Benchmarks take support at day’s low in late morning deals

Benchmarks trimmed their losses and took support at day’s low in late morning deals on lower level buying in selected stocks. Sentiments got dampened as the rupee was trading lower at 62.42 versus previous close of 62.36/37, in line with weakness in shares. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country declined by about 38 percent, year-on-year, to $2.91 billion in September also added to pessimistic sentiments

However, the losses remained capped as some support came in after industry body Assocham said that narrowing of the current account deficit will help arrest depreciation of the rupee and ease inflation concerns and that may soothe some nerves. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that market-based pricing and technology are essential as India is expected to become world's third largest energy consumer in seven years. He also said that, in order to bridge the gap between supply and demand, the government is encouraging domestic and global companies to explore onshore and offshore regions.

On the global front, most of the Asian benchmarks were trading lower at this point of time as the prospects of a reduction in the US Federal Reserve’s stimulus early next year prompted investors to cash in gains from their recent rallies. Meanwhile, the Japanese stock market plunged by one and half a percent, with investors indulging in some heavy selling after recent strong gains and yen strengthening. Back home, traders were buying, Power, Metal and Consumer Durables, while selling were seen in Capital Goods, FMCG and Bankex on the BSE. Telecom stocks rose in early trade after a panel of ministers on December 3 2013, approved crucial changes to the rules on mergers and acquisitions in the fragmented telecom industry, raising the cap on the market share of a merged entity in a circle to 50% from 35% earlier.

The market breadth on BSE remains positive with advances to declines in the ratio of 991:695. BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were comfortably trading near their psychological 20,800 and 6,150 levels respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20835.85 down by 19.07 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 20854.57 and 20789.44. 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 0.21% and Small cap index gained 0.68%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 0.75%, Metal up by 0.66%, Consumer Durables up by 0.51%, Teck up by 0.46% and IT up by 0.34% while Capital Goods down by 0.79%, FMCG down by 0.38%, Bankex down by 0.35% and Healthcare down by 0.06% were the top losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 2.31%, SSLT up by 2.15%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.50%, Jindal Steel up by 1.32% and Dr Reddys Lab up by 0.89%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank was down by 1.43%, L&T was down by 1.30%, Sun Pharma was down by 0.82%, Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.81% and ITC was down by 0.66% were the top losers on the Sensex

Meanwhile, Amid rising concerns over the growing energy need of the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said market-based pricing and technology are essential for meeting nation's oil and gas demand. Expressing the need to increase country’s energy supply by 3 to 4 times within next two decades, the prime minister has cited the example of US shale gas revolution where technology and market-based pricing helped exploit the unconventional gas resource and turn the country into energy surplus. India is expected to become world's third largest energy consumer in seven years. Presently, India is fourth largest energy consumer behind US, China and Japan.

Currently, around 80 percent of domestic crude oil demand and around 25 percent of natural gas demand is met through imports. Concerned over the rising gap between supply and demand of energy, the government is encouraging domestic and global companies to explore onshore and offshore regions. Further, among other measures to achieve energy security, the government is also progressively pursuing options like acquisition of energy assets in other countries.

Further, oil ministry has also formulated a roadmap for cutting India's dependence on imports to meet its oil needs. Ministry wants oil imports to be cut to 50 percent by 2020 and by 25 percent in 2025 through intensive exploration and exploitation of untapped reserves. Presently, only 0.93 million sq km area in India is held under exploration and production in 19 basins as compared to total estimated sedimentary area of 3.14 million square kilometres, comprising 26 sedimentary basins.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,194.70 down by 7.15 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 6,201.95 and 6,180.05. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stock declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.13%, SSLT up by 2.04%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.50%, JP Associaties up by 1.39% and Jindal Steel up by 1.29%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.44%, L&T down by 1.42%, Sun Pharmaceuticals down by 0.99%, BPCL down by 1.80%, and Ultra Cement Company down by 0.78% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Hang Seng declined 83.41 points of 0.35% to 23,827.06, Jakarta Composite dropped 31.25 points or 0.73% to 4,257.51, Nikkei 225 tumbled 310.44 points or 1.97% to 15,440.19, Straits Times slipped 8.55 points or 0.26% to 3,179.53 and Seoul Composite was down by 19.18 points or 0.97% to 1,989.86. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite surged 28.16 points or 1.27% to 2,250.83, KLSE Composite rose 2.24 points or 0.12% to 1,826.53 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 32.01 points or 0.38% to 8,424.56.