Sensex, Nifty pare gains to trade in red

Indian benchmarks- Sensex, Nifty were trading in the negative terrain in the late morning session as investors preferred to book profits ahead of the RBI's mid-quarter monetary policy review on Tuesday. On the global most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red at this point of time amid profit-taking in certain markets after last week’s gain; though the Japanese market was outperforming its peers as yen weakened on hopes of more monetary policy by the central bank. Back home, the traders were seen piling up position in Auto, Metal and Healthcare, while selling was seen in TECk, IT and FMCG sector. Metal stocks rose for the second straight day after data showed that a preliminary version of HSBC's China manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index hit a 14-month high in December 2012. JSW Steel edged higher after the company signed a joint agreement with Japan's JFE Steel Corporation for the production of non-oriented electrical steel sheets at its Karnataka plant. Power Grid Corporation of India was trading in red after a block deal of 9.5 lakh shares. Wheels India surged after the company stated that its board of directors has approved the public issue of upto Rs 100 crore. Fortis Healthcare  zoomed after the company stated  that it will  sell its 64% stake in Dental Corporation Holdings, Australia, to Bupa, for nearly Rs 15.52 billion (AUD 270 million). Honeywell Automation of India soared after the promoter has received a strong response from investors to its offer-for-sale issue with an over-subscription of more than 7 times.

The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5,850 and 19200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, in the ratio of 1321:773.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19296.70 down by 20.55 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 19346.78 and 19282.23. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48% and Small cap index was up by 0.57%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Auto up by 1.12%, Metal up by 0.67%, Healthcare up by 0.51%, Realty up by 0.40% and PSU up by 0.35%. While, TECk down by 0.81%, IT down by 0.61% , FMCG down by 0.55%,CD down by 0.50%, and Capital Goods down by 0.06% were the few losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 2.63%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.05%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.47% and ONGC up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel was down by 2.48%, TCS was down by 1.72%, HDFC Bank was down by 1.34%, Wipro was down by 1.21%, and ITC was down by 1.01% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, According to industry body GSM Association, due to the uncertainty in the regulatory environment, India is no longer a preferred destination for global telecom operators looking to expand to new markets. The recent the auction of spectrum had earned the government a revenue of Rs 9,407.64 crore only against minimum expectation of Rs 28,000 crore and no new operator participated in the bidding.

Explaining the reasons, GSMA Director General Anne Bouverot said, “It is the matter of happening of both economic as well regulatory and the time when overall operators are saying to be careful about the finances and the same time regulations becoming more onerous. Moreover, the regulations have been more taxing on operators and also less predictable.”

By adding further Bouverot said that, notwithstanding the global economic slowdown around five telecom operators and even some companies operating in India are looking to invest and expand their business to new countries, however, India’s scam ridden telecom industry will have to wait till investor faith is restored. Further, Bouverot said that the trend of investment by telecom operators across globe is holding on to existing geographies and invest there because there is huge investment to be made in the network.   

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,872.90 down by 6.70 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 5,886.05 and 5,860.20. There were 24 stocks advancing against 24 declines while 2 stock remains   unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.83%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.01%, Bajaj-Auto up by 1.42%, M&M up by 1.30% and Tata Power up by 1.24%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.70%, TCS down by 1.88%, HDFC Bank down by 1.32%, Wipro down by 1.26%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.09% and were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Hang Seng declined by 96.40 points or 0.43% to 22,509.58, KLSE Composite was down by 5.21 points or 0.32% to 1,646.77, Straits Times was lower by 7.96 points or 0.25% to 3,160.47, Seoul Composite was down by 11.84 points or 0.59% to 1,983.20 and Taiwan Weighted was trading lower by 84.26 points or 1.09% to 7,616.21.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite was up by 10.92 points or 0.51% to 2,161.55, Jakarta Composite was higher by 0.44 points or 0.01% to 4,309.30 and Nikkei 225 has surged by 126.75 points or 1.30% to 9,863.90.