trading in green as investors awaited economic data from the U.S. while maintaining a positive mood in anticipation of action by central banks to shore up the global recovery. Back home, ahead of July inflation data traders were seen piling up position in Metal, Oil & Gas and PSU sector, while selling was witnessed in Power, FMCG and HC sector. In the scrip specific development, Valecha Engineering gained on bagging four deals worth Rs 362.93 crore. NMDC gained on reporting 5.82% rise in Q1 net profit. Coal India jumped on reporting a rise of 7.85% in its net profit at Rs 4469.26 crore for the quarter, as compared to Rs 4143.92 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5300 and 17600 levels respectively.

The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1215:838 while 108 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17633.82 up by 0.37 points after touching a high of 17659.66 and low of 17600.02. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.44%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Metal up by 0.67%, Oil & Gas up by 0.50%, PSU up by 0.45%, TECk up by 0.23% and Bankex up by 0.23% were the gainers while Power by 0.56%, FMCG down by 0.47%, HC down by 0.35%, Realty down by 0.31% and CG down by 0.22% were the losers on the index.

Coal India up by 2.23%, Tata Steel up by 1.85%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.25%, Tata Motors up by 1.14%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.09% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Sun Pharma down by 2.44%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.31%, NTPC down by 1.13%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.93% and Sterlite Industries down by 0.88% were the major losers on the index.

Meanwhile, after facing an embarrassment last week that only two state and two Union Territories have given written consent for foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, the government now claims that eight states and two Union territories have expressed their support for FDI in multi-brand retail.

Earlier it was stated that, states of Delhi and Manipur along with Union Territories of Daman and Diu as well as Dadra and Nagar Haveli had expressed their support for FDI, but now Minister of State for Commerce and Industry has said that Maharashtra, Assam, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir state chief’s have given their consent and asked for its implementation, also one of the non-congress ruled state Punjab, too has been said to be giving a similar commitment soon.

There has been widespread resistance for the retail FDI move, from within the government and outside. Though, the Centre has been trying to evolve a consensus by holding consultations with all stakeholders, including the states, which have to take the final call. But for now the decision has been suspended to evolve a broader consensus among the various stakeholders.

However, there is encouraging news for the retail sector, the commerce ministry has said that India has received six proposals from global single-brand retailers seeking permission to own 51 per cent of their operations in the country. Retailers who have applied to the government include apparel maker Tommy Hillfiger, clothing retailer Brooks Brother Group, Italian jewellery brand Damiani International, French fashion brand Promod SAS, Fapa Company and NA Pali Europe SARL, which is a unit of sport-wear retailer Quiksilver Inc. 

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,346.75, down by 1.15 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 5,330.05 and 5,313.95. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 declines while 1 remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Coal India up by 2.13%, Tata Steel up by 1.76%, Ranbaxy up by 1.53%, JP Associates by 1.13% and Tata Motors up by 1.12%. While, Sun Pharma down by 2.49%, Maruti by 1.35%, Sesa Goa down by 1.20%, NTPC down by 1.02% and Sterlite Industries down by 1.01% were the top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian indices were trading in green ; Kospi Composite Index up 0.91%, Nikkei 225 up 0.40%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.48%, Hang Seng index up by 0.35% KLSE Composite up by 0.01% and Straits Times up by 0.07% while Jakarta Composite down by 0.26% and Shanghai Composite down by 0.60% were the only losers.