SELLING PRESSURE

Fitch Ratings' warning for downgrade of France along with six other euro-zone countries in light of downgrade of Belgium's credit rating by two notches from Moody's Investors Services have not only sapped market confidence but also accelerated selling pressure into equity markets.
Further, with markets already reeling from the European debt crisis and global growth concerns, North Korean leader - Kim Jong's death has added a dangerous layer of instability to the Korean peninsula, which besides weighing on the Asian pacific markets have also minced the sentiment at home turf. US future indices too are showing downtick in the screen trade.
On the BSE sectoral front, although selling has been witnessed across the board, however, stocks from Realty, Bankex and Capital Goods (CG) counters have contracted the most. The 30 share barometer index- Sensex-offloading over 200 points is currently trading sub 15300 level. Similarly, 50 share index- Nifty-declining over 50 points is oscillating over 4500 mark.  The broader indices too have clobbered out of shape and are currently trading with a cut of over 1.75% each. 
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 15,251.10, down by 240.25 points or 1.55%. The index has touched a high and a low of 15,440.10 and 15,202.35 respectively. There were just 4 stocks advancing against 26 declining one's on the index.
The broader indices too surrendered additional ground ; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were down by 1.97% and 2.09% respectively.
Selling was witnessed across the board, however, Realty down by 3.41%, Bankex down by 3.22%, CG down by 2.74%, Power down by 1.83% and PSU down by 1.73% were the top losers on the index.
Tata Motors up by 0.73%, HUL up by 0.52% and Cipla up by 0.11% were the top gainers on the Sensex.
On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 3.82%, SBI down by 3.36%, L&T down by 3.19%, DLF down by 3.18% and  Jindal Steel down by 3.00% were the top losers on the index.
Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet cleared the much-awaited draft Food Security Bill, paving the way for subsidized food grains to poor. The food security Bill, which seeks to give legal privilege of cheaper food to 75% of rural and 50% of urban population, will cost an additional subsidy of Rs 27,663 crore.
Under the Bill, each person of the priority household, similar to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families under current Public Distribution System (PDS), would be supplied seven kg of rice, wheat and coarse grains per month at the rate of Rs 3, Rs 2 and Rs 1 per kg respectively. Accordingly the implementation of this would result in higher food subsidy by Rs 27,663 crore taking the overall figure to about Rs 95,000 crore.
Food minister K V Thomas said a meeting of the cabinet that cleared the Bill also decided to introduce it in the current session of Parliament. By adding further he said, 'the objective is to provide access to nutrition at affordable rates to citizens. The Bill will also bring within its fold a number of ongoing schemes'. The draft was passed 'unanimously' with all ministers approving to the proposals.
At present, the targeted PDS provides subsidized grains to around 6.52 crore BPL families and almost 11.05 crore above the poverty line (APL) families. Once the Bill is in operation under the PDS, the government would require 61 million tonnes of food grains to provide food security as against 55 million tonnes.

It was in July that an empowered Group of Ministers cleared the draft food bill, following which major changes like incorporating a provision for providing free meals and an allowance of Rs 1,000 per month for six months to pregnant women and lactating mothers were included - at the firmness of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

The draft Bill also faced rigorous opposition from the states largely on the back of a high cost burden that the states would have to bear. According to food ministry officials, the Bill would increase the expenditure burden by just Rs 51,000 crore annually, but an agriculture ministry official said the actual expenditure of running the programme would be more than Rs 200,000 crore, as it has to include enhanced budget provision of the agriculture ministry which needs to raise farm production to meet the obligations under the Bill.
The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 4,573.65, down by 77.95 points or 1.68%. The index touched a high and a low of 4,623.15 and 4,560.25 respectively. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 declining ones on the index.
The top gainers of the Nifty were Ambuja Cement up by 1.54%, Tata Motors up by 0.49%, HUL up by 0.33%, SAIL up by 0.20% and Coal India up by 0.15%.
Axis Bank down by 5.46%, ICICI Bank down by 3.85%, Tata Power down by 3.66%, SBI down by 3.52% and PNB down by 3.46% were the major losers on the index.
All the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite plunged 2.57%, Hang Seng shrugged off 2.47%, Jakarta Composite declined 0.23% , Nikkei 225 slid 1.02%, Straits Times descended 1.56%, Seoul Composite plummeted 3.12% and Taiwan Weighted dropped 2.58%.