WEAKNESS

The BSE Sensex and Nifty continued trading lower in a tight range on Wednesday, due to profit taking on several blue chip counters ahead of a long weekend. Local markets pressurized on cues from global markets which fell after the US Federal Reserve minutes showed policy makers there were less keen for a new round of monetary stimulus. In the currency market, the rupee declined against dollar on surge in dollar demand from local oil importers, the biggest buyers of dollars in the domestic currency market. On the sectoral front realty, bank, metal and oil stocks were trading in red while IT, power and consumer durables stock were supporting the market. On the global front, weakness continues in the Asian shares. Back home, the market breadth favoring the positive trend; there were 1,169 shares on the gaining side against 1,225 shares on the losing side while 114 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,530.58 down by 66.84 points or 0.38%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,553.26 and 17,480.61 respectively. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index. The broader indices were depicting mixed trend; the BSE Mid cap index were down by 0.09% while Small cap index gained 0.12%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 0.67%, Power up by 0.55%, TECk up by 0.30% and CD up by 0.27%. While, Realty down by 1.67%, Bankex down by 0.81%, Metal down by 0.76%, Oil & Gas down by 0.48% and CG down by 0.25% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 2.42%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.79%, BHEL up by 1.48%, HeroMoto Corp up by 0.85% and Wipro up by 0.56%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.12%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.89%, Tata Power down by 1.48%, Hindalco down by 0.91% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.76% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the subsidy given by the government on the secondary movement of phospatic and potassic (P&K) fertilizers has been scrapped. However the government has decided to provide additional subsidies to hilly states like those located in the North East because of the difficult terrain.

The government has been providing subsidies for transportation of fertilizers, as per three components. The first is the movement of fertilisers from port or plant by rail to various collection points and is termed as 'primary movement'. The costs involved are reimbursed to the companies based on the railway receipts.

The second is the transportation of fertilisers from the railway rake points to the district headquarters; and the third is on direct road movement. The second component estimated to be around Rs 300 per tonne has been scrapped by the government with effect from April 1, 2012.

The government will continue to provide freight subsidy on direct road movement of P&K fertilisers from plant or port to the district headquarters (except single super phosphate) as per the actual distance subject to a maximum distance of 500 km. The distance of 500 km has been fixed for the direct road movement by the government to ensure no loss of business to railways in terms of fertiliser movement.

Additional freight subsidy for Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar and the 7 North-Eastern will be provided because most companies are reluctant to move fertilisers there owing to the difficult terrain and high transportation cost. The subsidy is expected to act as incentive to boost transportation.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,333.35, lower by 25.15 points or 0.47%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,338.40 and 5,317.25 respectively. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BHEL up by 2.16%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.82%, Ranbaxy up by 1.57%, Dr Reddy's Lab up by 1.53% and Tata Power up by 1.33%.

On the flip side, GAIL down by 3.25%, Jindal Steel down by 2.57%, Jaiprakash Associates down by 2.26%, Reliance Infra down by 2.05% and DLF down by 2.02% were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian equities were exhibiting the choppy trade; KLSE Composite declined 0.37%, Nikkei 225 plunged 2.07%, Straits Times declined by 0.46%, Seoul Composite plummeted by 1.34% and Jakarta Composite down by 1.24%.

Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong remained closed on Wednesday on account of Qingming Festival while the Taiwanese markets were shut owing to Tomb Sweeping Day holiday