MARKETS TRADE FIRM

The Indian equity markets are trading on a firm note tracking positive cues from the global equity indices. The US markets extended their losing streak overnight after a long weekend while, all the Asian counterparts were trading in the positive terrain at this point of time, supported by short-covering and positive economic news from the US. Back home, sustained buying in most of the key heavyweight helped the Sensex to regain its crucial 17,000 level in the early trade but, profit booking at higher level drags the index a tad below that level. On the sectoral front realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by banking and power while, auto remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks. Meanwhile, Banking stocks viz., SBI, PNB, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank all were trading with a gain of over a percent after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Duvvuri Subbarao said that the minimum mandatory amount of deposits that banks need to set aside to invest in government bonds need to come down gradually. SLR at 24 percent, CRR at 6 percent is still considered high. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,493 shares on the gaining side against 318 shares on the losing side while 65 shares remained unchanged.
The BSE Sensex opened at 16,922.31; about 60 points higher compared to its previous closing of 16,862.81, and has touched a high and a low of 17,027.15 and 16,922.31 respectively.
The index is currently trading at 16,862.81, up by 136.73 points or 0.81%. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 declines on the index.
The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 79.58% stocks advancing against 16.95% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 1.00% and 1.17% respectively.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 1.96%, Bankex up by 1.51%, Power up by 1.28%, CG up by 1.24% and PSU was up by 1.18%. While, Auto down by 0.21% was the lone loser on the index.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Jaiprakash Associates up by 4.68%, Tata Power up by 2.42%, DLF up by 2.29%, Coal India up by 1.99% and SBI was up by 1.92%.
On the flip side, Tata Motors was down by 0.98%, Infosys was down by 0.84%, M&M was down by 0.40%, Bajaj Auto was down by 0.38% and Hero Motocorp was down by 0.30% were the top losers on the Sensex.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma, stressed that protectionist measures would delay economic recovery and warned against the collapse of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization talks. The Doha Development Agenda or Doha Development round is the current trade negotiation round of the WTO which began in November 2001.
Sharma said, 'we must not allow this (Doha) Round to collapse. The Doha Round has to be taken forward as a single undertaking. We need to stay focused on the development dimension of the Round, as the terms of the discourse cannot be changed. Developing countries are being called upon to pay an unconscionably high price to conclude the Round. This certainly was not our expectation and our commitment when we agreed to participate in the Doha Round.'
Minister gave stress on the importance to sustain people faith in the WTO. He said, 'Many skeptics feel that the WTO is at the crossroads and that the lack of progress in the Doha Round raises questions on the relevance and efficacy of this institution. We do not share this pessimism.' A crisis might lead to inward-looking and promote protectionism, but it would be counter-productive and delay the recovery and deepen recession.
On the decade old negotiation round Sharma said, 'timely conclusion of the Doha Round of talks, would not only have strengthened the WTO as a bulwark against protectionism and boosted the global economy but would also have signaled the WTO's firm commitment to development.
Accepting the deadlock in the Doha negotiation, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said that with leadership, pragmatism and determination, 'we should continue' to address various issues (affecting the negotiations). 'We cannot give up because of a steep slope or long path. The WTO is a member-driven organization, and its negotiations are a collective enterprise. Stakeholders of global trading systems recognize its worth and contribution in times like these. India is a good example of how trade can be leveraged to achieve growth and reduce poverty.'

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,080.15; about 16 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,064.30, and has touched a high and a low of 5,111.10 and 5,076.30 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,095.15, higher by 30.85 points or 0.61%. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.
The top gainers of the Nifty were Jaiprakash Associates up by 4.90%, ACC up by 4.24%, Tata Power up by 2.76%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.76% and Cairn up by 2.52%.
On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.12%, Infosys down by 0.81%, ITC down by 0.59%, M&M down by 0.48% and Hero Motocorp down by 0.39%, were the major losers on the index.
All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite was up 32.66 points or 1.32% to 2,503.19, Hang Seng was up 236.87 points or 1.20% to 19,947.37, Jakarta Composite was up 39.84 points or 1.02% to 3,929.81, KLSE Composite was up 5.88 points or 0.40% to 1,460.25, Nikkei 225 was up 154.74 points or 1.80% to 8,745.31, Straits Times was up 31.67 points or 1.14% to 2,806.00, Seoul Composite was up 50.82 points or 2.88% to 1,817.53 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 137.10 points or 1.86% to 7,504.29.