Indian equities trim losses but continue to trade in red

Indian equities after trimming losses are trading below the previous closing level in the late morning session. On the global front, most of the Asian markets are trading in red on worries that the global economic slowdown will hurt corporate earnings. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stated that the government's top priority was now stabilizing economic growth rather than long-term restructuring, with policies to include business-tax cuts and more targeted investment. On the home turf, traders were seen piling up position in IT, CD and TECk sector while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Auto and Realty. The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 5,300 and 17,500 levels respectively.

The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1347:683 while 114 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,578.75 down  by 39.60 points or 0.22% after trading as high as 17,582.99 and as low as 17,516.12. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index up 0.63% while Small cap index was up 0.51%.

On the BSE sectoral space, IT up by 0.73%, CD up by 0.61%, TECk up by 0.46% Bankex up by 0.22% and CG up by 0.14%. While, FMCG down by 0.73%, Auto down by 0.64%, Realty down by 0.63, Oil & Gas down by 0.56 and Metal down by 0.11% were the only losers on the index.

SBI up by 1.03%, Infosys up by 0.91%, TCS up by 0.70%, Tata Steel up by 0.60% and NTPC up by 0.47% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Hindalco Industries down by 1.25%, ONGC down by 1.14%, Tata Motors down by 1.14%, ITC down by 1.10% and Tata Power down by 1.08% were the major losers in the index.

 Meanwhile, Pining hopes on the recent policy measures taken by the government to revive growth, the Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, ‘by October, we should be able to say (whether) these steps have had some impact. If we cannot say by October that we have done a lot through this monitoring and by taking corrective steps, then there is need to worry.’

According to the data released by the government, economic growth in India has fallen down to a nine-year low of 6.5% during 2011-12 while the manufacturing sector growth slumped to 5.3% during the January-March quarter of last financial year. On the other hand, industrial production growth fell 0.1% in the first month of new financial year as compared to 5.3% in the previous year around the same time.

By adding further Ahluwalia said, the Commission has been monitoring the performance of seven core infrastructure sectors including road, power and aviation, and would send a report for April-June quarter to the Prime Minister by July 20. The commission will also try to solve the discrepancy and will bring into notice of the Prime Minister’s office for further action.        

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,332.40, down  by 12.95 points or 0.24% after trading as high as 5,336.45 and as low as 5,314.25. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were BPCL up by 1.18%, INFY up by 0.97%, Kotak Bank up by 0.95%, Power Grid by 0.88% and Bank Baroda up by 0.82%. Tata Motors down by 1.46%, ITC down by 1.35%, Hindalco down by 1.33%, IDFC down by 1.31% and Wipro down by 1.14% was the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite was down 0.18%, Hang Seng index down by 0.42%, Nikkei 225 down 0.49%,Kospi Composite Index down 0.36%, and Taiwan Weighted down 0.08% while Strait Times up 0.41% , Jakarta Composite up 0.11% and KLSE Composite up 0.32% .