Sensex, Nifty trade marginally in red

Indian benchmarks have slipped into the red after opening marginally higher in the late morning session. On the global front, Asian equity indices were trading in mixed in the late morning trade. Meanwhile, Japanese Nikkei hit a fresh 4-1/2 year high as weaker Yen fuelled gains in exporters. However, Chinese Shanghai Composite dipped as disappointing economic data fuelled concerns about China’s economy. Back home, the traders were seen piling up positions in Health Care, Realty and Oil & Gas, while selling was seen in Metal, Capital Goods and IT sector. In scrip specific development, Spicejet, Jet Air India and Global Vectra edged higher after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on March 8, 2013, cleared Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) by civil and military users. 

In scrip specific actions, Pantaloon Retail (India) surged after it is planning to sell 22.5% stake in Future Generali Life Insurance to Mumbai-based non-banking finance company Industrial Investment Trust (IITL). Oil and Natural Gas Corp extending recent gains, after the government on Friday sought parliament's approval to spend an additional 247.74 billion rupees on oil subsidies in the current fiscal year that ends in March. Amtek Auto soared after acquiring NeumayerTekfor Group of Germany for Rs 2,717 crore. Larsen & Toubro dropped after World Bank barred the company from participating in any of the organisation's projects for six months.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading just above their psychological 5900 and 19600 levels respectively.

The market breadth on BSE was showing positive trend with advances to declines in ratio of 1094: 917.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19659.66, down by 23.57 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 19737.13 and 19658.67. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.12% and Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Health Care up by 0.51%, Realty up by 0.14%, Oil & Gas up by 0.12%, Auto up by 0.09%, FMCG up by 0.09% and while, Metal down by 0.74%, Capital Goods down by 0.52%, IT down by 0.27%, TECK down by 0.25% and Bankex down by 0.24%were the losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.86%, Coal India up by 1.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.34%, HDFC up by 1.10% and Cipla up by 0.61%.

On the flip side, Hindalco Industries was down by 1.98%,  Sterlite Industries was down by 1.68%, Jindal Steel was down by 1.46%, L&T was down by 1.07% and BHEL was down by 1.04%, were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, As per the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the manufacturing sector is expected to get a boost during the fourth quarter of FY13 as some major initiatives taken by the government in the last few months coupled with some budget announcements are likely to improve the prospects for manufacturing in coming months. FICCI, in its survey said that out of 327 units which participated in the study, over 39 percent respondents reported higher order books for fourth quarter of 2012-13 as compared to 33 percent in third quarter of 2012-13.

While, giving mixed signals for upturn in the manufacturing growth, it said ‘some upturn is evident in sectors like textiles, food products, leather and cement. But some major sectors like automotive and capital goods are expected to witness sluggish growth in the current quarter. The number of respondents reporting higher levels of production, in the fourth quarter of 2012-13 has dropped to 36 percent, from over 40 percent in previous few quarters.’

The survey also said that majority of the respondents do not have any plan for capacity addition in next six months as 30 percent of them reported that they are carrying more than their average levels of inventories in sectors like automotive, capital goods and textiles machinery. Over 75 percent said they are not likely to hire new workforce in next three months.

On the exports outlook, FICCI said that the export outlook for manufacturing seems to remain bleak. ‘For the fourth quarter, 40 percent of the respondents expect their export levels to be higher than last year for the same quarter. In the previous survey, we had 54 percent respondents expecting exports to be higher in 3rd quarter against same quarter last year,’ it said.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,943.30 down by 2.40 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 5,961.80 and 5,938.40. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Siemens up by 2.37%, Ranbaxy up by 1.97%, Sun Pharmaceuticals up by 1.89%, Coal India up by 1.73% and M&M up by 1.32%.

On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.88%, Sesa Goa down by 1.68%, JP Associate down by 1.54%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.39% and BHEL down by 1.23%, were the major losers on the index. 

Asian equity indices were trading in mixed; Hang Seng rose 96.88 points or 0.42% to 23,188.83, Nikkei 225 strengthened 48.89 points or 0.40% to 12,334.83, Straits Times increased 6.05 points or 0.21% to 3,297.16 and Taiwan Weighted added 47.98 points or 0.59% to 8,065.83  

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite slipped 5.57 points or 0.24% to 2,313.04, KLSE Composite dipped 1.73 points or 0.10% to 1,652.23 and KOSPI Composite was down by 1.16 points or 0.06% to 2,004.27 and Jakarta Composite was down by 4.44 points or 0.09% to 4,870.06.