Benchmarks continue their lackadaisical trade

Indian equities continue to trade below neutral line in the late morning session. On the global front, all the Asian counters were trading in the red terrain at this point of time. Weaker than expected retail sales data from Japan and report of lower business confidence among South Korean manufacturers was weighing on the sentiments. Back home, traders were seen piling up position in Realty and HC sector, while selling was witnessed in CG, Oil and Gas and Auto sector. L&T, BHEL, Siemens and Crompton Greaves from CG sector were trading in red exerting pressure on the market, while Oil and Gas majors RIL, ONGC, and BPCL too were pressurizing the markets. On the other hand, DLF, Unitech and Godrej Properties from Realty pack were seen trading firm in green, holding the markets from dipping further. Cipla, Lupin, and Glenmark Pharma from HC pack were seen trading in green edging the markets higher.

In the scrip specific development, Alembic Pharmaceuticals soared on restoring manufacturing operations at Panelav Unit. Mphasis jumped on reporting a rise of 7.16% in its consolidated net profit at Rs 208.74 crore for the quarter, as compared to Rs 194.80 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.  Orchid gained on entering into business transfer agreement with Hospira. The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5250 and 17400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative, in the ratio of 1129:765.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17411.97 down by 78.84 points or 0.45% after touching a high of 17436.70 and low of 17367.55. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.12% and Small cap index was down by 0.28%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Realty up by 0.53% and Healthcare up by 0.31% were the only gainers. While, CG down by 0.87%, Oil and Gas down by 0.73%, Auto down by 0.66%, Metal down by 0.64%, and PSU down by 0.40% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 1.45%, Tata Power up by 0.96%, Cipla up by 0.94%, Wipro up by 0.74% and HDFC Bank up by 0.32%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel was down by 2.03%, Maruti Suzuki was down by 1.84%, Sterlite Industries was down by 1.66%, Tata Steel was down by 1.60% and Bharti Airtel was down by 1.24%, were the top losers on the Sensex.

 Meanwhile, in a latest study by CRISIL it has been revealed that for the first time in two decades Consumption in rural India is growing at a faster pace than in cities and towns. It was reported that between 2009-10 and 2011-12, additional spending by rural India was Rs 375,000 crore, much higher compared to Rs 299,400 crore by urbanites in the same period. The CRISIL study also noted a shift in spending patterns in rural areas, with consumers moving beyond necessities such as toothpaste and soap to so-called discretionary products such as televisions and mobile phones.

Growth in rural consumption was fuelled by a rise in household incomes due to greater non-farm job opportunities and government initiated employment generation schemes. As per National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data, during 2004-05 to 2009-10, rural construction jobs rose 88 per cent, while the number of people employed in agriculture fell from 249 million to 229 million.  Migrants from villages to urban areas, who benefited from job opportunities in infrastructure and construction projects, increased remittances to their families in rural India, which has boosted consumption.

CRISIL’s study showed that nearly 42% of rural households owned a television in 2009-10, up from 26% five years earlier, while 14% of rural households had a scooter or motorbike in 2009-10, almost double to that in 2004-05.

The study has also lauded the efforts of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which fuelled job creation on an unprecedented scale and nearly 27 per cent of rural households availed themselves of employment under MGNREGS in 2009-10. However, it also said that despite the positive impacts of these schemes, pressure on public finances will make it difficult to significantly hike such spending in future.  

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,266.80, down by 21.00 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 5,271.45 and 5,255.05. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were DLF up by 1.96%, Hindalco up by 1.49%, Power Grid up by 1.22%, Cairn up by 1.21% and Wipro up by 0.99%.On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 1.95%, Maruti down by 1.82%, Tata Steel down by 1.72%, JP Associaties down by 1.56% and Sterlite Industries down by 1.51%, were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian indices were trading in red; Kospi Composite Index down by 1.20%, Nikkei 225 down by 1.17%, KLSE Composite down by 0.03%, Taiwan Weighted down by 0.06%, Straits Times down by 1.10%, Hang Seng index down by 1.23%, Shanghai Composite down by 0.34% and Jakarta Composite down by 1.51% were the losers.