Benchmarks remain under pressure; Nifty below 5,900 mark

Indian equities continued its weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters and taking cues from weak European counterparts. Traders were seen piling some position in IT sector, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Health Care and Consumer Durables sectors. The market sentiment failed to get a boost even after global rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) stated that it expects India to grow by 6.5 percent during 2013, amidst the possibility of global economic recovery continuing during the year. In the scrip specific development, Cairn India was trading in red on reports that the company is likely to revise its production guidance downwards in January. Indo Tech Transformers is trading weak as the company has set indicative exit price at Rs 120 per share for delisting of equity shares from both exchanges. Kingfisher Airlines was trading firm on reports that the grounded carrier has applied for renewal of licence.

On the global front, all the Asian markets were trading in red while the European markets were too trading on pessimistic note. European leaders have praised outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and encouraged him to run in next year’s elections who will resign tomorrow after 13 months in office. Monti took over last year just as Italy risked becoming the next victim of Europe’s debt crisis under former Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 5,900 and 19,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 952:1786 while 111 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,314.39 down by 139.53 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 19,394.55 and 19,283.93. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.00% and Small cap index was down by 0.99%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE was, IT up by 0.05%. While, Realty down by 2.30%, Health Care down by 1.37%, Consumer Durables down by 1.30%, Auto down by 1.29%, and Power down by 1.28% were top losers on the index.

The few gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 0.83%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.33% and Infosys up by 0.20%.

On the flip side, Sterlite Industries was down by 2.48%, Sun Pharma was down by 2.20%, Bharti Airtel was down by 2.18%, Jindal Steel was down by 2.04% and Tata Motors was down by 1.95% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, making a strong case for governance reforms so that quick decisions can be taken in the interest of the nation Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, ‘we must reform governance in this country. We must reform governance within the Parliamentary system. The Parliamentary system is in great stress.’

Concerned over the behaviour of Parliament members over the quota bill in the Lok Sabha he said, I think the gravest crisis that India faces is the challenge in the system of Parliamentary democracy. Elected representatives should take quick decisions and work towards nation building.

The statement comes a day after a Samajwadi Party member stunned the Lok Sabha by snatching the copy of the bill for quota in promotion from Minister V Narayanasamy and another member tearing it as a scuffle broke out when Congress chief Sonia Gandhi tried to retrieve the Bill.

With the regular happening of disruptions in the Parliamentary proceeding, previous Monsoon session was also a complete washout as stiff opposition over coal scam did not let Parliament function. Therefore, many important Bills could be cleared. Moreover, even in the current winter session, disruptions have led to the adjournments of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,866.35 down by 50.05 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 5,888.00 and 5,858.50. There were 5 stocks advancing against 45 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Axis Bank up by 1.47%, TCS up by 0.56%, Grasim Industries was up by 0.37%, Infosys up by 0.14% and Hero MotoCorp was up 0.03%.

On the flip side, JP Associates down by 3.26%, Cairn down by 3.06%, IDFC down by 3.02%, Ambuja Cement down by 2.58% and Bharti Airtel down by 2.32% were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite declined 0.69%, Hang Seng dropped 0.68%, Jakarta Composite slipped 0.38%, KLSE Composite contracted 0.54%, Nikkei 225 dipped 0.99%, KOSPI Composite crumbled 0.95%, Taiwan Weighted slumped 0.99% and Straits Times was down by 0.31%.

The European markets were trading on a mixed note with, France’s CAC 40 lost 0.34%, Germany’s DAX descended 0.43% while the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.51%.