Indian benchmarks trade marginally lower in morning deals

Indian equity indices have made a cautious start and are trading marginally in red following a sharp cut in the last two sessions on the back of profit booking from foreign institutional investors. Political uncertainty at the domestic front, slowing growth in China, US unemployment claims and the European Central Bank keeping interest rates unchanged were cited as reasons for the downward sentiment. Globally, Asian counters were mostly down ahead of US non-farm payrolls data amid rising concerns over the American economy. South Korean benchmark -- KOSPI Composite -- tumbled by over two percent after North Korea blocked access to its Kaesong joint industrial zone with South Korea for the second day running. Though, Japanese equities were trading jubilantly after the Bank of Japan’s unprecedented monetary expansion.

Back home, continued political uncertainty on the domestic front and worries about early elections after the withdrawal of a key regional ally from the ruling coalition last month mainly weighed on investors’ sentiment. However, losses remain capped as sentiments got some support after shares of sugar manufacturer rallied in opening deals after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on April 4, 2013 approved a proposal to abolish the levy-sugar mechanism, under which private millers have to sell a specified quantity of the sweetener to the government at concessional rates.

On the sectoral front, realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by oil and gas and public sector undertaking while, fast moving consumer goods, software and technology remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks while, the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 993 shares on the gaining side against 612 shares on the losing side while 69 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 18,493.67; about 16 points lower compared to its previous closing of 18,509.70, and has touched a high and a low of 18,512.32 and 18,446.53 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 18,492.09, down by 17.61 points or 0.10%. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 59.32% stocks advancing against 36.56% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices up by 0.43% and 0.51% respectively. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 1.41%, Oil & Gas up by 1.05%, PSU up by 0.74%, Auto up by 0.61% and Metal up by 0.57% while, FMCG down by 0.91%, IT down by 0.44%, Teck down by 0.20% and Bankex down by 0.08% were the only losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.74%, Gail up by 2.16%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.56%, ONGC up by 1.43% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.22%.

On the flip side, ITC was down by 1.72%, HDFC was down by 1.44%, TCS was down by 0.86%, ICICI Bank was down by 0.75% and Wipro was down by 0.72% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, raising concerns over an alarming rise in grey market investments with thousands of crores being raised through illegal means, the capital market regulator - Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) called for a single watchdog to regulate all entities collecting public money under various illegal means and also pointed out that these deposit-taking firms were taking advantage of the loopholes in existing laws.

Currently, cooperative banks and deposit-taking NBFCs are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), while chit-funds are under the purview of the state governments. While addressing a seminar on investment outlook for 2013, capital market regulator Chief, U K Sinha, making a strong case for providing more power, said, the SEBI has recommended that it be granted with similar powers as given to the Competition Commission or income-tax.

By adding further, Sinha said when we pass an order and impose monetary penalty, the capacity to recover the penalty is limited as we have to follow a long process. Pursuant to which, the SEBI has also sent some recommendations for strengthening SEBI Act. SEBI’s comments come at a time when it is fighting a long-drawn case against Sahara Group, which has been asked by the Supreme Court to refund over Rs 24,000 crore raised from over three crore investors through issuance of certain bonds without SEBI's approval. SEBI has been to facilitate the refund after ascertaining the genuineness of investors.

The market regulator, SEBI will also start investor awareness campaigns from next week on the consent mechanism. On opening more SEBI offices, Sinha said the regulator has already opened offices in 10 cities and plans are going on to open 6 more offices in smaller cities.

The CNX Nifty opened at 5,568.10; about 6 points lower as compared to its previous closing of 5,574.75, and has touched a high and a low of 5,577.30 and 5,557.50 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,568.00, down by 6.75 points or 0.12%. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.81%, GAIL up by 1.95%, DLF up by 1.87%, Bajaj-Auto up by 1.67% and ONGC up by 1.48%.

On the flip side, Ambuja Cements down by 2.03%, ITC down by 1.85%, ACC down by 1.82%, Ranbaxy down by 1.76% and IDFC down by 1.74%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Hang Seng tumbled 528.90 points or 2.37% to 21,808.59, KLSE Composite declined 5.91 points or 0.35% to 1,682.55, Straits Times slipped 5.22 points or 0.16% to 3,302.58 and KOSPI Composite was down by 39.70 points or 2.03% to 1,919.75.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite rose 12.23 points or 0.25% to 4,934.84 and Nikkei 225 was up by 439.09 points or 3.48% to 13,073.63.

Markets in China and Taiwan remained shut for the trade today.