LACKLUSTER TRADE

The Indian equity markets have made a lackluster opening and trading flat following mixed global cues. The US markets snapped their gaining streak on Friday as sentiments remained pressured by weak US consumers' sentiment reading which declined more than forecasted in February. However, Asian markets gathered momentum after the Greek Parliament approved a new set of austerity measures that were required by international lenders in exchange for an emergency bailout. Back home, PSU oil and gas companies were feeling the heat of surging international crude oil prices in the session. Scrips like, BPCL, HPCL and IOC all were trading lower in the trade. On the sectoral front oil and gas witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by healthcare and auto while, realty, capital goods and bankex remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 974 shares on the gaining side against 729 shares on the losing side while 73 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,761.70; about 13 points higher compared to its previous closing of 17,748.69, and has touched a high and a low of 17,807.61 and 17,735.05 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 17,768.16, up by 19.47 points or 0.11%. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 54.84% stocks advancing against 41.05% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.22% and 0.19% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil and Gas up by 0.79%, HC up by 0.75%, Auto up by 0.66%, CD up by 0.55% and FMCG up by 0.18%. While, Realty down by 1.89%, CG down by 0.42%, Bankex down by 0.38%, Power down by 0.38% and TECk down by 0.25% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.18%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.00%, Coal India up by 1.76%, M&M up by 1.44% and ONGC up by 1.05%.

On the flip side, DLF was down by 3.10%, SBI was down by 2.33%, Tata Power was down by 2.12%, Hindalco was down by 1.37% and Bharti Airtel was down by 0.83% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, India's import bill of sensitive items stood at R 67,264 crore for the period April-November 2011 registering an increase of 42.3%, as compared to the corresponding period of last year. Sensitive items constituted 4.7% of the import bill as compared to 4.4% last year. Sensitive items are those which impact farmers and small-scale industries and an increase in their imports can hurt these sectors.

As per the data released by the Ministry of Commerce, gross import of all commodities during the period April-November 2011 was Rs 14,35,305 crore as compared to Rs 10,85,781 crore during the same period of last year. Imports of edible oil increased from Rs 18,890.3 crore last year to Rs 31,066.5 crore for the corresponding period of this year. The imports of both crude oil as well as refined oil went up by 64.6% and 63.7% respectively. The increase in edible oil import was mainly due to substantial increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions.

Imports of all other items like edible oil, fruits and vegetables (including nuts), pulses, automobiles, rubber, products of SSI, cotton & silk, spices, alcoholic beverages, marble & granite and tea & coffee have increased during the period under reference. Imports of alcoholic beverages increased by 44.7% and that of spices went up by 66.9%. Imports of products of small scale industries such as umbrellas, locks, toys and glassware went up by 43% for the said period.

Automobile imports jumped by 81% in April- November 2011 to Rs 2,575.14 crore from Rs 1,422.67 crore in the same period last year. However, imports of food grain contracted by 94.5% and of milk and its products by 18.5%. Imports of sensitive items from Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Argentina, Germany, Korea, Ukraine, United States of America, Canada, Myanmar, Japan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Cote D' Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Benin etc. have gone up while those from Brazil, Australia etc. have gone down.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,382.10; about 26 points lower compared to its previous closing of 5,381.60, and has touched a high and a low of 5,392.95 and 5,365.29 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,383.75, higher by 2.15 points or 0.04%. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sunpharma up by 2.24%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.98%, Coal India up by 1.64%, M&M up by 1.51% and HCL Tech up by 1.32%.

On the flip side, DLF down by 3.23%, RCom down by 2.55%, SBI down by 2.00%, Tata Power down by 1.67% and PNB down by 1.45%, were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite was up 2.05 points or 0.09% to 2,354.04, Hang Seng was up 144.70 points or 0.70% to 20,928.56, Jakarta Composite was up 23.75 points or 0.61% to 3,936.14, Nikkei 225 was up 66.82 points or 0.75% to 9,013.99, Straits Times was up 9.06 points or 0.31% to 2,969.06, Seoul Composite was up 12.47 points or 0.63% to 2,006.18 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 48.24 points or 0.61% to 7,910.51.