Domestic barometer gauges slashing major of the losses hover around the neutral line

Domestic barometer gauges slashing majority of their losses are currently hovering around the neutral line drawing support from the slew of positive reports including that of the Germany's approval to expand the euro zone bailout fund, the US GDP data which showed that the economy grew at a 1.3 percent pace in the second quarter, faster than previously estimated, along with the Jobs data which signaled that applications for jobless benefits dropped by a more-than forecast 37,000 to 391,000. The local bourses also drawing some positive close of Wall Street on Thursday pared most of its losses. However, Asian stock were trading mixed owing to conflicting reports on the health of the US economy as fresh data from the government showed that the U.S. economy is barely keeping its head above water, with a growth rate that's just too weak to help the 14 million American workers who can’t find a job. Meanwhile, the US future indices were showing a downtick in the screen trade. Back home, stocks from  Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and  Auto counters featuring in the best performer category aiding the bourses in curtailing their losses, while on the flip side, stocks from Power, Bankex and  PSU stocks remained the weak links. Both the barometer gauges -Sensex and Nifty-hovering around the neutral line trading above the 16600 level and 5000 level respectively. The broader indices outperforming the benchmarks were up with gains of over 0.25% each. The overall market breadth is in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 1240:870, while 93 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 16,690.71, down by 7.36 points or 0.04%. The index has touched a high and low of 16,690.71 and 16,495.51 respectively.  There were just 9 stocks advancing against 21 declines on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were up by 0.69% and 0.37% respectively.  

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CD up by 1.78%, CG up by 0.66%, Auto up by 0.23% and HC up by 0.20% and TECK up by 0.14%. While, Power down by 1.07%, Bankex down by 0.73%, PSU down by 0.68%, FMCG down by 0.48% and IT down by 0.08% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Jaiprakash Associate up by 1.81%, L&T up by 1.71%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.34%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.08%, and RIL up by 1.05%.

On the flip side, Tata Power down by 1.91%, ONGC down by 1.86%, Heromoto Corp down by 1.54%, BHEL down by 1.42% and SBI down by 1.38% were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) (MMDR) Bill 2011, which seeks to make compulsory sharing of miners profit and creating a watchdog to regulate the sector’s overall growth, will be put before the Union Cabinet for its approval on September 30.

After getting approval from cabinet, MMDR bill 2011 is expected to be tabled in the coming winter session of the Parliament. Earlier the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, gave its approval to the MMDR bill 2011. The proposed bill also seeks to create a system for time-bound allocation of mineral concessions and setting up of the National Mineral Regulatory Authority (NMRA), mining tribunals that would be empowered to issue guidelines for improvement of the mining sector.

The mines ministry is pushing for the early passage of the bill to help the central and state government to regulate the mining sector, which has been in light for the illegal mining in iron ore rich state Karnataka. The ministry is hopeful that the proposed bill will help central and state governments to monitor utilization of the concessions given to various lease-holders and stop over-exploitation of mineral resources. The mining ministry is of the view that in the absence of a mechanism to determine mining profit, there is no merit in asking miners to share 26% of their net profit, the ministry’s view is backed by the GoM.

The mining ministry has recommended that it was better to ask them to share 26% of the total royalty paid to the states, the Mines Minister Dinsha Patel had said that 56 mineral-rich districts of the country would together get Rs 7,000-8,000 crore through this exercise.

Mines minister also said the money accruing from this profit-sharing mechanism would go towards uplift people living in the mining areas from poverty. ‘I also feel that once people start living a better life, they would themselves oppose the illegal mining menace. This, they would do for their own good as no one would like to be identified with this issue.’ The bill also seeks to create a special court to dispose off cases pertaining to illegal mining quickly. The MMDR bill does not favor resaving mining areas for the PSU unless it was imperative to do so.   

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,013.00, down by 2.45 points or 0.05%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,013.95 and 4,952.75 respectively.  There were 18 stocks advancing against 31 declines on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sesa Goa up by 2.46%, Ranbaxy up by 2.43%, L&T up by 2.08%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.90% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.90%.

Reliance Capital down by 7.11%, Reliance Infra down by 5.55%, Reliance Communication down by 4.51%, Reliance Power down by 4.51% and Siemens down by 2.23% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite down by 0.52%, Hang Seng was down by 2.08%, Nikkei 225 was down by 0.09%, Straits Times was down by 1.21% and Seoul Composite was down by 0.21%

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.59%, Jakarta Composite was up by 0.25% and KLSE Composite was up by 0.01%.