Benchmarks trade flat after series of gains

After witnessing sharp run-up in last nine consecutive sessions, Indian equity markets have made a flat start on weak global cues. Overnight, the US markets slipped marginally from their near five-year high on getting weak manufacturing data from New York state and sell-off in energy stocks while, the Asian markets have made a mixed start with only few of the indices trading in green; there is cautiousness in the regional markets due to European debt crisis and worsening dispute between Japan and China. Back home, investors opted to take some profit off the table after the series of gains. Meanwhile, industry body, ASSOCHAM has said that it is deeply disappointed by the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged. On the sectoral front, power witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by technology and software while, metal, oil and gas and capital goods remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks while, the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,044 shares on the gaining side against 607 shares on the losing side while 61 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 18,514.72; about 28 points lower compared to its previous closing of 18,542.31, and has touched a high and a low of 18,578.44 and 18,480.96 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 18,534.86, down by 7.45 points or 0.04%. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 60.98% stocks advancing against 35.46% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.55% and 0.44% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 0.81%, TECk up by 0.80%, IT up by 0.60%, FMCG up by 0.45% and CD up by 0.35%. While, Metal down by 0.46%, Oil and Gas down by 0.26%, CG down by 0.15%, Auto down by 0.14% and Realty down by 0.05% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.94%, BHEL up by 1.83%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.40%, GAIL up by 1.37% and Jindal Steel up by 1.13%.

On the flip side, Hindalco was down by 1.71%, Wipro was down by 1.11%, ICICI Bank was down by 1.07%, HDFC was down by 1.01% and TCS was down by 0.98% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, after proposing de-allocation of about seven coal mines amid much contended Coalgate issue, the Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) on coal blocks is likely to meet on September 17, to decide the fate of six more mines that were issued notices for delaying production. The panel of ministers had suggested cancelation of four coal blocks allocated to private firms and also the encashment of bank guarantee (BG) of three others on the ground of non-development of mines within the prescribed time.

The panel is currently in the process of reviewing 29 mines allotted to private firms out of the total 58 which are under show-cause notices charged for delaying in development of mines. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that revealed an estimated loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore by allotting 57 mines to private firms without auction had raised woes across the country.

IMG has been scrutinizing progress of coal blocks with the view to take deliberate actions in the individual cases and decided to include purchase of GR, Approval of Mining Plan, Grant of Environment Clearance, status of Forest Clearance and progress made in land acquisition to constitute a basic requirement for evaluating progress.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,602.40; about 8 points lower as compared to its previous closing of 5,610.00, and has touched a high and a low of 5,615.90 and 5,586.45 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,607.15, down by 2.85 points or 0.05%. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were PNB up by 2.88%, Infosys up by 1.97%, BHEL up by 1.90%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.87% and Reliance Infra up by 1.62%.

On the flip side, DLF down by 1.66%, JP Associates down by 1.54%, Wipro down by 1.49%, HIndalco down by 1.45% and Cairn down by 1.28%, were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite was down by 14.22 points or 0.68% to 2,064.28, Jakarta Composite lost 14.14 points or 0.35% to 4,239.93. Straits Times declined by 8.04 points or 0.24% to 3,071.03, Kospi Composite lost 0.51 points or 0.03% to 2,003.16 and Taiwan Weighted declined by 22.60 points or 0.29% to 7,741.21.

On the other hand, Hang Seng was marginally higher by 4.52 points or 0.02% to 20,662.63, KLSE Composite was up by 3.48 points or 0.21% to 1,646.48 and Nikkei 225 gained 14.15 points or 0.15% to 9,173.54.