Benchmarks trade near neutral lines in early noon trade

Indian equity benchmarks continued to hover near their last close level in absence of any major trigger. Investors opted to stay away from taking position in risky assets ahead of the Union Budget 2013-14, Economic Survey of India and the Railway Budget to be released in the later week. Sentiments got some support as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth net Rs 1,213.57 crore in last session. Some support also came in from software and technology counters as stocks like Infosys, Wipro, HDL Tech and TCS edged higher after the rupee’s recent weakness against the dollar. A weak rupee boosts revenue of IT firms in dollar terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports. Meanwhile, shares of three footwear makers Liberty Shoes, Bata India and Relaxo Footwear also traded higher as lower rubber prices could boosts profit margins of these companies.

Asian markets pared most of their initial losses as investors dipped a toe back into battered markets, although Chinese shares remained weak amid concerns that strength in the Chinese property market and other factors may lead Beijing to tighten policy. Back home, realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by technology and oil and gas, while fast moving consumer goods, auto and metal remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were managed to keep their head above the water, while overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines which have thumped advances in the ratio of 1142: 1267, while 154 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19332.64, up by 7.28 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 19366.64 and 19289.83. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.11% and Small cap index was higher by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 1.58%, TECk up by 1.30%, Oil & Gas up by 1.09%, IT up by 1.01% and CG up by 0.32%, while FMCG down by 1.21%, Auto down by 0.73%, Metal down by 0.18%, PSU down by 0.16% and Consumer Durables down by 0.12% were the losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.46%, Wipro up by 2.32%, Sun Pharma up by 2.00%, RIL up by 1.71% and Gail India up by 1.46%.

On the flip side, HDFC was down by 2.25%, Tata Motors was down by 1.90%, Hindustan Unilever was down by 1.74%, ITC was down by 1.48%, and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.42% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, to make the capital goods industry more competitive globally, the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) has planned to consider a policy particularly focusing on capital goods sector. DHI Secretary M F Farooqui said, the department will examine developing a policy specifically targeting the beleaguered capital goods sector and after examining the policy issues, the department would make recommendations to achieve the target of 17% growth in the sector as envisaged in the 12th Five-Year Plan.

The capital goods industry, which constitutes heavy machinery including machine tools, currently, contributes about 12% to the total manufacturing activity. The Indian capital goods sector gives employment to 14 lakh people, has an important bearing on the growth of the user industries. The sector's growth has been decelerating in the recent years as the capital goods manufacturers have not been able to effectively tap global opportunities due to major issues faced by them like high interest rates, tax structure, reduction in custom duties and unregulated second-hand machinery imports. 

The DHI expressed the need to encourage innovation and build competitiveness for the industry as this is the key sector for business expansion as well as it provides the sustenance for a large group of people. Further, the department also urged the government to consider giving the sector the same kind of support provided to the automotive sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,849.35, down by 2.90 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 5,862.30 and 5,835.80. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 3.39%, DLF up by 2.90%, Wipro up by 2.54%, Sun Pharma up by 1.82% and GAIL up by 1.45%.

On the flip side, JP Associate down by 2.51%, HDFC down by 2.33%, Tata Motors down by 2.03%, HUL down by 1.91% and ITC down by 1.53%, were the major losers on the index.

 Most of the Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Jakarta Composite strengthened 0.18%, Nikkei 225 increased 0.68%, KOSPI Composite surged 0.18% and KLSE Composite was up by 0.23% On the flip side, Shanghai Composite down by 0.61%, Hang Seng down by 0.43%, Straits Times down by 0.13% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.12% were the losers amongst the Asian pack.