CAUTIOUS

Domestic benchmarks have started off trade on a flat note on Thursday for the second consecutive session ahead of the May wholesale price index (WPI) inflation data which is to be announced later in the day today. The May WPI is likely to come in at around 7.4%, up from 7.23% in April. Moreover, global cues also weighed on sentiments as Italy's borrowing costs rose and Cyprus said it may seek an emergency bailout this week. While, most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the negative terrain at this point of time. Back home, profit-booking by participants at improved levels led to a fall in stock prices. Banks were seeing profit booking after rallying last week on rate cut hopes. PNB, SBI, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were under pressure. However, Urea shares like RCF, NFL and Chambal Fertiliser were up 3.5-4.5% on reported quoting that CCEA, in a meeting today, will consider proposal for urea price hike of 10%. Moreover, the broader indices were outperforming benchmarks while, the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 711 shares on the gaining side against 563 shares on the losing side while 74 shares remained unchanged. The BSE Sensex opened at 16,857.23; about 23 points lower compared to its previous closing of 16,880.51, and has touched a high and a low of 16,909.71 and 16,844.58 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 16,869.09, down by 11.42 points or 0.07%. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 52.74% stocks advancing against 41.77% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.10% and 0.22% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CD up by 0.55%, IT up by 0.42%, TECk up by 0.33%, FMCG up by 0.23% and Auto up by 0.13%. While, CG down by 0.93%, Realty down by 0.67%, Bankex down by 0.49%, Power down by 0.40% and PSU down by 0.22% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL up by 2.14%, Sterlite Industries up by 1.72%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.04%, Infosys up by 0.84% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.82%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel was down by 1.69%, L&T was down by 1.43%, NTPC was down by 1.04%, Tata Motors was down by 0.90% and Wipro was down by 0.82% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to diffuse worries emanating over the India's flagging economic growth and weakening business sentiment, S M Krishna, India's External Affairs Minister who is in United States of America to hold the third round of India-US Strategic Dialogue, vowed that the government is taking swift efforts to overcome the challenges to regain economic momentum and restore investor confidence. Quelling qualms surfacing over India's growth story, the nation's economic policy and commitment to implement reforms, the minister affirmed that India's growth prospects not only stem from strong economic fundamentals, but also from the fact that virtually every political party in India stands for reform process.

The Indian minister, who also attended the annual gala of the US India Business Council (USIBC), also brought forward various pressing issues faced by Indian businesses in America. The challenges encompassed worsening environment for mobility of professionals, the protectionist sentiments against the global supply chain in services industry, the refusal to even consider a Social Security Agreement that affects the lives of 300,000 non-immigrant Indian professionals in the US, the unresolved market access issues, or, the persisting presence of India in the Super 301 Priority Watch List and the US department of labour's list.

However, the progress made by two of the largest democracies of the world's gave Krishna the confidence that the challenges in relationship would be ironed out. While he highlighted that the bilateral trade between India and the US in goods and services touched a milestone by crossing $100 billion last year, he also said that India has been one of the fastest growing destinations for US exports. Underlining the enormous opportunities for expanding the India-US economic partnership, the external affairs minister said that US remains a major source of investment in India, which has planned investment of more than $1 trillion in infrastructure development over the next five years.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,105.10; about 16 points lower compared to its previous closing of 5,121.45, and has touched a high of 5,126.85 while low remained its opening.

The index is currently trading at 5,115.45, up by 0.12 points or 0.06%. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were GAIL up by 1.91%, Sesa Goa up by 1.68%, Sterlite Industries up by 1.67%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.22% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.96%.

On the flip side, PNB down by 2.33%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.06%, Jindal Steel down by 1.62%, L&T down by 1.62% and JP Associates down by 1.00%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite declined 11.89 points or 0.51% to 2,307.03, Hang Seng Index dropped 115.02 points or 0.60% to 18,911.50, Jakarta Composite plunged 43.70 points or 1.13% to 3,816.76, Nikkei 225 fell 59.33 points or 0.69% to 8,528.51, Straits Times Index slipped 8.93 points or 0.32% to 2,777.95 and Taiwan Weighted inched down 2.07 points or 0.03% to 7,086.76.

On the other hand, KLSE Composite rose 0.57 points or 0.04% to 1,576.80 and KOSPI Composite Index inched up 0.23 points or 0.01% to 1,859.55.