DECENT START

The Indian equity markets have made a decent start tracking firm opening of the Indian rupee against the US Dollar. The rupee was trading 12 paise higher at Rs 55.25 against the US dollar in early trade. On the global front, the US markets declined on Friday, though the consumer confidence rose to its four year high while, the Asian markets were trading mixed at this point of time; though the concern eased that Greece may exit the euro as some opinion polls showed that voters are behind parties supporting the European Union's bailout. Back home, sustained buying in mostly all the key heavyweights along with broader indices supported BSE's -- Sensex -- and NSE's -- Nifty -- to trade comfortably over their crucial 16,300 and 4,950 mark respectively. On the sectoral front, metal, auto and banking remained the top gainers while there was no loser on the index. Meanwhile, telecom stocks like Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communication all edged higher after Telecom Commission has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to analyse the impact of pricing on subscribers, operators and government revenues. The broader indices were going neck to neck with benchmarks while, the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,040 shares on the gaining side against 437 shares on the losing side while 49 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 16,289.82; about 72 points higher compared to its previous closing of 16,217.82, and has touched a high and a low of 16,338.60 and 16,273.49 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 16,319.56, up by 101.74 points or 0.63%. There were 45 stocks advancing against just 5 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 68.15% stocks advancing against 28.64% declines. The broader indices were trading in line with benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 0.72% and 0.69% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 1.05%, Auto up by 0.94%, Bankex up by 0.92%, Power up by 0.81% and CD up by 0.86%. While, there were no losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.07%, BHEL up by 1.75%, Hindalco up by 1.74%, Tata Power up by 1.68% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.59%. While, there was no loser on the Sensex.

On the flip side, HUL down by 0.52%, ONGC down by 0.53%, GAIL down by 0.34%, TCS down by 0.16% and Sun Pharma down by 0.06%, were the major losers on the index.

Meanwhile, the industry body ASSOCHAM has advised the government that it should try and control its public debt especially from external sources. It is of the opinion that though there is a need for funds the government should be careful while borrowing especially when it comes to raising external debt.

In its report titled 'Rising Interest Burden' it has stated that India should learn from the example of some European and developed nations and realize that it is extremely important to keep the debt under control. India can derive some consolation from the fact that its public debt largely comes from internal sources and dependence on foreign funds has not gone up.

However it must be noted that in India the growth of per capita debt is higher than the growth of per capita income, which should be a cause for concern. At a time when the currency is volatile and unpredictable, India must be very cautious in opening up its market and allowing foreign investors to invest in government securities.

The report has noted that the government's non-plan expenditure has been increasing and payments made towards debt servicing have been on the rise. The interest payment's share to the total non-plan expenditure has gone up from 31.6% in 2008-09 to 35.9% in 2011-12. It is expected to be 33% in 2012-13.

One third of the total government's revenue is being used to make interest payments and if not checked can lead to a debt trap. Further raising funds from overseas market is prone to several risks, including extra burden on redemption as the rupee's value has depreciated, says ASSOCHAM.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 4,931.70; about 11 points higher compared to its previous closing of 4,920.40, and has touched a high and a low of 4,957.55 and 4,931.30 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 4,952.35, higher by 31.95 points or 0.65%. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were SBI up by 1.95%, BHEL up by 1.82%, SAIL up by 1.78%, Hindalco up by 1.65% and Reliance Infra up by 1.63%.

On the flip side, BPCL down by 0.77%, GAIL down by 0.73%, HCL Tech down by 0.64%, HUL down by 0.57% and ONGC down by 0.54%, were the major losers on the index.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite eased 2.70 points or 0.12% to 2,330.86, Jakarta Composite got brutally lacerated by 204.34 points or 5.02% to 3,865.68, KLSE Composite inched down 0.64 points or 0.04% to 1,550.48 and Nikkei 225 fell 1.36 points or 0.02% to 8,579.03.

On the other hand, Hang Seng Index gained 69.79 points or 0.37% to 18,783.20, Straits Times Index added 0.16 points or 0.01% to 2,772.91 and Taiwan Weighted rose 25.97 points or 0.37% to 7,097.60.

South Korean markets remained closed on Monday for a public holiday on account of birthday of Gautama Buddha.