MARKETS FLAT

After rising over 400 points on Friday following Samajwadi Party's support to the government, key domestic benchmarks have made a flat opening, weighed down by weak global markets. The US markets ended flat on Friday though Spain's efforts to seek a bailout gave some support in early trade but late hours sell-off in some sectors washed the gains. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the red at this point of time on concern that talks among European leaders to resolve the region's debt crisis are not getting any headway. Also, there was report of decline in optimism in Chinese manufacturers and retailers, putting additional pressure on the regional indices.

Back home, the sentiments remained choppy in early deals after international rating agency Standard & Poor's cut India's GDP forecast to 5.5%. Earlier, Indian rating agency CRISIL too had slashed its forecast for the country's GDP growth to 5.5% from 6.5% earlier for this fiscal. HSBC has also cut growth forecast for fiscal 2012-2013. However, losses remain capped in the morning trade as some amount of strength came from public sector oil marketing companies. Shares of BPCL, HPCL and IOC edged higher on reports that they are planning to revise petrol prices downward due to falling international crude oil prices and a strengthening rupee. Sentiments also got some support as rupee continued its gaining streak against the dollar, inching closer to 53 levels on dollar selling by exporters. The Indian currency, in the early deals, was trading at 53.16 against the dollar, up 0.53 percent, or 28 paise, from Friday's close of 53.45.

On the sectoral front, power witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by realty and auto while, fast moving consumer goods, capital goods and oil and gas remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks while the market breadth on the BSE was evenly divided; there were 1,442 shares on the gaining side against 507 shares on the losing side while 63 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 18,756.31; about 4 points higher compared to its previous closing of 18,752.83, and has touched a high and a low of 18,811.13 and 18,687.60 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 18,715.29, down by 37.54 points or 0.20%. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 71.67% stocks advancing against 25.20% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 0.36% and 0.38% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 0.93%, Realty up by 0.32%, Auto up by 0.31%, HC up by 0.18% and PSU up by 0.16%. While, FMCG down by 0.91%, CG down by 0.51%, Oil and Gas down by 0.36%, IT down by 0.17% and TECk down by 0.05% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.71%, Tata Power up by 2.48%, Jindal Steel up by 2.05%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.72% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.34%.

On the flip side, HUL was down by 1.63%, ITC was down by 1.47%, L&T was down by 1.34%, Coal India was down by 1.16% and Tata Motors was down by 0.82% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, after Centre's strong policy reform measures of raising price of diesel by Rs 5 a liter and a cap on subsidized LPG cylinders despite strong protests from opposition, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan has stated that, though the government's new measure will curtail the fiscal deficit of the nation, it might result in an immediate push in price index in the short run. Though, he also expressed confidence that the nation's growth will attain the projected 6.7% in the current fiscal, while agriculture is expected to perform better than expected, with better monsoon rains.

Rangarajan also affirmed that the growth rate from next year onwards is expected to improve compared to that of present year. He also supported government's decision of allowing FDI in multi brand retail, by pointing that it will result in price reduction and improvement of infrastructural facilities in the agricultural marketing field and will also cause organized and much improved marketing system. He ruled out the fear that the foreign interventions will impact our small retailers negatively, by stating that in advanced countries neighborhood retailers continue to exist despite the presence of large number of departmental stores.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,691.95; flat compared to its previous closing of 5,691.15 and has touched a high and a low of 5,709.85 and 5,671.50 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,683.60, up by 7.55 points or 0.13%. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.73%, BHEL up by 2.67%, Jindal Steel up by 2.28%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.92% and RInfra up by 1.71%.

On the flip side, HUL down by 1.76%, L&T down by 1.39%, ITC down by 1.36%, Coal India down by 1.10% and Tata Motors down by 0.82%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Jakarta Composite was up 22.79 points or 0.54% to 4,221.83, KLSE Composite was up 13.07 points or 0.80% to 1,610.63, Nikkei 225 was up 39.17 points or 0.43% to 9,070.83, Straits Times was up 1.41 points or 0.05% to 3,076.82 and KOSPI Composite Index was up by 3.66 points or 0.18% to 1,998.71.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down 5.75 points or 0.28% to 2,032.44, Hang Seng was down 13.40 points or 0.06% to 20,748.34 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 11.03 points or 0.14% to 7,765.62.

SMART BOUNCE

After witnessing steep fall in previous session, key Indian benchmarks have exhibited a smart recovery on Friday's morning trade as the government notified FDI in Retail, Aviation, Broadcasting and Power Exchanges. The sentiment also remained upbeat on reports indicating that the Centre could announce further reform-centric measures in the near term to counter the lingering impression of policy paralysis. Meanwhile, retail and aviation stocks picked up momentum in early trade after the government braved intense political opposition to notify rules for allowing foreign retailers such as Walmart and Carrefour to set up stores in India on Thursday. Stocks like Pantaloon Retail, Shoppers Stop, Kingfisher, Jet Airways and Spicejet all edged higher in the opening deal.

Global cues too remained supportive as all the Asian counters were trading in the green at this point of time supported by the gains in commodity stocks; however data from China and Europe to the US raised concern about global growth. Japanese market has recovered after yesterday falling the most in three weeks on the back of gain in defensive shares. Though, the US markets made a mixed closing overnight.

Back home, sustained buying in mostly all the key heavyweights along with broader indices supported BSE's -- Sensex -- and NSE's -- Nifty -- to regain their crucial 18,550 and 5,600 mark respectively. All the sectoral indices started in the green. The top gainers in the opening trades were Capital Goods, Realty and Bankex indices up over 1.5 percent each. Auto, metal, Power, FMCG and Consumer Durables indices up by over a percent were the other sectoral gainers. The broader indices too were trading on a firm note and market breadth on the BSE was strong; there were 1,182 shares on the gaining side against 292 shares on the losing side while 43 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 18,411.20; about 62 points higher compared to its previous closing of 18,349.25, and has touched a high of 18,587.15 while low remain its opening.

The index is currently trading at 18,571.72, up by 222.47 points or 1.21%. There were 29 stocks advancing against only 1 decline on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 77.92% stocks advancing against 19.25% declines. The broader indices too were trading in-line with benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 1.20% and 1.03% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CG up by 1.90%, Bankex up by 1.67%, Realty up by 1.62%, Power up by 1.48% and Metal up by 1.47%. While, there were no losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.70%, BHEL up by 2.42%, L&T up by 2.32%, HDFC up by 2.24% and Sterlite Industries up by 2.22%. While GAIL India down by 0.01% remained the only loser on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, despite a relentless demand from the Opposition and UPA allies, the Deputy Chief of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia opposed the rollback of diesel prices which it peaked to Rs 5 straight, stating that it will cause loss of credibility on government. Ahluwalia pointed out that the centre's decision on hiking diesel prices was inevitable; otherwise it might have worsened the financial condition of oil companies, which already claims that it is selling diesel for a huge price loss. 

The Deputy Chief also claimed that India's diesel prices are lower than neighboring nations and the cut in subsidy of diesel prices would affect only people who use cars, and not lower middle class. And, noted that curtailing expenditure on health and education is only other way to reduce the mounting fiscal deficit. He commented that to maintain fiscal credibility the government is trying to break logjam against policy reforms on the need for fiscal discipline for the country.

He also expressed hopes that nation's rating is likely to go up amid aggressive policy reforms to trigger the growth.UPA governments' twin decisions on fuel price hike and allowing Foreign Direct Investments in retail sector has called up nation- wide spread protest, while its allies and opposition called it anti-people policies.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,577.00; about 22 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,554.25, and has touched a high and a low of 5,628.60 and 5,575.45 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,626.85, higher by 72.60 points or 1.31%. There were 49 stocks advancing against only 1 decline on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Reliance Infra up by 3.39%, Axis Bank up by 3.17%, BHEL up by 2.89%, ICICI Bank up by 2.70% and Cairn up by 2.54%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 0.88% remained the only losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite was up by 9.10 points or 0.45% to 2,033.93, Hang Seng surged by 162.63 points or 0.79% to 20,753.55, Jakarta Composite was higher by 4.46 points or 0.07% to 4,220.12, KLSE Composite was marginally up by 1.36 points or 0.08% to 1,626.87, Nikkei 225 surged by 55.31 points or 0.61% to 9,142.29, Straits Times added 11.50 points or 0.37% to 3,074.09, Kospi Composite gained 9.33 points or 0.47% to 2,000.06 and Taiwan Weighted added 19.58 points or 0.25% to 7,746.58.

JUBILANT MOOD

Indian equities continued its jubilation mood on back of strong buying in frontline counters in the late morning session. On the global front, the Asian markets have rejoiced with the Fed decision and there is all green in the regional market with most of the indices trading higher by over two percent. US Federal Reserve's announcement that it will buy mortgage-backed securities to bolster economic growth has buoyed the markets across the globe. Japanese and the Chinese markets moved higher as the exporters to the US advanced. Commodities too have climbed after the Fed announcement on speculation that the added stimulus will boost demand. On the home turf, the traders were seen piling up position in Realty, Bankex and Metal sector. DLF, Unitech, Oberoi Realty, HDIL, Sobha Developers, Godrej Properties and Indiabulls Real Estate from Realty pack were seen trading in green edging the markets higher. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bank of Baroda and Indusind Bank from banking pack were seen trading firm in green. Meanwhile, the sentiments also remained higher as shares of oil companies such as IOC, BPCL, HPCL, Gail, ONGC and Oil India all edged higher after the government announced a steep hike in diesel prices and slashed LPG subsidy while leaving prices of petrol and kerosene unchanged. Moreover, metal shares rallied amid speculation that stimulus measures by the US, Europe and China will revive demand for the industrial commodities. Rate sensitives' banking, realty and auto shares were also up on hope that the RBI on September 17, 2012 will announce reduction in policy rates.

In the scrip specific development, Lupin jumped as arm received USFDA approval for Generic Lexapro Tablets. Ranbaxy rose as arm received approval for setting up a Greenfield manufacturing facility in Malaysia. Indian Overseas Bank gained on inking distribution tie-up with Reliance Mutual Fund. Hero Moto Corp edged higher on tying up with Italy based two-wheeler design firm.

The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5550 and 18,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, in the ratio of 1571:662.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18405.43 up by 384.27 points or 2.13% after touching a high of 18456.33 and low of 18284.75. All the 30 stocks on the Sensex were in green.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.13% and Small cap index was up by 1.23%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Realty up by 4.29%, Bankex up by 3.53%, Metal up by 3.22%, Auto up by 2.83% and CG up by 2.50% were the gainers. While, there was no losers on the index.

With all 30 stocks on the Sensex on advancing side, the top gainers were Hindalco Industries up by 5.30%, ICICI Bank up by 4.46%, Jindal Steel up by 4.39%, SBI up by 4.18% and Tata Motors up by 4.03%.

Meanwhile, Indian exports dropped by 9.7% in August to $22.3 billion on the global economic slowdown. The sluggish demand in Europe and US made the exports difficult. However, imports too declined 5.1% to $38 billion and ended up with a large trade deficit of $15.7 billion in August.

Commerce Secretary S R Rao said that during April-August period the exports fell about 6% from $127.6 billion to $120 billion and imports during the same period are behind by 6.2% to $191.1 billion in the same period last year. Trade deficit during the period stood at $71.1 billion. Exports had dropped 14.8% in July, giving some hope that they may stabilize at lower levels in the coming months.

SR Rao added that there is a slight improvement after the fall of exports in July. The new proposals announced in the annual supplement to Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) are possibly playing out. An improvement in the US market growth has given hope and it will sustain.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,553.10, up by 117.75 points or 2.17% after trading in a range of 5,564.05 and 5,526.95. All the 50 stocks on the Nifty were in positive zone.

The top gainers of the Nifty were DLF up by 5.77%, Hindalco up by 5.66%, IDFC up by 5.00%, JP Associates up by 4.99% and Jindal Steel up by 4.87%.

All the Asian indices were trading in green; Nikkei 225 up by 2.12%, Jakarta Composite up by 2.02%, Hang Seng index up by 2.29%, Taiwan Weighted up by 1.93%, KLSE Composite up by 0.56%, Shanghai Composite up by 0.52%, Straits Times up by 1.26% and Kospi Composite Index up by 2.72% were the gainer. 

GAP UP START

Key domestic bourses have made a gap up opening after the US Federal Reserve announced an aggressive new stimulus to drive job creation in the US economy. Much awaited diesel price hike by the government also boosted the investors' sentiment. The government raised diesel prices by Rs 5 per litre (excluding VAT). Diesel will now cost approximately Rs 47/litre in Delhi. The price revision comes after more than a year. Cues from global front remained jubilant as the US markets surged overnight nearing to their highest finish since late 2007 while, all the Asian counters too railed after Federal Reserve announced its decision to launch further stimulus measures largely termed as QE3, to boost the economy. Back home, sustained buying in mostly all the key heavyweights along with broader indices supported BSE's -- Sensex -- and NSE's -- Nifty -- to regain their crucial 18,350 and 5,500 mark respectively.

The sentiments also remained higher as shares of state-run downstream and upstream oil companies such as IOC, BPCL, HPCL, Gail, ONGC and Oil India all edged higher after the government announced a steep hike in diesel prices and slashed LPG subsidy while leaving prices of petrol and kerosene unchanged. Moreover, metal shares rallied amid speculation that stimulus measures by the US, Europe and China will revive demand for the industrial commodities. Rate sensitives banking, realty and auto shares were also up on hope that the RBI on September 17, 2012 will announce reduction in policy rates. The broader indices too were trading on a firm note and market breadth on the BSE was strong; there were 1,256 shares on the gaining side against 466 shares on the losing side while 64 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 18,284.75; about 263 points higher compared to its previous closing of 18,021.16, and has touched a high of 18,456.33 while low remain its opening.

The index is currently trading at 18,359.40, up by 338.24 points or 1.88%. There were 28 stocks advancing against only 2 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 70.32% stocks advancing against 26.09% declines. The broader indices too were trading on firm note; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.94% and 0.97% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 3.04%, Bankex up by 2.97%, Auto up by 2.59%, Realty up by 2.55% and Oil and Gas up by 1.92%. While, there were no losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 4.94%, Jindal Steel up by 4.93%, ICICI Bank up by 4.83%, Tata Motors up by 4.73% and SBI up by 4.35%. While ITC down by 0.20% and Cipla down by 0.11% remained the only losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, to arrest the declining industrial growth, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth while attending a high level meeting on manufacturing said, several policy measures are on the card to support investment climate. The meeting comes in the wake of negative growth in the manufacturing sector.

In July, the country's overall industrial output expanded by just 0.1 per cent as against 3.7 per cent in the same month last year, mainly due to declining manufacturing sector growth. The manufacturing sector, which constitutes 75 per cent of the index, reported a decline of 0.2% in July, and 0.9 per cent in the April-July period, as against growth of 3.1% in the same month previous year.

By adding further he said the government is committed to take steps to continue the growth momentum forward. On issues pertaining to certain changes being proposed in the country's tax regime, he said, government would like to see that we have investor friendly environment.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,528.35; about 39 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,435.35, and has touched a high and a low of 5,564.05 and 5,526.95 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,536.80, higher by 101.45 points or 1.87%. There were 48 stocks advancing against just 2 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Jindal Steel up by 4.99%, Hindalco up by 4.93%, ICICI Bank up by 4.77%, Tata Motors up by 4.68% and SBI up by 4.41%.

On the flip side, ITC down by 0.17% and Cipla down by 0.16% remained the only losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite was up by 8.44 points or 0.40% to 2,118.82, Hang Seng surged by 518.63 points or 2.59% to 20,566.26, Jakarta Composite was higher by 81.70 points or 1.97% to 4,251.30, KLSE Composite gained 9.64 points or 0.59% to 1,638.04, Nikkei 225 surged by 161.90 points or 1.80% to 9,156.44, Straits Times added 39.72 points or 1.34% to 3,069.16, Kospi Composite surged by 51.31 points or 2.61% to 2,001.38 and Taiwan Weighted rushed by 118.80 points or 1.56% to 7,696.94.

GAINING STRENGTH

Indian equities gained strength to continue their firm trade in the late morning session. On the global front, the majority of Asian markets were trading in green on speculation that China and US, the world's two biggest economies will take more measures to spur economic growth. Back home, the Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2004- 05 for the month of July 2012 came at 167.3, which is 0.1% higher as compared to the level in the month of July 2011. Manufacturing growth recorded contraction of 0.2% vs 3.1% y-o-y, Mining grew at -0.7% vs positive 0.7% and Basic Goods grew sharply lower, at the rate of 1.5% against 10% y-o-y. The traders were seen piling up position in Auto, Bankex and Realty sector, while selling was witnessed in Power and HC sector. Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, and Maruti Suzuki India from Auto pack were seen trading in green edging the markets higher. DLF, Unitech, Oberoi Realty and Housing Development & Infrastructure from Realty pack were seen trading firm in green. Power majors NTPC, Power Grid Corp, BHEL, Reliance Infra and Siemens were capping the markets' gains while HC majors Cipla, Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals, Divi's Laboratories and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals too were pressurizing the markets.

Meanwhile, the sentiments in the domestic market also remained jubilant after Reserve Bank of India relaxed guidelines for Indian companies to raise money overseas through external commercial borrowings (ECB). The maximum limit of ECB has been raised to 75% of the average foreign exchange earnings in the past three fiscal years, or 50% of the highest export earnings in any of the three years, or whichever is higher.

In the scrip specific development, Dr Reddy's Lab rose on launching Metoprolol Succinate ER tablets. VA Tech Wabag edged higher on bagging various orders worth Rs 86.60 crore. Tata Motors jumped on incorporating WOS 'PT Tata Motors Indonesia'. Oriental Bank of Commerce gained on inking pact with Piaggio vehicles. Godrej Properties surged on plan to develop residential complex in Gurgaon. Wipro gained as its arm enters into an association with BSRF as IT Partner.

The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5400 and 17900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, in the ratio of 1467:714.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17930.61 up by 77.66 points or 0.43% after touching a high of 17953.86 and low of 17904.04. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.59% and Small cap index was up by 0.75%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Auto up by 0.98%, Bankex up by 0.69%, Realty up by 0.66%, PSU up by 0.57% and IT up by 0.52% were the gainers. While, Power down by 0.33% and HC down by 0.08% were the losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.13%, Coal India up by 2.65%, Wipro up by 1.11%, TCS up by 1.03% and ICICI Bank up by 1.01%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 3.36%, Cipla down by 0.86%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.74%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.71% and BHEL down by 0.57% were the losers on the Sensex. 

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its bid to support the ailing India Inc has relaxed the guidelines for companies to raise money overseas through external commercial borrowings (ECB). The apex bank has allowed companies to raise more funds through ECBs to repay rupee loans or for new capital expenditure in rupees.

Earlier, a company which could have raised a maximum of 50 percent of its average export earnings in the past three fiscal years is now allowed to raise ECB to 75% of the average foreign exchange earnings in the past three fiscal years, or 50% of the highest export earnings in any of the three years, or whichever is higher.

However, in case of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), which have completed at least one year of existence from the date of incorporation and do not have sufficient track record/past performance for three financial years, the maximum permissible ECB that can be availed has been limited to 50 per cent of the annual export earnings realized during the past financial year; and the maximum ECB that can be availed by an individual company or group, as a whole, under this scheme has been restricted to $3 billion.

Special emphasis has been given to infra companies and through a separate notification, the central bank has said that companies in the infrastructure sector can seek trade credit for up to a maximum period of five years for importing capital goods, up from one-to-three years previously. Under the new norms, trade credit, which is a short-term loan should not be for a period of less than 15 months and also not in the nature of short-term rollover finance. Also, the credit facility would be available up to $20 million per transaction for import of capital goods as classified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). 

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,410.65, up by 20.65 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 5,417.10 and 5,403.05. There were 29 stocks advancing against 20 declines while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.14%, Coal India up by 2.20%, DLF up by 1.30%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.26% and ICICI Bank up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 3.33%, Siemens down by 2.53%, Cipla down by 1.18%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.80% and Reliance Infra down by 0.80% were the losers on the index.

Most of the Asian indices were trading in green; Nikkei 225 up by 1.49%, Straits Times down by 0.30%, Kospi Composite Index up by 1.56%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.06%, Hang Seng index up by 0.96%, Taiwan Weighted up by 1.03% while Shanghai Composite down by 0.37% and KLSE Composite down by 0.03% were only the losers. 

MARKETS TRADE LOWER

Key benchmarks have made a soft opening, weighed down by weak global markets ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meet that will begin today for two days and German constitutional court's ruling over the legality of the European bailout fund on Wednesday. But, the initial losses were capped immediately on news that cabinet will meet today for fuel price hike. Globally, the US markets closed lower on Monday on getting weak economic data from both domestic as well as global front while, the Asian markets were trading lower and barring one or two, all indices in the region were in red. Back home, metal stocks remained the biggest underperformers as the Goa mining ban adversely affected companies like Sesa Goa, which is country's biggest iron ore producer in the private sector. However, aviation stocks like Kingfisher, Jet Air India and Spicejet all edged higher after Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh had written to the Oil Ministry on declaring aviation turbine fuel (ATF) as a notified product, which may decrease the burden of fuel cost on airlines. Meanwhile, Pharma stocks like, Cadila, Sun Pharma and Cipla all edged higher on report that Health Ministry is working on new rules to ensure the availability of medicines at affordable prices in the local market and may put tougher conditions for foreign pharmaceutical companies looking to acquire Indian drugs businesses. Moreover, the broader indices were outperforming benchmarks while the market breadth on the BSE was evenly divided; there were 841 shares on the gaining side against 635 shares on the losing side while 67 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,711.80; about 55 points lower compared to its previous closing of 17,766.78, and has touched a high and a low of 17,750.90 and 17,677.38 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 17,750.46, down by 16.32 points or 0.09%. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 54.50% stocks advancing against 41.15% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 0.27% and 0.28% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, HC up by 0.73%, CD up by 0.34%, PSU up by 0.29%, FMCG up by 0.29% and Oil and Gas up by 0.24%. While, Metal down by 1.46%, Auto down by 0.58%, Bankex down by 0.18%, TECk down by 0.09% and IT down by 0.06% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 1.19%, ONGC up by 1.19%, Sun Pharma up by 1.02%, GAIL up by 0.94% and Cipla up by 0.93%.

On the flip side, Sterlite Industries was down by 4.43%, Hero MotoCorp was down by 2.12%, Jindal Steel was down by 1.99%, Tata Steel was down by 0.87% and RIL was down by 0.85% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in an aim to contain the high fiscal deficit of the country, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had advised the ministries not to seek additional funds other than the budgeted figure, at a meeting with financial advisors of different ministries, which was called to review the progress of planned and non-planned expenditure. The government had proposed to bring down fiscal deficit to 5.1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the current fiscal, from 5.8% in 2011-12.

The finance ministry also made it clear that getting approval for new Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) will be unlikely in the current fiscal. Out of the total 147 such Schemes, nearly 100 had an annual outlay of Rs 300 crore or less. Chidambaram also urged all ministries and departments to reduce non-Plan expenditure by 10% in the present financial year.

Besides these, the soaring prices of oil and commodity in the international markets are another major concern as it will weigh high on this year's fuel and fertilizer subsidy bill.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,336.10; about 7 points lower compared to its previous closing of 5,363.45 and has touched a high and a low of 5,352.80 and 5,332.10 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,352.55, up by 10.90 points or 0.20%. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were BPCL up by 2.09%, BHEL up by 1.46%, Sun Pharma up by 1.16%, ONGC up by 0.99% and GAIL up by 0.84%.

On the flip side, Sesa Goa down by 5.15%, Sterlite Industries down by 4.57%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.94%, Jindal Steel down by 1.93% and SAIL down by 1.64%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite was down by 17.96 points or 0.84% to 2,116.93, Hang Seng lost 126.61 points or 0.64% to 19,700.56, Jakarta Composite lost 20.36 points or 0.49% to 4,140.39, KLSE Composite plunged by 18.97 points or 1.17% to 1,602.07, Nikkei 225 was declined by 72.39 points or 0.82% to 8,796.98 and Kospi Composite was down by 3.59 points or 0.17% to 1,921.67.

On the other hand, Straits Times added 2.30 points or 0.09% to 3,011.51, and Taiwan Weighted has gained 2.73 points or 0.04% to 7,484.54.

FLAT START

Indian equity markets have made a flat start as investors remained on the safer side ahead of IIP data and inflation numbers to be announced later in this week. The global cues too remain mixed as Asian peers were trading mixed at this point of time though; the US markets extended the rally with modest gains on Friday despite weak jobs report, as there were hopes of stimulus in next Fed meet that got bolstered with the jobs report. Back home, investors opted to take some profit off the table as the key indices gained around two and half a percent in last two sessions. On the sectoral front, healthcare witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by metal and public sector undertaking while, realty, auto and banking remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were trading slightly better than benchmarks while, the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 869 shares on the gaining side against 679 shares on the losing side while 66 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,780.93; about 31 points higher compared to its previous closing of 17,749.65, and has touched a high and a low of 17,810.90 and 17,731.75 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 17,753.29, up by 3.64 points or 0.02%. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a positive start with 53.84% stocks advancing against 42.07% declines. The broader indices were trading slightly better than benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.19% and 0.15% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, HC up by 0.52%, Metal up by 0.23%, PSU up by 0.20%, Power up by 0.03% and FMCG up by 0.01%. While, Realty down by 0.38%, Auto down by 0.28%, Bankex down by 0.23%, CG down by 0.22% and IT down by 0.17% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.43%, Coal India up by 1.21%, Sun Pharma up by 1.01%, Tata Steel up by 0.94% and HDFC up by 0.80%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel was down by 2.31%, Wipro was down by 1.04%, TCS was down by 0.87%, GAIL was down by 0.84% and SBI was down by 0.71% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a move to help the suffering farmers amid drought due to stringent monsoon rains, Union Cabinet  presided by the Prime Minister has released funds of Rs 10,901 crore to banks as interest subvention for crop loans up to Rs 300,000 to farmers in FY 2012-13.

The Cabinet will allocate Rs 3,267 crore from the fund for subvention to NABARD for refinance to cooperatives banks and RRBs. The remaining Rs 7,634 crore will be given to public sector banks, RRBs and cooperative banks for subvention on their own funds. The centre has also decided to provide additional interest subvention of 3% to those farmers who repay short-term crop loans on time that is within 1 year of disbursement.

The government has been providing financial support to farmers on short-term crop loans in order to make sure the availability of crop loans to farmers for loans up to Rs 300,000 at 7% per annum. The cabinet has also approved the proposal to grant interest subvention to small and marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for loan against negotiable warehouse receipts for post harvest at 7% interest for a period of 6 months.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,361.90; about 19 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 5,342.10, and has touched a high and a low of 5,375.45 and 5,350.40 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,356.85, higher by 1.85 points or 0.03%. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.18%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.18%, Coal India up by 1.16%, Reliance Infra up by 0.90% and HDFC up by 0.89%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.39%, Axis Bank down by 1.23%, TCS down by 1.12%, Wipro down by 1.10% and IDFC down by 1.06%, were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite was up by 6.87 points or 0.32% to 2,134.63, Hang Seng gained 37.21 points or 0.19% to 19,839.37, Straits Times added 2.60 points or 0.08% to 3,014.15 and Taiwan Weighted has gained 52.25 points or 0.70% to 7,476.96.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite lost 8.69 points or 0.20% to 4,135.07, KLSE Composite gained 1.72 points or 0.12% to 1,622.65, Nikkei 225 was down by 11.31 points or 0.13% to 8,860.34 and Kospi Composite was marginally down by 2.24 points or 0.12% to 1,927.34.

GAP UP START

Indian benchmarks have made a gap-up opening with Sensex gaining over 200 points while Nifty crossing the key 5,300 level quite easily in early trade, triggered by the rally in global markets after the European Central Bank announced new bond buying program called Outright Monetary Transactions. Global cues too remained jubilant as US markets surged to their highest level in over last four years overnight supported by the better domestic economic data while, Asian markets too are thrilled and most of them have made a good start, surging by over a percent on ECBs decision to an unlimited bond-purchase program. Back home, sustained buying in all the key heavyweights along with broader indices supported BSE's -- Sensex -- and NSE's -- Nifty -- to regain their crucial 17,600 and 5,300 mark respectively. The sentiments were also supported by rise in public sector oil marketing companies. The shares of BPCL, HPCL and IOC all edged higher on the buzz that government may allow OMCs to go ahead with a petrol price hike of Rs 5 per litre, as early as this week only. The broader indices were going neck to neck with benchmarks. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,183 shares on the gaining side against 309 shares on the losing side while 39 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,575.79; about 229 points higher compared to its previous closing of 17,346.27, and has touched a high of 17,633.36 while low remained its opening.

The index is currently trading at 17,627.40, up by 281.13 points or 1.62%. All the 30 stocks on the Sensex were on advance side.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 77.27% stocks advancing against 20.18% declines. The broader indices were trading in line with benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 1.12% and 1.11% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 2.12%, Bankex up by 1.99%, Oil and Gas up by 1.83%, CG up by 1.80% and Realty up by 1.76%. While, there were no losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.78%, Tata Steel up by 3.44%, Tata Motors up by 3.05%, Hindalco up by 2.65% and Sterlite Industries up by 2.45%. While there were no loser on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the government of India has confirmed its proposal to review the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) bilaterally to put in place adequate safeguards to prevent misuse of DTAC and also to strengthen tax information exchange mechanism between the two countries. A Joint Working Group (JWG) comprising members from the Government of India and the Government of Mauritius has already conducted eight rounds of discussions for finding mutually acceptable solution for addressing the concerns.

The prevailing DTAC between India and Mauritius was notified in 1983. As per that, taxation of capital gains arising from alienation of shares is provided only in the residence country of the investor. Under the domestic laws of Mauritius the capital gains within the country is fully exempted from taxation. Hence, an investor routing his investment through Mauritius into India does not have to pay capital gains tax either in India or Mauritius.

This has made Mauritius an attractive route for investment by the third country residents into India through treaty abuse.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,309.45; about 71 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,238.40, and has touched a high and a low of 5,324.40 and 5,309.20 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,322.60, higher by 84.20 points or 1.61%. All the 50 stocks on the Nifty were on the advance side.

The top gainers of the Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 3.54%, Tata Steel up by 3.32%, Tata Motors up by 3.13%, Sterlite Industries up by 2.62% and Hindalco up by 2.56%. While there were no loser on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading jubilantly; Shanghai Composite zoomed by 64.85 points or 3.16% to 2,116.77, Hang Seng surged by 422.10 points or 2.20% to 19,631.40, Jakarta Composite was up by 39.32 points or 0.96% to 4,141.73, KLSE Composite gained 5.15 points or 0.32% to 1,623.31, Nikkei 225 was up by 151.98 points or 1.75% to 8,832.55, Straits Times was up by 20.16 points or 0.67% to 3,009.39, Kospi Composite was higher by 40.18 points or 2.10% to 1,921.28, and Taiwan Weighted was higher by 93.91 points or 1.29% to 7,421.52. 

TURN AROUND

Indian equity markets although have been trading lackluster since early deals, the downside of the bourses has been capped on hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) may employ new tactics to counter the perennial debt crisis. Further, with the positive opening of European markets, recovery of the bourses looks imminent. 30 share barometer index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Sensex, hovering tad below the previous closing level, is currently holding the 17300 bastion. However, the widely followed 50 share barometer index of National Stock Exchange (NSE), Nifty, too holding near its neutral line, is gyrating sub 5250 crucial mark. Bucking the trend, broader indices are showcasing positive movements.

On the global front, much awaited opening of European markets was a positive one after a media report suggested that the European Central Bank planned to buy unlimited amounts of short-term debt to ease the region's financial crisis. Meanwhile, Asian counterparts too have reversed losses to mostly trade in green.

Sector-wise, Information Technology, Realty and Bankex counters are topping the list of gainers on BSE, while stocks of Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Power and Capital Goods, languishing the bottom, are sustaining the downtrend of Indian equity markets. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of advances which have outnumbered declines in the ratio of 1236:1142, while 147 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,309.80, down by 3.54 points or 0.02% after touching a high of 17339.25 and low of 17294.74. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were trading higher by 0.15% and 0.12% respectively.

The top gainers on the BSE sectoral space were, IT up by 2.10%, TECk up by 1.49%, Realty up by 0.33%, Bankex up by 0.32% and Health Care up by 0.22%. While FMCG down by 1.44%, Power down by 0.81%, Capital Goods down by 0.79%, Consumer Durable down by 0.51% and Oil & Gas down by 0.41% were the top losers on the sectoral space.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 3.61%, Infosys up by 3.19%, Jindal Steel up by 2.13%, ICICI bank up by 1.36% and Maruti Suuzki up by 1.29%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 3.03%, ITC down by 2.24%, Bharti Airtel  down by 1.61%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.82% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.62% were the top losers on the Sensex. 

Though India's economic growth has slipped to 5.5% during April-June of 2012-13, advisory firm KPMG opined that India is performing better than many countries. It reaffirmed that in the current environment of global economic slowdown, the most important part is that the country is still growing.

It pointed out that world's largest economy, the US grew at 1.5% in 2011, versus 3.1% in 2010, while, Germany's GDP grew by 3%, though in 2010 it was 3.7%. It emphasized that the focus should be on how this turbulent journey is sailed through, albeit India has touched the lowest Q1 performance in a decade, because of low performance in manufacturing, mining and quarrying.

On maintaining sustainability for the PSUs in the wake of global economic and domestic slowdown, KPMG India Chief Operating Officer Akhil Bansal, suggested that the Public sector should carry little more responsibility than the private sector, to survive during this turbulent time as it's more significant. He also added that collaboration between the PSUs and the private sector will accelerate the development process.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,223.15, down by 2.55 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 5,231.05 and 5,217.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Wipro up by 3.48%, Infosys up by 2.98%, Ambuja Cements up by 2.80%, Jindal Steel up by 2.00% and JP Associates up by 1.57%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 3.13%, IDFC down by 2.90%, Power Grid down by 2.28%, ITC down by 2.15% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.88% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian indices were trading in green; Nikkei 225 edged higher by 0.01%, Hang Seng index advanced 0.11%, Shanghai Composite added 0.39%, Kospi Composite Index jumped higher by 0.38% and Jakarta Composite rose 0.20% were the gainers On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted declined by 0.55%, Straits Times lowered by 0.30% and KLSE Composite plunged 1.43%.

European markets started off on sanguine note; France's CAC 40 added 0.52%, Germany's DAX rose 0.32% and UK's FTSE 100 advanced 0.25%.