LISTLESS TRADE

The Indian equity markets continue to trade listless in a tight range. The benchmarks are still under pressure, marginally in red. Though most of the sectoral indices are trading in red but consumer durables, auto and technology was supporting the markets from falling further, while the broader indices were showing mixed trend. The non sectoral gauge of Aviation is buzzing since morning, the finance ministry on Thursday announced policy changes for the airline industry, allowing them to raise additional low-cost capital through external commercial borrowings. Reserve Bank of India is likely to notify the budget announcement of allowing the cash-strapped civil aviation sector to borrow up to $1 billion in external loans for a period of one year within seven days.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,483.49, down by 20.22 points or 0.12%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,507.90 and 17,442.23 respectively. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices were showing mixed trend; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.09% while the Small cap index was up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables (CD) up by 0.54%, Auto up by 0.52%, Technology (TECk) up by 0.47%, IT up by 0.34% and Metal up by 0.07%

On the other hand Oil & Gas down by 0.67%, Capital Goods (CG) down by 0.63%, Power down by 0.39%, Realty down by 0.38%, and Bankex down by 0.25% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were M&M up by 1.99%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.23%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.16%, Tata Steel up by 1.09% and Cipla up by 0.92%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 1.02%, Tata Power down by 1.02%, RIL down by 0.90%, L&T down by 0.82% and HUL down by 0.80% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, India has surpassed Japan to become the third largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), as per data released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). India's gross domestic product in PPP terms stood at $4.46 trillion in 2011, marginally higher than Japan's $4.44 trillion, making it the third-biggest economy after the United States and China.

India's share in world GDP in terms of PPP stood at 5.65% in 2011 against Japan's 5.63%, with the gap expected to widen significantly by 2017. In five years, the IMF estimates the share of India's GDP in PPP terms would grow to 8.09% compared with 4.8% for Japan.

These statistics are a reminder of the growth potential that the country has despite the prevailing mood of cynicism. It has successfully turned the spotlight back on India and its untapped potential.  However, it has to be kept in mind that Japan has recently faced a devastating tsunami and earthquakes, because of which its economy is expected to contract.

On the other hand, India's economy is estimated to have grown by about 7% over the past financial year. These factors have significantly contributed to the upward movement of India on the scale. India is also now Asia's second-largest economy, behind China.

PPP refers to the amount of money a person will have to spend to purchase the same basket of goods and services in one country as compared to the other. Based on this the relative value of currencies is determined. This method does away with the effect of a market determined currency and enables a comparison on real terms.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,325.60, down by 6.80 points or 0.13%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,334.95 and 5,310.55 respectively. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were M&M up by 1.95%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.14%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.04%, Tata Steel up by 1.04% and RCom up by 0.99%.

On the flip side, ACC down by 3.06%, Ambuja Cements down by 2.46%, IDFC down by 1.61%, JP Associates down by 1.25% and Reliance Industries down by 1.19%, were the major losers on the index.

Some of the Asian equity indices were showing signs of recovery; Shanghai Composite was trading up by 0.85% and Hang Seng was up by 0.30%

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was flat while the KLSE Composite was down by 0.07%, Nikkei 225 lost 0.28%, Seoul Composite surrendered 1.26%, Straits Times was down by 0.10% and Taiwan Weighted plunged by 1.52%.