WEAK ZONE

Indian equity markets continue to remain in the weak zone and no respite is visible yet after the weaker than expected GDP numbers. Though, the European markets have made a green start but the Asian markets continue to reel in red, dampening the mood of the domestic markets. Barring realty none of the sectoral gauges is looking in comfortable position, while the Auto index is hardest hit. On the same time oil & gas index is under pressure contributed by the sharp decline in heavyweight Reliance Industries and PSU oil marketing companies who are reportedly bracing up for a petrol price cut. The markets breadth too has turned weak, though the broader indices are despite trading in red are in better than the benchmark indices. The weakness in rupee is also weighing down the market sentiments, which plunged to its near all time low after the dismal Q4 GDP numbers. India's Q4 GDP grew at 5.3 percent in the January-March quarter, well below the general expectation of a 6.1 percent growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 16,115.62, down by 196.53 points or 1.20%. The index has touched a high 16,224.86 and low of 16,086.06 respectively. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 declines on the index. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favor of declines in the ratio of 820:1434, while 110 shares remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading lower; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were down by 0.53% and 0.75% respectively.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Realty, up by 0.06%. While, Auto down by 1.91%, Oil & Gas down by 1.76%, Capital Goods (CG) down by 1.49%, Bankex down  by 1.36% and  Consumer Durable (CD) down by 1.13% were major losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 1.53%, NTPC up by 1.38%, Cipla up by 1.09%, Coal India up by 0.69%, and Tata Power up by 0.53%.

On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 4.01%, Tata Motors down by 3.60%, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.54%, RIL down by 2.94% and Sterlite Inds down by 2.20% were the major losers on the index.

Meanwhile, imports of sensitive items have grown substantially by 40.9% in the first eleven months of the last fiscal. In the period of April-February 2011-12, imports grew to Rs 92,574 crore up from Rs 65,695 crore during the same period last year. The category of sensitive items includes commodities such as foodgrains, automobiles, milk and beverages, which are monitored by the government to check their negative impact on domestic production.

Foodgrains imports contracted by 93%, however, imports of all sensitive commodities were up. Imports of fruit and vegetables increased by a whopping 75.3% to Rs 8,374 crore from Rs 4,776 crore during April-February of 2010-11. Edible oil imports were also up by 54.7% to Rs 42,262.72 crore year-on-year. The increase in edible oil has primarily been due to considerable increase in import of crude palm oil and its fractions.

Further, alcoholic beverages were up by 55.5% and spices were up by 53.3%. Imports belonging to the small scale industry like toys, umbrellas, locks and glassware increased by 53% year-on-year and were to the tune of Rs 2,034.7 crore.

Automobile imports jumped by 43.5% April-February 2012 to Rs 3,321 crore. Similarly, milk imports also increased by 33.2% during the period. Except for Brazil, imports from all other countries like Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Argentina, Germany, Korea, the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, and Australia have gone up. Total imports of all commodities during April-February 2012 was Rs 20,69,643 crore as compared to Rs 15,29,295 crore during the same period of last year.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 4,901.25, lower by 49.50 points or 1.00%. The index has touched a high and low of 4,908.65 and 4,883.55 respectively. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were PNB up by 2.34%, SAIL up by 2.01%, Hindalco up by 1.88%, NTPC up by 1.51% and Bank of Baroda was up by 1.33%. 

On the flip side, ICICI Bank was down by 4.01%, Maruti Suzuki was down by 3.77%, Tata Motors was down by 3.11%, Reliance Industries was down by 2.87% and Sterlite Inds down by 2.41% were the major losers on the index.

Some of the Asian indices are showing sign of recovery, but still most of them are reeling in red; Shanghai Composite was down by 0.52%, Jakarta Composite plunged by 2.00%, Hang Seng Index lost 0.17%, Nikkei 225 was down 1.05%, Straits Times was lower by 0.33% and KOSPI Composite Index lost 0.08%.

On the other hand KLSE Composite was up by 0.20% and Taiwan Weighted added 0.55%. 

In Europe most of the indices have got a green opening, CAC 40 was up by 0.65%, DAX was up by 0.35% and FTSE 100 was up by 0.61%.