Benchmarks near day’s low; Nifty holds onto 5900 bastion

Witnessing a bout of selling pressure, Indian equity markets have now pared gains nearing to the day’s low level, with 50 share index trading into the red zone albeit with slender loss. In the final session of F&O expiry, sentiment were dampened after reports suggested of Planning Commission likely seeking the National Development Council’s (NDC) approval to lower the average annual growth rate to 8% for the 12th five year plan from the earlier projected 8.2%, which would be the third revision of the growth rate for the current Plan. Further, even steep losses of stocks from Consumer Durable, Information Technology and Fast Moving Consumer Goods counters added to the pressure. On the flip side, stocks from Auto, Health Care and Public Sector Undertaking counters, enticing fervor, were trading in positive territory.

Shrugging off mostly positive Asian counterparts, 30 share barometer index - Sensex - on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), was hanging in the green, above its crucial 19400 mark, while 50 share broadly followed index, Nifty, on National Stock Exchange (NSE) despite slipping into red, was trading above its psychological 5900 level. Additionally, even broader indices had slipped into red zone.

On the global front, Asian pacific shares rose on Thursday amid caution as U.S. lawmakers prepared to resume negotiations to avert a fiscal cliff by December 31, while yen hit a 21-month low against the dollar on the prospect of drastic monetary easing and massive state spending. Meanwhile, European shares were seen returning from the Christmas holiday break with a fall.

Closer home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19425.71, up by 8.25 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 19,504.40 and 19403.97. There were 14 stocks advancing against 15 declines and 1 stock remains unchanged on the index. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of declines which were outnumbering in the ratio of 1288:1208, while 144 shares remained unchanged.

The broader indices too slipped into negative territory; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were down by 0.02% and 0.32% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Auto up by 0.73%, HC up by 0.48%, PSU up by 0.20%, Power up by 0.13% and Oil & Gas up by 0.12%. While, Consumer Durables down by 0.35%, IT down by 0.11%, FMCG down by 0.10%, TECk and Realty were down by 0.07% were the top losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.42%, Dr Reddy’s Lab up by 1.47%, ONGC up by 0.89%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.80% and Tata Steel up by 0.76%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.26%, Coal India down by 0.79%, M&M down by 0.77%, ICICI bank down by 0.48% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.46% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the Planning Commission is expected to seek the National Development Council’s (NDC) approval to lower the average annual growth rate to 8% for the 12th five year plan from the earlier projected 8.2% - the third revision of the growth rate for the current Plan. However, the broad thrust of the Plan would not alter.

On lowering the growth target, Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that planning commission’s objective is to go with the more optimistic scenario, and probably if we reflect, what we now know about the average growth instead of 8.2% then it would be better to expect it at 8%. Further, Ahluwalia said that the plan panel expects lower average growth target, due to the followed changes in the global and domestic economy since the approval of the approach paper by NDC in October last year.

During the first half of the current financial year, growth rate was 5.4%, lower than 7.3% growth recorded in the corresponding period last year. For financial year 2012-13, which is the first year of the 12th Plan, the growth rate has been estimated at 5.7-5.9%, which would be the lowest in a decade. According to the 12th Plan draft, to achieve a targeted average annual growth rate of 8.2%, the country would require around Rs 84.8 lakh crore at current prices for the Centre and states taken together.

Earlier, in the approach paper, the Commission had projected an annual average growth rate of 9%, which was lowered to 8.2% in September, keeping in view global economic worries and persistent sluggishness in domestic growth. The NDC, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is scheduled to meet on Dec 27 to discuss and approve the draft for the 12th Plan (2012-17). The council is the apex centre-state body and the meeting will be attended by various Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,903.90, down by 1.70 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 5,930.80 and 5,898.00. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.25%, Dr Reddy’s Lab up by 1.39%, Axis Bank up by 1.31%, Lupin up by 1.12% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.94%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.06%, Coal India down by 0.87%, DLF down by 0.84%, ACC down by 0.62% and Asian Paints down by 0.62%, were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng gained 0.41%, Jakarta Composite rose 0.12%, KLSE Composite added 0.42%, Nikkei 225 soared 0.91%, Straits Times strengthened 0.24%, KOSPI Composite was up by 0.26% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite down by 0.54% was the lone loser amongst Asian pack.