Benchmarks surrendering all the early gains have dipped to intra-day’s low level, with Nifty slipping into red territory on account of persistent profit-booking by funds and investors. The intra-day reversal of trade took place at D-street after the parliament session was concluded two days earlier than the original date. Earlier in the day, both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were disrupted as the BJP persisted with its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks, and also demanded that the two ministers smeared by scandal - Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal - step down. Shrugging off the positive global set-up, benchmark 50-share index, Nifty, although slipping below the neutral line, was trading above the crucial 6,000 mark. While, 30-share index, Sensex, managed to hold the fort in green, was trading above 19,850 level.
On the global front, European shares following the gains in Asian pacific region have made a positive start. Asian markets rose to their highest in nearly two years on Wednesday, as strong Chinese trade data added to positive sentiment already fed by record highs in global equities overnight. China's exports rose 14.7 percent in April, while imports grew 16.8 percent, leaving the country with a trade surplus of $18.16 billion for the month. Meanwhile, European shares got a positive start on Wednesday.
Closer home, benchmark equity indices have lost out fizz despite likely decisive poll outcome. As per the Election Commission website, of the three final results the Congress won two seats. With status known for 209 of the 224 constituencies, the Congress was leading in 105 seats, the Janata Dal (Secular) in 42, the BJP in 34, Samajwadi Party 1 and others 24. Meanwhile, on the BSE sectoral front, stocks from Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas counters were mainly restricting the losses of the bourses. On the flip side, stocks from Capital Goods, Power and Metal space emerged as the major pockets of weakness. The overall market breadth on BSE is in favour of declines, which have outnumbered advances in the ratio of 940:900; while 96 shares remain unchanged.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,897.46, up by 8.51 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 19,989.64 and 19,851.22. There were 11 stocks advancing against 18 declines on the index and one remains unchanged.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index were trading up by 0.11% and 0.21% respectively.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, FMCG up by 0.55%, Consumer Durables up by 1.09%, Oil & Gas up by 0.08% and IT were up by 0.01%, while Capital Goods down by 1.17%, Power down by 0.55%, Metal down by 0.44%, Bankex down by 0.43% and Realty down by 0.28% were the top losers on the BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.96%, Tata Motors up by 1.49%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.26%, ONGC up by 0.83% and Hindalco Industries up by 0.79%.
On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp and Jindal Steel were down by 1.77%, Tata Steel down by 1.74%, L&T down by 1.44% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.43% were the top losers on the Sensex.
Meanwhile, in a move to check any more downgrade from rating agencies which would take India's rating to 'Junk' status, the government has conveyed to the international rating agency Moody’s that India’s growth story is credible, while admitting that are some problems that need to be tackled.
After the meeting with Moody’s, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary Arvind Mayaram said that we assured the rating agency that there are certain problems in the country, but the government is fully committed to take action and these problems will be fully addressed in the near future.
On the other hand, Moody’s representatives, raised concerns over the impact of the subsidy outgo for the Food Security Bill and on the overall subsidy outgo, besides targets of growth and fiscal deficit. The finance ministry told them that the Budget targets had been carefully prepared and there is no question about subsidy outgo.
Last week, Moody’s had said that India’s sovereign outlook was stable and did not warrant any action on the country’s credit rating in the next 12 to 18 months. In January, Moody’s had reaffirmed ‘Baa3’ (which is equivalent to BBB minus) sovereign credit rating for India that indicates investment grade but with a stable outlook.
Presently, the government is meeting rating agencies to improve the country’s outlook because any lowering in rating grade will take it to junk investment grade, making it difficult for the country to attract foreign investments or the companies to borrow from abroad. The meeting with rating agencies started with Fitch earlier this month, which was followed by S&P. The rating agencies will announce their stand on ratings and outlook within a month.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,038.30, down by 5.25 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 6,070.15 and 6,024.95. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 declines on the index.
The top gainers of the Nifty were HDFC up by 1.99%, Lupin up by 1.76%, Tata Motors up by 1.66%, HUL up by 1.43% and IndusInd Bank up by 1.22%.
On the flip side, Bank of Baroda down by 2.18%, Tata Steel down by 2.14%, Ranbaxy down by 1.98%, NMDC down by 1.89% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.84% were the major losers on the index.
Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 0.10%, Hang Seng jumped 0.74%, Jakarta Composite increased 0.60%, Nikkei 225 surged 0.74%, Straits Times soared 0.87%, KOSPI Composite up by 0.06% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 1.27%. On the flip side, KLSE Composite was down by 0.11% was the only loser.
European shares made a positive start; with CAC 40 climbing by 0.45%, DAX adding 0.23% and FTSE 100 rising by 0.10
