Indian markets slip further into red; CD remains the lone gainer

Indian markets are not getting any respite and the cut is getting deeper as the trade proceeds. There is no support from the global markets as most of the Asian markets are in deep red following overnight slaughter in the US markets. The traders’ sentiment has taken a hit with the lackluster response to the government’s much anticipated 2G spectrum auction. Traders also looked indifferent to the decline in WPI inflation numbers, as despite the decline it still remains above the comfort level of RBI. IT sector was worst hit after the IT industry body Nasscom lowered its growth expectation for the industry this financial year. Nasscom now expects the export growth in dollar terms to be at the lower end of the 11-14% that it had forecast in February. On the sectoral front only the consumer durables were holding in green encouraged by the Diwali purchase.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,445.57 down by 173.30 points or 0.93% after trading in a range of 18,593.54 and 18,432.06. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 declines on the index.

The broader indices too continued in red though in comparatively better position than the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.57% and Small cap index was down by 0.60%.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Consumer Durables (CD) up by 0.48%. While, IT down by 1.71%, Metal down by 1.47%, Auto down by 1.16%, FMCG down by 1.06% and HC down by 1.03% were top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.99%, Gail India up by 1.08%, HDFC up by 0.58%, Coal India up by 0.56% and HUL up by 0.34%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.50%, Hindalco Inds down by 2.25%, ITC down by 2.13%, Infosys down by 2.12% and Wipro down by 2.08% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, reacting to the dismal Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for September 2012, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has asked the government to ease monetary policies to push growth.

R V Kanoria, President, FICCI said ‘the negative IIP figure for September 2012 is indeed disturbing as it indicates that manufacturing growth had not bottomed out in previous month and both domestic and export demand continue to remain an area of concern for us.’

‘At this juncture, it is important that government does not lose momentum on reform front and need to take courage now to implement some big ticket reforms like implementation of GST, effective and time-bound coordination mechanism for project clearance envisaged in NIB, introducing competition in coal sector and introducing targeted delivery mechanism for existing development schemes to check the subsidy burden,’ emphasized Kanoria.

The federation has further said that capital goods remain a cause for concern as the growth of this sector has fallen steeply in September and also figures for August have undergone for downward revision thereby reflecting a continued environment of subdued investment activity. FICCI also hopes that RBI will relook at its monetary policy in the light of latest IIP figures to reduce interest rates.

Earlier, FICCI in its latest quarterly survey on manufacturing had projected subdued growth in key sectors such as automotive, capital goods, metal and chemicals in the third quarter.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,613.60, down by 53.35 points or 0.94% after trading in a range of 5,651.65 and 5,610.85. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 2.84%, HCL Tech up by 1.62%, GAIL up by 1.11%, Kotak Bank up by 1.06% and Cairn India was up by 0.92%.

On the other hand, UltraTech down by 4.78%, JP Associates down by 3.30%, Tata Steel down by 2.57%, Hindalco down by 2.29% and ITC down by 2.20% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian indices were in red; Shanghai Composite was down by 0.70%, Hang Seng plunged by 1.18%, Straits Times was down by 1.04%, Kospi Composite declined by 1.23%, Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.22%, while Nikkei 225 up by 0.22% was the only gainer.