Subdued Asian cues drag Indian markets lower

Indian benchmarks opened in the red with BSE’s Sensex extended its three-day losing streak on weak cues from Asian counterparts amid fears that the euro zone debt crisis will worsen. Though, the US markets made a good recovery overnight on Feds affirmation that it will help the economy when required. Back home, there is not much to give any support to the local market; however the investors are eyeing the weekly food inflation numbers. Power remained the top gainer on the BSE sectoral space followed by realty and public sector undertaking while, software, fast moving consumer goods and technology counters remained the top losers on the index. However, broader indices witnessed some traction and outperforming benchmarks while, the market breadth has made a positive start; there were 968 shares on the gaining side against 601 shares on the losing side while 72 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,430.69; about 34 points lower compared to its previous closing of 17,464.85, and has touched a high and a low of 17,447.32 and 17,382.78 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 17,408.76, down by 56.09 points or 0.32%. There were 11 stocks advancing against 29 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 58.99% stocks advancing against 36.62% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices up by 0.35% and 0.22% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 0.46%, Realty up by 0.38%, PSU up by 0.33%, CD up by 0.19% and Oil and Gas was up by 0.14%. While, IT down by 0.81%, FMCG down by 0.47%, TECk down by 0.42%, Metal down by 0.37% and Auto down by 0.12% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 1.37%, SBI up by 1.21%, BHEL up by 1.06%, M&M up by 0.69% and Jaiprakash Associates was up by 0.52%.

On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp was down by 1.59%, HUL was down by 1.49%, Sterlite Industries was down by 1.38%, TCS was down by 1.38% and Jindal Steel was down by 1.08% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in order to restore resilience in the markets over Europe's debt crisis, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, India may consider supporting extra financing for the Eurozone only if European policy makers make a credible assessment of its solvency problems.

He said, 'our assessment of the situation is 'let them make a credible assessment of the solvency issue, try to sort out those problems, and thereafter supplementary financing could be considered.' However, finance minister did not comment when asked on the issue of India buying European Financial Stability Facility bonds.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been trying to get support from emerging economies such as China to get financial support for the eurozone by investing in an expanding bailout funds. France is hosting summit of G20 leaders in Cannes.

Before leaving for France for summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said much more needed to be done to restore confidence in the markets over Europe’s debt crisis. By adding further he said, 'it is imperative that the difficult decisions needed to address the economic challenges in Europe and elsewhere are taken swiftly.'

Further, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won the support of his cabinet today, to go ahead with a referendum and the government said would take place as soon as possible on a European Union bailout deal. Greece’s decision to hold a popular vote has pummeled Euro and global stocks.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,241.55; about 18 points lower compared to its previous closing of 5,258.45, and has touched a high and a low of 5,253.25 and 5,230.45 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,240.35, lower by 18.10 points or 0.34%. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were RCom up by 2.75%, Tata Power up by 1.52%, Reliance Infra up by 1.42%, SBI up by 1.16% and PNB up by 1.12%.

On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.93%, SAIL down by 1.77%, HUL down by 1.53%, TCS down by 1.36% and Sterlite Industries down by 1.34%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian counterparts were trading in the red; Hang Seng was down 193.43 points or 0.98% to 19,540.28, Jakarta Composite was down 38.44 points or 1.02% to 3,724.60, KLSE Composite was down 9.56 points or 0.65% to 1,461.39, Straits Times was down 33.78 points or 1.19% to 2,800.97, Seoul Composite was down 22.09 points or 1.16% to 1,875.92 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 99.20 points or 1.31% to 7,499.25.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite was up by 23.82 points or 0.95% to 2,527.93 remained the lone gainer among the Asian peers. However, Stock markets in Japan remained closed for trade today in observance of a national holiday.