Benchmarks gyrate around neutral line

The Indian equity markets are gyrating around their neutral line. On the global front, most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green at this point of time on some positive US data and headway in the Euro zone debt crisis. Back home, traders were seen piling up position in, HC, CD and Auto sector while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Metal and Realty sector. Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Lupin, Ranbaxy Lab, Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals and Divi's Laboratories from HC pack were seen trading in green. Titan Industries, Rajesh Exports, Blue Star, TTK Prestige, Bajaj Electricals and Whirlpool of India from CD pack were seen trading firm in green. Oil & Gas majors - Reliance Industries, Gail (India), Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Oil India were capping the markets’ gains. Realty majors DLF, Oberoi Realty, Phoenix Mills and Anant RAJ Industries too were pressurizing the markets.

In the scrip specific development, CMC rose on entering into an alliance with Unitec to offer vocational training in India.  Fedders Lloyd gained on bagging contract worth $34.5 million in Power Distribution Sector in Africa. HCL Technologies edged higher on reporting 76% surge in Q1 net profit. Lupin soared as its arm received USFDA approval for generic Avapro Tablets.  Tata Motors surged on launching upgraded version of Manza sedan. Kamat Hotels jumped on plan to restructure business operations. Alok Industries edged higher as its arm received Rs 138.64 crore from sale of Mumbai property. The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5,600 and 18500 levels. The market breadth on BSE was positive, in the ratio of 1301:843.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18578.74 up by 1.04 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 18705.19 and 18577.75. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.01% and Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

On the BSE sectoral space, HC up by 0.56%, CD up by 0.41%, Auto up by 0.27%, CG up by 0.12% and FMCG up by 0.06%, were the top gainers. While, Oil & Gas down by 0.58%, Metal down by 0.38%, Realty down by 0.27%, PSU down by 0.13% and Bankex down by 0.09%, were the top loser.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 1.53%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.40%, Tata Motors up by 0.84%, Wipro up by 0.72% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.58%. On the other hand, RIL down by 1.00%, TCS down by 0.63%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.47%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.35% and Gail India down by 0.22% were the top losers on the Sensex.   

Meanwhile, a ministerial panel headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has given approval to the contentious and long-pending land acquisition bill in its third meeting on Oct 16. The final draft of the long-delayed bill will now be placed before the Union Cabinet.

The basic structure remains and two-third consent of land owners is essential for PPP and for private projects for public purpose. As per the approved draft, the Bill will have a provision for consent of two-third of land owners for acquiring land but no contentious retrospective clause. The previous bill sought the consent of 80% of affected people.

To protect tribals, the bill says ‘approval’ of gram panchayats will be required to buy land in schedule areas. The law will also apply to Special Economic Zones. However, there is no change in the provisions regarding compensation package, relief and rehabilitation package and no change in Social Impact Assessment.

The original Bill was introduced in Parliament in September last year and was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee which submitted its recommendations in May but due to strong reservations against certain provisions of the Bill by various ministries the government had constituted the GoM. 

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,647.70, down by 0.30 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 5,684.35 and 5,647.70. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 1.47%, Lupin up by 1.33%, Asian Paint up by 1.09%, Maruti up by 1.09% and IDFC was up by 1.07%. While, DLF down by 1.30%, Axis Bank down by 1.23%, Reliance down by 1.12%, Ambuja Cement  down by 0.95% and TCS down by 0.79% were the losers on the index

Asian equity indices were trading mostly in the green; Kospi Composite was up by 0.65%, Shanghai Composite was up by 0.11%, Hang Seng was up by 0.93%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.15%, KLSE Composite was up by 0.26%, Nikkei 225 was up by 1.24% and Straits Times was up by 0.31% while Taiwan Weighted down by 0.17% was the lone loser.