Benchmarks continue volatile trade in late morning

A bout of volatility was witnessed on street as the benchmarks alternately swung between positive and negative zone after hitting fresh intraday high in morning trade as investors turned cautious ahead of the ECB meeting and US GDP data to be released later in the day. Sentiments got some support from gross direct tax collection report rose by 11.6 percent to Rs 3.37 lakh crore during April-October period of 2013 from Rs 3.02 lakh crore reported in the same period of previous year. Meanwhile, the government has set direct tax collection target of Rs 6.68 lakh crore for 2013-14, envisaging a growth of 19 percent, as against Rs 5.65 lakh crore in 2012-13. Some support also came in as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 271.70 crore on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. On the global front, most of the Asian equity benchmarks were trading in the red.

Back home, traders were buying, IT, Metal and Teck while selling were seen in Consumer Durables, Bankex and Capital Goods on the BSE. The telecom stocks were under pressure after the Telecom Commission suggested a hike of 15-25% more than what the telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had proposed for the reserve price, in select circles. However, there was some buzz in the smaller private sector banks after RBI come out with its detailed guidelines on how foreign banks will operate in the country. Karnataka bank was up by about 5%, City Union Bank was up by 2.12% and Federal Bank too was up by 2%.The market breadth on BSE remains positive with advances to declines in the ratio of 943: 705. BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were comfortably trading near their psychological 20,000 and 6,200 levels respectively.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20897.21, up by 2.27 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 20944.29 and 20866.88. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.37% and Small cap index gained 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 1.18%, Metal up by 0.89%, Teck up by 0.79%, Healthcare up by 0.62%, and Realty up by 0.11%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.43%, Bankex down by 0.99%,  Capital Goods down by 0.71%, PSU down by 0.69%  and  Power down by 0.59% were the top losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.23%, SSLT up by 2.08%, Hindalco Inds up by 1.90%, Infosys up by 1.29% and TCS up by 1.24%. On the flip side, BHEL was down by 4.27%, Bharti Airtel was down by 1.51%,  Coal India was down by 1.26%, HDFC Bank was down by 0.73% and  ICICI Bank was down by 0.73%  were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Amid rising concerns over the increasing free trade pacts of the country, Commerce and Industry Ministry has allayed fears on India’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) saying that FTAs with most trading partners have resulted in an increase in exports and not caused any adverse impact on the manufacturing sector. During the Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) headed by the Prime Minister, some concerns were raised on the FTAs affecting the country’s manufacturing sector and also lead to faster rise in imports that may worsen the country’s trade balance.

India has signed FTAs with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and North East Asian countries. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has informed that India has a trade surplus of about $12 billion with SAARC countries. The country’s exports have more than doubled after signing of the Indo-Asean Trade in Goods Agreement in 2009, though imports have also grown reasonably, he added. Further, India has a trade surplus with Asean after discounting the imports of essential imports such as edible oils.

Further, during the TERC meeting the government has explored the possibility of having more free trade agreements (FTAs) with various countries. At present, India is negotiating several FTAs with various countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand besides the European Union. Meanwhile, the government has been taking initiatives to enhance the country’s exports as rising exports improve the country’s GDP and strengthen its external situation. Indian exports increased by 5.14% to $152.10 billion during April-September, 2013 as against $144.67 billion in the corresponding period of last year. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,217.20 up by 2.05 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 6,232.15 and 6,207.35. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Steel up by 2.39%, Hindalco up by 1.87%, HCL Tech up by 1.79%, SSLT up by 1.78% and TCS up by 1.52%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 4.35%, Bank of Baroda down by 3.30%, IndusInd Bank down by 2.41%, BPCL down by 2.19% and PNB down by 1.94% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite was down by 5.34 points or 0.25% to 2,134.27, Hang Seng slumped by 152.43 points or 0.66% to 22,884.51, Nikkei 225 shed 70.75 points or 0.49% to 14,264.70, Seoul Composite was down by 11.49 points or 0.57% to 2,003.17 and Taiwan Weighted lost 7.64 points or 0.10% to 8,273.56.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite was up by 32.83 points or 0.94% to 4,482.59, KLSE Composite was up by 0.93 points or 0.05% to 1,803.98 and Straits Times gained 2.26 points or 0.08% to 3,208.02.