Benchmark continue weak trade

The benchmarks though not slipping below the initial lows and holding steady, however remained on a negative trend for the fourth straight session on the back of weak cues from global peers. Sentiments have got dampened on sustained selling by funds in the absence of any positive trigger amid a weak trend in the Asian region following overnight losses at the US market after figures showed the trade deficit had widened.

On the global front, Asian markets too were trading mostly in red at this point of time on weak US cues; the Japanese market too was trading in red ahead of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech on his economic-growth strategy; however the losses remain capped after dollar’s rebound above 100 yen. Back home, the traders were seen piling up positions in Oil & Gas, Capital Goods and Metal while selling was seen in FMCG , IT and Teck sector.

In scrip specific actions, L&T rose after the company said that its group company has achieved a major breakthrough in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by securing a large EPC contract from the Saudi Arabian Oil Company. HMT jumped after the company's board approved increasing authorised share capital of the company to Rs 2100 crore from Rs 1450 crore. Educomp Solutions slipped after rating agency CARE revised its rating to 'Default'

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading just above their psychological 5,900 and 19,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was showing positive trend with advances to declines in ratio of 944:713. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19515.42, down by 30.36 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 19542.04 and 19441.35. 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 0.27% and Small cap index was up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Oil & Gas up by 0.60%, Capital Goods up by 0.53%, Metal up by 0.38%, Auto up by 0.33% and  Realty up by 0.17% while, FMCG down by 0.86%, IT down by 0.38%, Teck down by 0.34%, Bankex down by 0.20% and Health Care down by 0.06% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 1.43%, Gail India up by 1.11%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.05%, Tata Steel up by 1.01%, and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.99%. On the flip side, ITC was down by 1.48%, ICICI Bank was down by 1.36%, Cipla was down by 1.08% , Coal India was down by 0.97% and Bajaj Auto was down by 0.79% were the top losers on the Sensex. 

Meanwhile, buoyed by rising output of intermediate goods as well as tourist earnings and the government's reform initiatives, business climate in India improved in May as against the same month last year. As per the 'BluFin Business Cycle Indicator (BCI)', which reflects various macroeconomic trends on a monthly basis, stood at 166.3 points in May, 5.8% higher compared to the same month last year, which suggest that the Indian economy is growing at a faster rate than the previous year.

Further, as per the report, the government has been instrumental in boosting infrastructure investments, generating a consistent improvement in the production of intermediate commodities such as pig iron and aluminium, along with prudent management of non-plan expenditures, easing liquidity conditions and strengthening capital markets. Moreover, timely regulatory reforms are ensuring a steady increase in foreign direct investment in the country, it added.

Indicating a reversal in the economic slowdown since July 2012, financial information provider BluFin expects that Indian economy would grow at 5.3% in the first quarter of financial year 2013-14. It also added that the continued uptrend in the BCI is consistent with the released GDP numbers. If fiscal policy stays restrained, and monetary easing continues at an accelerated pace, a genuine economic recovery is possible in future.

However, the report also highlighted that despite a slowdown in gold and oil prices and a decline in domestic inflation, foreign exchange and international trade continue to be a concern. A surge in domestic gold demand is hindering effective management of the Current Account Deficit (CAD).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,905.40 down by 14.05 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 5,915.75 and 5,883.70. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 declines while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco Industries up by 1.78%, GAIL up by 1.24%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.23%, DLF up by 1.11% and Indus Ind BK up by 1.07%. On the flip side, ACC down by 1.83%, UltraTech Cement down by 1.55%, ITC down by 1.50%, Ambuja Cements down by 1.41%, and HCL Technologies down by 1.31% were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite slipped 3.47 points or 0.15% to 2,268.95, Hang Seng declined 222.00 points or 1.00% to 22,063.52, Jakarta Composite dropped 42.88 points or 0.85% to 4,978.73, Nikkei 225 decreased 252.20 points or 1.86% to 13,281.56, KLSE Composite dipped 0.01 points or 0.01% to 1,776.73, Straits Times contracted 28.59 or 0.87% to 3,262.79 and KOSPI Composite was down by 20.74 points or 1.04% to 1,968.77 and Taiwan Weighted was  down  by 5.59 points or 0.07% to 8,185.63.