WEAKNESS

Weakness has increased in the Indian equity markets as investors were on selling spree, tracking cues from Asian markets. Investors were quite bearish amid continual doubts about the financial situation in Europe. Sensex shed 170 points, while Nifty slips below 4,700 level. On sectoral front, all the sectors were trading in red. Capital goods stocks, which had a fairly good outing on Thursday, were among the prominent losers this morning. Stocks from metal, automobile, banking and realty sectors too were mostly trading lower. Power and PSU stocks were trading weak as well. On global front, Asian markets too were not showing any signs of recovery due to lingering concerns over euro zone. Every market across the globe is nervous ahead of Spain and Italy bonds auction next week.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 15686.33, down by 170.75 points or 1.08%. The index has touched a high and a low of 15846.29 and 15664.91 respectively. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 declines on the index.
The broader indices too losing substantial traction were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index and small cap index declined by 0.59% and 0.32% respectively.
There is no gainer on the BSE sectoral space, While, CG down by 2.09%, Metal down by 2.01%, Power down by 1.53%, Bankex down by 1.30% and TECk down by 1.21% were the top losers on the index.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 0.78%, Reliance up by 0.72% and Sun Pharma up by 0.35%.
On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.88%, Jaiprakash Associates down by 3.68%, BHEL Down by 3.36%, Jindal Steel down by 3.05% and ONGC down by 2.94% were the top losers on the Sensex.
Meanwhile, In order to recapitalize public sector banks, the Ministry of Finance is aiming at infusing capital worth Rs 17,000 crore into PSU banks in the ongoing fiscal year ending March 2012. The move will help state owned banks in meeting their capital requirements and enhancing lending operations. In the previous fiscal year 2010-11, the government had infused capital to the tune of Rs 20,157 crore into public sector banks.
Over and above the Budget provision of Rs 6,000 crore, the ministry is likely to seek additional Rs 12,000 crore through supplementary demands in Parliament for capital infusion in PSU banks during the current fiscal. The capital infusion initiative of the government, which had already committed to providing adequate capital to public sector banks so as to maintain their Tier-I capital at 8%, is likely to prove beneficial for nation's major lenders including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, IDBI Bank, and Syndicate Bank.

The public sector banks are required to maintain high level of financial and functional efficiency as the finance ministry has made it clear that capital support from the government in future would be linked to their efficiency. Meanwhile, Financial Services Secretary DK Mittal had earlier opined that capital of about Rs 3.5 lakh crore will be infused into the state-run banks by 2021. A committee headed by Finance Secretary RS Gujral is busy carving out a strategy for capitalization of public sector banks over a period of next 10 years.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 4,699.75, lower by 50.20 points or 1.06%. The index has touched a high and a low of 4,740.50 and 4686.85 respectively. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 declining ones on the index.
The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 1.83%, Reliance up by 1.00%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.74%, Kotak Bank up 0.63% and HCL Tech up by 0.52%.
On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.92%, Jaiprakash Associates down by 3.77%, IDFC down by 3.48%, Jindal Steel down by 3.20% and BHEL down by 3.16% were the major losers on the index.
All the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite down by 0.38%, Hang Seng plunged 1.37%, Jakarta Composite declined 0.94%, Nikkei 225 descended 1.20%, Straits Times lost 0.46%, Seoul Composite plummeted 1.37% and Taiwan Weighted slid 0.15%.