Sensex, Nifty continues trading in positive territory

After opening firm this morning, Indian equity markets continued trading in positive territory, amid alternate bouts of buying and selling in blue chip counters. Investors were trading cautiously and are not ready to make any strong positions due to lack of major triggers. Benchmark index BSE Sensex was consolidating around 18,850 mark in the morning trade, while Nifty up by 19 points. In currency markets Indian rupee continued its positive journey against dollar on the back of increase in dollar selling by exporters and some banks. On sectoral front oil stocks were in demand since morning. Select healthcare, PSU, capital goods and metal stocks were also trading firm. Information technology, FMCG and bank stocks were mostly moving in a tight band around their previous closing prices, while automobile and consumer durables stocks were a bit subdued. In global markets, most Asian shares were trading in red. Back home, the market breadth favoring positive trend; there were 1,652 shares on the gaining side against 897 shares on the losing side while 127 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18888.32 up by 64.41 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 18905.62 and 18831.94. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48% and Small cap index was up by 0.82%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Oil &Gas up by 1.21%, HC up by 0.74%, CG up by 0.54%, PSU up by 0.52% and Metal up by 0.44% were top gainers. While, CD down by 0.42% and Auto down by 0.32% were the top losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr Reddys Lab up by 2.47%, Reliance up by 2.01%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.70%, Cairn India up by 1.31% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.23%. On the other hand, Jindal Steel down by 3.53%, ITC down by 1.63%, Hero Moto Corp down by 1.59%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.39% and BHEL down by 0.91% were top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the twin factors- dwindling global demand and delayed monsoon that have exacerbated India’s recent economic slowdown, have now led to reduced growth forecasts by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for fiscal years 2012 and 2013. In its  report “Asian Development Outlook 2012 Update”, ADB lowering its projection, has pegged India’s gross domestic product to grow by 5.6% in FY2012 (which ends March 2013) and 6.7% in FY2013, from earlier projections of 7.0% and 7.5%, respectively, for the two years. Besides this, the report has also raised projected inflation to 8.2% in FY2012 (from 7.0%) on the back of higher domestic food and fuel prices.

Additionally, the report has blamed tight monetary policy to counter persistently high inflation and a high deficit for having left little room for policy to stimulate growth. Further, the report has mainly highlighted ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the euro area and looming fiscal cliff in the US to have disastrous spillovers to the rest of the world, particularly developing Asia.

However, the Manila-based bank, in its reports, has suggested the region to start reversing this trend by improving investment climate and expediting reforms, which off lately seems to be a top priority for the government, has made some headway in addressing these challenges recently. In its latest reform drive, a long needed but politically controversial decision to permit foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail stores has been cleared, diesel prices have been hiked by 12%, use of subsidized liquefied petroleum gas has been capped to contain the fiscal deficit and lastly a controversial proposal to review tax avoidance on foreign investments has been deferred by three years.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,737.85, up by 19.05 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 5,743.25 and 5,722.85. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were IDFC up by 2.84%, Siemens up by 2.66%, Dr Reddy up by 2.40%, Reliance up by 2.23% and Ambuja Cement was up by 2.08%. While, Jindal Steel down by 3.80%, ITC down by 1.50%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.42%, Power Grid down by 1.33% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.23% were top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in red, Jakarta Composite was lower by 0.11%, KLSE Composite lost 0.59%, Nikkei 225 declined by 0.45%, Straits Times was lower by 0.36% and Taiwan Weighted declined by 0.44% while Hang Seng up by 0.11% was only the gainer.

Markets in China and Korea are closed today for holidays.