Indian equities consolidate around previous closing levels in noon trades

Indian markets are witnessing signs of consolidation in Friday afternoon trades as the frontline indices are currently hovering around the previous closing levels, a session after amassing around a percent point. However, sentiments in the broader markets remained upbeat thanks to some policy reform announcement by the government overnight. The downside for the bourses was capped as investors continued to pile hefty positions in the Capital Goods counter which surged by over three percent while the high beta Realty pocket too rallied with similar amount of gains in the session on speculations that foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail would bring big-ticket projects for real estate players in India. While the reports that cabinet allowed foreign retailers to own a 51% stake in the multi-brand retail sector, and also approved a 100% FDI in single-brand retail, encouraged not only domestic retailers but also global groups such as Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco. However, the upside for the markets also was limited by the gloomy trends prevailing across Asian space, where not even a single market traded in the positive terrain. Moreover, the broader markets showed some resilience and fervently rallied by over a percent gains and outperformed their larger peers by a fat margin. The bourses consolidated on weak volumes of around Rs 0.50 lakh core on the first day of a new series of F&O contract. The market breadth on BSE was in favor of advances in the ratio of 1545:938 while 112 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 15,847.33 down by 11.16 points or 0.07% after trading as high as and 15,891.05 as low as 15,672.19. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a strong note; the BSE Mid cap index surged 1.16% and Small cap soared 1.33%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Capital Goods up 3.32%, Realty up 3.12%, Consumer Durables up 2.10%, Power up 1.39% and PSU up 1% were the major gainers while IT down 1.17%, TECk down 0.74%, Metal down 0.68%, Oil & Gas  down 0.64% and Auto down 0.10% were the only losers in the space.

DLF up 5.29%, BHEL up 5.04%, L&T up 3.90%, SBI up 1.93% and Cipla up 1.81% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Maruti down 2.53%, Hero Moto down 2.46%, Tata Steel down 1.92%, Jindal Steel down 1.87% and Infosys down 1.60% were the major losers in the index.

Meanwhile, India’s imports of sensitive items registered an increase of 42.2% in the April-August period this year and reached Rs 40,281 crore compared to Rs 28,317 crore in the same period last year. The government monitors the import of items like food grains, automobiles, milk and beverages, which fall in the sensitive category in order to keep a check on its implications on the domestic industry.

India, which is the net importer of pulses, saw inward shipments of the commodity to the tune of Rs 3,342.95 crore during the first five months of the current fiscal, from Rs 3,280 crore in April-August 2010. Imports of edible oils, of which India is the world's largest importer and one of the largest consumer, too surged to Rs 18,243.88 crore in the period under consideration, a rise of 66% from Rs 10,998.28 crore in the year-ago period.

In the period under consideration, the import of alcoholic beverages and spices also went up by 47.5% and 68.3%, respectively while imports of products of small-scale industries such as umbrellas, locks, toys and glassware rose by 48.6% to Rs 839.84 crore, compared to the year-ago period. Automobile imports spurted by a massive 103.5% in April- August 2011, to Rs 1606.5 crore from Rs 789.67 crore in the same period last year.

But on the contrary, imports of foodgrain, milk and milk products, and tea and coffee declined by 93.4%, 28.4%, and 10.2%, respectively during the first five months of the current fiscal. Milk and dairy product imports declined to Rs 282.9 crore in the review period from Rs 395 crore in April-August 2010.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 4,754.25, lower by 2.20 points or 0.05% after trading as high as 4,767.30 and as low as 4,700.50. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were DLF up 5.23%, BHEL up 4.74%, Ranbaxy up 4.09%, L&T up 3.99% and BPCL up 2.69%.

Hero Moto down 2.70%, Maruti down 2.55%, Seas Goa down 1.99%, Jindal Steel down 1.91% and Tata Steel down 1.91% were the major losers on the index.

Asian markets continued to trade on a bleak note, Shanghai Composite dropped 0.82%, Hang Seng plunged 1.10%, Jakarta Composite plummeted 1.67%, KLSE Composite sank 1.06%, Nikkei 225 inches down 0.06%, Straits Times shaved-off 0.92%, Seoul Composite slumped 1.04% and Taiwan Weighted nosedived 1.16%.