Markets erase some gains; Nifty below 5900 level

Indian equity markets erased some early gains but continued trading positive in the late morning session on Monday, amid buying across the counters. Sensex gained 28 points while Nifty fell below 5,900 level. Meanwhile, investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's annual monetary policy on May 3, where it is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points. In currency markets, rupee appreciated against greenback on Monday amid increasing sales of dollar from exporters and banks. On the sectoral front, key information technology stocks edged higher on renewed buying support. However, few front line stocks were retreating a bit on profit taking and came off the day's high. Healthcare, bank and capital goods stocks were trading mixed, while metal stocks turned negative. 

On the global front, most Asian markets rose on Monday as investors awaited the European Central Bank's interest rate decision later this week after disappointing US growth data. Back home, the market breadth was favoring positive trend; there were 978 shares on the gaining side against 877 shares on the losing side, while 123 shares remains unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,315.19, up by 28.47 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 19,387.90 and 19,294.60. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.39% and Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables up by 1.43%, Power up by 1.27%, IT up by 0.99%, TECk up by 0.89% and Realty up by 0.63%, while Metal down by 0.44% was the only loser on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.57%, Wipro up by 1.94%, ONGC up by 1.59%, Sterlite Inds up by 1.45% and BHEL up by 1.11%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel was down by 2.89%, Hindustan Unilever was down by 1.24%, Coal India was down by 0.85%, HDFC was down by 0.81% and Sun Pharma was down by 0.72% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an industry managed organization that works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the industrial development in India, has proposed for a 0.50 per cent cut in lending rates from the Reserve Bank in its monetary policy review which is on May 3, in order to boost domestic investments.

The CII President Kris Gopalakrishnan has said that there is a possibility of a rate cut and that the RBI must consider a 50 basis points cut and then a 100 basis points cut over the next fiscal. While, setting the agenda for current fiscal as accelerating economic growth through innovation, transformation, inclusion and governance, the CII President said that Indian economy could achieve 6.5 per cent growth this fiscal and could go up to a level of 8-9 per cent in next two to three years. Further, the economic growth will also address issues, including job creation, current account deficit (CAD).

India's economic growth rate is estimated to slip to a decade's low of 5 percent in FY13, pulled down by poor performance of manufacturing, agriculture and services sectors. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,878.15 up by 6.70 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 5,899.15 and 5,871.15. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.55%, HCL Tech up by 2.30%, Reliance Infra up by 2.26%, IndusInd bank up by 2.15% and Cairn up by 1.97%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 3.11%, ACC down by 1.95%, Ambuja Cements down by 1.79%, Kotak Bank down by 1.40%, and Axis Bank down by 1.34% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Jakarta Composite increased 0.31% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.10%.

On the flip side, Hang Seng dropped 0.03%, KLSE Composite slipped 0.02%, KOSPI Composite was down by 0.20% and Straight Times was down by 0.10 points. Markets in mainland China and Japan were closed for holidays.