Markets exhibit volatility; Sensex marginally in green

Following a positive start and subsequently falling, Indian equity markets recovered to some extend to trade flat around the neutral line in the late morning session on Thursday exhibiting enough volatility to keep investors on the sidelines in spite of positive Asian markets. The Sensex was up by 43 points, while the Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange down by 10 points. Meanwhile, investors were waiting for July auto sales data due today, in which retail sales expected to decline for all segments especially 2-wheelers led by fuel price hike, high rates and weak economic sentiment.  In currency market, rupee continued its southward journey against greenback on Thursday weighed down by the US dollar's gains against other Asian currencies. Moreover, RBI reportedly may sell dollars via state-run banks in order to restrict the further fall in rupee. On sectoral front, FMCG stocks, which opened on a subdued note after recent losses, have rallied smartly since then. Bank, IT and healthcare stocks were among the other gainers, while automobile, realty and oil stocks have turned subdued. 

On the global front, most Asian markets were trading higher on Thursday after China's official manufacturing activity data came in better than expected, easing some concerns of a sharp slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. Back home, the market breadth was favoring the negative trend; there were 1168 shares on the losing side against 622 shares on the gaining side, while 102 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,389.64 up by 43 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 19,569.20 and 19,170.46. There were 13 stocks advancing against 27 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.51% and Small cap index lost 0.92%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, FMCG up by 0.72%, IT up by 0.30% and Healthcare up by 0.12%. While Realty down by 2.90%, PSU down by 1.82%, Oil and gas down by 1.72% and Power down by 1.10%were the top losers indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.34%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.88%, HDFC Bank up by 1.67%, Sun Pharma up by 1.59% and Jindal Steel up by 1.18%. On the flip side, ONGC was down by 4.09%, BHEL was down by 3.48%, Tata Steel was down by 2.23%, SBI was down by 2.13% and Hindalco Inds was down by 2.00% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Showing no sign of economic growth recovery, growth rate of eight core industries slowed down to four-month low of 0.1 percent in June, as against 7.9% in the same month of previous year mainly due to declining output of crude oil, coal, power and natural gas. The eight industries - crude oil, petroleum refinery products, natural gas, fertilisers, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel - have a weightage of 37.9% in the overall Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

On the positive side, Petroleum refinery production, representing 5.94% weight in IIP index grew by 2.3% in June, 2013 over June 2012. Cumulative growth of Petroleum refinery production during April-June, 2013-14 was at 4.6% over the index of corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 10.32% weight in index registered a growth of 1.2% in June, 2013 over the same month of corresponding period. During April to June 2013-14 it recorded a growth of 2.8% over the index of corresponding period of previous year.

Fertilizer production with weightage of 1.25% in IIP index registered a growth of 11.3% in June, 2013 over June, 2012. The cumulative index of Fertilizer production during April to June 2013-14 grew at 2.5% on YoY basis.

Steel and Cement sectors having weightage of 6.68% and 2.41% respectively in IIP index, registered a growth of 3.4% and 2.3% respectively, in the month under review over June 2012. In cumulative terms, steel and cement production was 3.1 % and 3.3% during April to June 2013-14.

Crude oil, with weightage of 5.22% in index moderated by 0.6% in June, 2013 over June, 2012, while its cumulative index during April to June 2013-14 moderated by 1.4% over corresponding period of previous year. Further, coal production with weightage of 4.38% in index registered a growth of 3.0% in June, 2013 over the same period of previous year. However, on cumulative basis, growth during April-June, 2013-14 was negative at 1.1% compared to April- June 2012-13.

Natural Gas production having weightage 1.71% in IIP index declined by 16.7% in June 2013 as compared to the month in June, 2012. The cumulative index for Natural Gas production during April to June 2013-14 declined by 17.6% over corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,731.55 down by 10.45 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 5,808.50 and 5,676.85. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.42%, HDFC up by 2.19%, HDFC Bank up by 1.84%, Jindal Steel up by 1.43% and Sun Pharma up by 1.36%. On the flip side, JP Associate down by 10.24%, Ranbaxy down by 6.96%, IDFC down by 5.71%, DLF down by 5.51% and ONGC down by 3.84% were the major losers on the index.

Most Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite up by 0.57%, Hang Seng up by 0.71%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.66%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.89%, Seoul Composite up by 4 points or 0.22% to 1,973.45, While Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.34%, KLSE Composite slipped 0.61% and Straits Times down by 1.77% to 3393.17.