Benchmarks trade in red; Nifty below 5,900 mark

Indian equities pared gains to continue its weak trade below neutral line in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters and ahead of its monthly expiry in the derivatives segment. The sentiment on the street were dampened after reports suggested that Planning Commission is 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. Traders were seen piling some position in Auto, PSU and Metal sector while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, IT and TECk sectors. The market may remain volatile as traders may roll over positions in F&O segment from near month contract i.e. December 2012 series to next month contract i.e. January 2013 series. In the scrip specific development, PC Jeweller was trading firm on debuting on the bourses today as the IPO attracted bids for over 26 crore shares against 4.51 crore shares on offer, translating to 6.79 times subscription. Credit Analysis and Research (CARE) continued its firm trade for second day in a row after debuting on the bourses yesterday since the credit rating service provider attracted strong response for its $98 million initial public offering. Manaksia was soaring high as the board will meet today to consider restructuring plans. Hindustan Oil Exploration (HOEC) was trading in green on reports that ENI is looking to sell its 47.2 percent stake in the company to US based Anadrako Petroleum. BHEL is trading under pressure after foreign brokerage firm Goldman Sachs reiterated a sell rating on the company.

On the global front, all the Asian markets were trading in green barring Shanghai Composite and Jakarta Composite while the European markets were trading on a mixed note. In Europe, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti resigned after the parliament approved the 2013 budget in an overwhelming 309-to-55 vote. Elections are scheduled on February 24. Besides, average home prices in the UK declined 0.3% in the 12 months to December compared to a 2.3% fall over 2011, according to a survey published by Hometrack. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 5,900 and 19,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1173:1509 while 165 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,405.43, down by 12.03 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 19,504.40 and 19,375.52. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in red; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were down by 0.16% and 0.45% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Auto up by 0.55%, PSU up by 0.19%, Metal up by 0.13%, Health Care up by 0.12% and Realty up by 0.04%. While, Consumer Durables down by 0.60%, IT down by 0.36%, TECk down by 0.21%, FMCG down by 0.14% and Capital Goods down by 0.10% were the top losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.49%, Tata Steel up by 1.15%, Dr Reddy’s Lab up by 1.10%, ONGC up by 0.93% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.52%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.17%, M&M down by 0.86%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.76%, HDFC down by 0.65% and Jindal Steel down by 0.62% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, to discuss the modalities on how Reliance Power should utilize surplus coal from the blocks allocated for Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP), for another project in Chitrangi, the Power and Coal ministries are expected to meet on December 27. The meeting would be related to the coal blocks of 3,960 MW Sasan UMPP in Madhya Pradesh, is likely to be taken by I C P Kesari, joint secretary at the Power Ministry, who looks after Ultra Mega Power Projects.

The meeting is likely to discuss on a suitable mechanism to ensure that conditions stipulated by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) regarding surplus coal of Sasan UMPP are not violated by the developer. Earlier in April this year, an EGoM chaired by the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee decided not to review the earlier decision allowing Reliance Power to use excess coal from the Sasan UMPP mines for the Chitrangi project, also located in Madhya Pradesh.

Reliance Power bagged the 3,960 MW Sasan UMPP in 2007 through competitive bidding. The company was allotted Moher, Moher-Almohri and Chhatrasal captive coal mines for developing the project. At the peak, these blocks' can produce up to 25 million tonnes of coal per annum. Moher, Moher-Almohri can produce 20 million tonnes, while Chhatrasal can produce 5 million tonnes.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,894.00, down by 11.60 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 5,930.80 and 5,888.60. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 declines while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.29%, Tata Steel up by 1.16%, Dr Reddy’s Lab up by 1.14%, Axis Bank up by 0.99% and Lupin up by 0.74%.

On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 1.41%, BHEL down by 1.26%, Asian Paints down by 1.05%, M&M down by 0.96% and Reliance Infrastructure down by 0.89%, were the major losers on the index.

Majority of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng gained 0.35%, KLSE Composite added 0.23%, Nikkei 225 soared 0.91%, Straits Times strengthened 0.14%, KOSPI Composite was up by 0.26% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 0.60% and Jakarta Composite edged lower 0.08% were the only losers amongst Asian pack.

The European markets were trading on a mixed note with, France’s CAC 40 gain 0.22%, Germany’s DAX descended 0.36% while the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 edged lower 0.06%.