Benchmarks oscillate in tight band in absence of any positive trigger

Oscillating in thin-band, benchmark equity indices continue to trade flat, lacking positive trigger which could take the markets higher. Absence of global cues also is adding to the subdued trend of local equity markets as most of Asian markets are shut for the lunar New Year holiday, barring Japan index, Nikkei 225, which was trading lower. Despite the flat trade, most of the sectoral indices are trading in green, which perhaps is restricting the slide of markets. Stuck in the tight range, Sensex and Nifty are holding above the crucial 20,500 and 6,050 levels respectively. Meanwhile, broader indices showing a degree of outperformance are trading with gains of around a percent.

Some amount of caution is also being witnessed ahead of fiscal deficit data for the April-December period and first revised GDP data for the fiscal year that ended in March 2013, scheduled to be announced later in the day. Sectorally, while Realty, Teck and Information Technology counters were witnessing massive buying. Auto, Consumer Durable and Power counters were languishing at the bottom. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of advances which have thumped declines in the ratio of 1319:866; while 108 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20503.61, up by 5.36 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 20,572.32 and 20455.05. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.97%, while Small cap index up by 1.08%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.39%, TECK up by 1.24%, IT up by 1.08%, Metal up by 1.02%, and PSU up by 0.50%. While, Auto down by 0.62%, Consumer Durable down by 0.23% and Power down by 0.14% were the only losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were M&M up by 2.70%, Tata Steel up by 2.35%, TCS up by 1.79%, Gail India up by 1.56% and Tata Power up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.45%, NTPC down by 2.26%, HDFC down by 2.05%, Hero Moto Corp down by 1.51% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.29%.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to soothe frayed nerves after US central bank decided on another $10-billion cut in bond purchases, finance ministry underscored that the economy was well prepared to withstand fallout from the decision. Finance Minister P Chidambaram averred that Fed’s decision was a widely anticipated one and should not surprise the markets and further highlighted that the amount of $65 billion for buyback of bonds was not a smaller one.

The ministry declared that the government and RBI were both vigilant and would take all the required steps to ensure financial stability. Further, it also noted that the country added to its foreign exchange reserves, which now stand at $295 billion.

After a two-day meeting, the last to be headed by outgoing chairman Ben Bernanke, the Fed announced a $10 billion cut to its $75 billion-a-month bond-buying programme, known as quantitative easing (QE). The federal open market committee highlighted the cut in bond purchases were because labour indicators showed 'further improvement' and US economic growth had picked up in recent quarters. Reacting to this, Indian Rupee depreciated past ‘62.50/$’ level, while local equities shed over 3/4th of a percent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,086.15, up by 12.45 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 6,097.30 and 6,068.35. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were PNB up by 5.58%, Bank of Baroda up by 3.32%, M&M up by 3.01%, Tata Steel up by 2.83% and Tata Power up by 2.02%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.43%, NTPC down by 2.26%, HDFC down by 2.06%, Grasim down by 1.53% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.50% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were closed today barring Japanese index Nikkei 225 down by 0.60%.