STEADY MARKETS

Indian benchmark indices have made a gap-up opening and are trading with a gain of over half a percent point supported by positive global cues. On the global front, the US markets went for a sharp rally after witnessing a slew of decline in the last week while, all the Asian peers were trading in the green ahead of European Union summit, too added the sentiments. Back home, Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) measures to curb rupee fall too provided support. The RBI excluded banks' net overnight open positions from currency futures and options segment. It also said foreign exchange future and options positions cannot be offset against OTC trades. The rupee strengthened against the US dollar after falling to an all-time low of 55.03 per dollar. Consumer durables witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by auto and oil and gas while, healthcare remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were going neck to neck with benchmarks. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,055 shares on the gaining side against 509 shares on the losing side while 84 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 16,344.34; about 161 points higher compared to its previous closing of 16,183.26, and has touched a high and a low of 16,366.72 and 16,255.18 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 16,267.24, up by 83.98 points or 0.52%. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 64.02% stocks advancing against 30.89% declines. The broader indices too were trading on firm note; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.34% and 0.50% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CD up by 0.95%, Auto up by 0.88%, Oil and Gas up by 0.71%, IT up by 0.57% and TECk up by 0.53%. While, HC down by 0.13% remained the lone loser on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.93%, BHEL up by 1.72%, Gail India up by 1.76%, HDFC up by 1.04% and Tata Steel up by 1.96%.

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.19%, SBI down by 0.62%, Hindalco down by 0.36%, Tata Power down by 0.16% and HUL down by 0.06% remained the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the White Paper on black money tabled by the government on Monday has strongly supported the setting up of Lokpal and Lokayutas to deal with the issue of black money. The paper has refrained from disclosing any names and has not provided any government estimates on black money. However estimates of other agencies have been quoted. It has been suggested that fast track courts be set up so that investigations in such matters can be expedited and the guilty are brought to trial as soon as possible. Tax incentives to encourage the use of debit and credit cards have also been recommended so that the guilty can be traced by the audit trail left by them.

To track and check the flight of black money from the country, developing an information exchange network at the international level has been suggested. The paper has also recommended taking measures to improve the moral fiber of the country.

The paper has attempted to dismiss the notion that the government has not done enough to control black money and has talked about the various policy measures taken by the government to deal with the issue. The Finance Minister has spoken about the various bills brought by the government to deal with the issue in the foreword.

While discussing the strategy to deal with the menace of black money the paper has recommended that more incentives for voluntary compliance of tax laws should be given. Also reforms in vulnerable sectors like finance and real estate should be undertaken. Further credible deterrence in terms of financial regulation and strengthening of reporting regimes has also been advised.

It has suggested that to curb black money in the real estate sector, which accounts for 11% of GDP, the Government should develop a nationwide data base, introduce TDS on the sale of property and set up electronic payment system.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 4,954.70; about 49 points higher compared to its previous closing of 4,906.05, and has touched a high and a low of 4,956.35 and 4,927.15 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 4,931.85, higher by 25.80 points or 0.53%. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Cairn up by 2.72%, Tata Motors up by 1.89%, BHEL up by 1.64%, Siemens up by 1.43% and HDFC up by 1.16%.

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.40%, Ranbaxy down by 1.17%, Sesa Goa down by 0.93%, ACC down by 0.79% and SBI down by 0.75% remained the top losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite advanced 11.22 points or 0.48% to 2,359.52, Hang Seng Index climbed 163.39 points or 0.86% to 19,085.71, Jakarta Composite surged 41.42 points or 1.05% to 3,981.53, KLSE Composite up 4.80 points or 0.31% to 1,543.71, Nikkei 225 soared 84.70 points or 0.98% to 8,718.59, Straits Times Index amassed 29.71 points or 1.06% to 2,819.87, KOSPI Composite Index jumped 19.18 points or 1.07% to 1,818.31 and Taiwan Weighted gained 47.38 points or 0.66% to 7,239.61.