MARKETS STILL NERVOUS

The Indian equity benchmarks, after a weak start and a subsequent recovery, faltered again on alternate bouts of buying and selling in blue chip stocks. Meanwhile, primary articles inflation for week ended November 5 has come in at 10.39% versus 11.43%, food articles inflation at 10.63% versus 11.81% while fuel group inflation is at 15.49% versus 14.5%. However, RBI has been among the most aggressive central banks globally, increasing rates 13 times since early 2010, which has dented consumer spending and investment by companies while inflation remains near double digits. Investors were mostly treading cautiously amid worries about slowing growth. A weak trend in global markets amid lingering concerns about the financial situation in Europe is also hurting the sentiment. On sectoral front, oil stocks were trading weak following a sharp surge in global crude oil prices. A sharp reduction in petrol prices is also contributing to the decline of these stocks. Information technology stocks are mostly subdued. PSU, power, FMCG and IT stocks were trading in red. Pharma stocks too are mostly hovering around their previous closing levels. Select bank, TECk and realty stocks have edged higher on bargain hunting after recent losses. On the global front, Asian stocks also recovered some lost grounds. Back home, the market breadth favoring the negative trend; there were 1,060 shares on the gaining side against 1,329 shares on the losing side while 101 shares remained unchanged.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 16,759.31, down by 16.56 points or 0.10%. The index has touched a high and low of 16,807.15 and 16,656.92 respectively. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 declining ones the index.
The broader indices too were trading in the red; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were down by 0.08% and 0.08% respectively.
Realty up by 0.90%, Bankex up by 0.45%, TECk up by 0.01% and Consumer Durables (CD) up 0.01% remained the gainers on the sectoral indices on the BSE. While, Oil and Gas down by 1.26%, PSU down by 0.60%, Power down by 0.42%, FMCG down by 0.30% and IT down by 0.26% were the top losers on the index.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 2.52%, Hindalco Industries up by 2.52%, Tata Steel up by 1.72%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.38% and Sun Pharmaceuticals up by 1.30%.
On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.51%, RIL down by 1.82%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.55%, Jindal Steel down by 1.12% and ITC down by 0.89% were the top losers on the index.
Meanwhile, the central cabinet has cleared the revised Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Bill 2011, though it presently does not include a clause on foreign direct investment (FDI) but the government is likely to allow up to 26 per cent FDI in the sensitive pensions sector. The Bill will now be taken up for consideration and passage during the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, starting November 22. The proposed Bill will empower the PFRDA to regulate the National Pension System, as amended from time to time. The Bill also authorises the PFRDA to impose penalties for any violation of the provisions of the legislation, rules, regulations, and so on.
There were some changes made in the original Bill on the basis of the recommendations of the Standing Committee of Finance, but recommendation regarding FDI in the pension sector was ignored. Now it is being said that the provision for allowing FDI in the pensions sector will be created under the rules, which will be framed under the Act, but will not be a part of the Act itself, as had been recommended by the Standing Committee. Instead, foreign investors will be allowed to pick up equity under an executive order and various provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) will be applied on this.
The government reintroduced the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill in March this year, after which it was sent to a committee on finance. The Bill vows to promote old age income security by establishing, developing and regulating pension funds and to protect the interests of subscribers of various pension fund schemes. The parliamentary standing committee on finance headed by BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha had suggested that a 26 per cent cap be mentioned in the legislation but the government's decision to keep the cap outside the legislation could face opposition. Not only this, the government has also turned down the committee's recommendation to allow greater flexibility to subscribers of pension schemes for pre-mature withdrawal of funds from their accounts.

However, the government is believed to have accepted the Standing Committee's recommendation on providing the facility of 'repayable advance' from the pension fund.  The Committee had advocated such a facility for subscribers to enable them to meet important commitments.  For this purpose, pension subscribers may be allowed to take a repayable advance from their accounts, say after 10-15 years of service.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,022.20, down by 8.25 points or 0.16%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,036.80 and 4,992.20 respectively. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 declining ones on the index.
The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco Industries up by 2.55%, Cipla up by 2.51%, Tata Steel up by 1.86%, Sun Pharma up by 1.51% and Reliance Infra up by 1.42%.
Dr Reddy down by 2.19%, Coal India down by 2.17%, SAIL down by 2.03%, Siemens down by 1.97% and Reliance Industries down by 1.70% were the major losers on the index.
Asian bourses recovered some lost ground; Hang Seng lost 0.30%, Jakarta Composite declined 0.47%, KLSE Composite slid 0.38%, Straits Times descended 0.50%.
On the flip side, Shanghai Composite up by 0.58%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.21%, Seoul Composite gained 1.07%, while Taiwan Weighted trading flat