LACKLUSTER

Indian equities continued lackadaisical trade below neutral line in the late morning session. On the global front, the majority of Asian markets were trading in red at this point of time on cautiousness in the global equity markets after the European Union's outlook was cut by Moody's Investors Service ahead of meetings of the region's policy makers. The traders were seen piling up position in Realty, Oil & Gas and FMCG sector, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECk and PSU sector. On the other hand, DLF, Oberoi Realty, Sobha Developers, and Godrej Properties from Realty pack were seen trading in green edging the markets higher.  RIL, Cairn India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation from Oil & Gas pack were seen trading firm in green, holding the markets from dipping further. Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech and Oracle Financial Services Software from IT sector were trading in red exerting pressure on the market, while PSU majors ONGC, NTPC and Coal India too were pressurizing the markets. 

In the scrip specific development, Ashok Leyland gained on reporting 30.4% jump in sales in August 2012 at 9,432 units compared to 7,232 units in the same month of last year. PGCIL rose on receiving approval for investment proposal worth Rs 1935.35 crore. Tata Motors edged higher on unveiling Xenon to strengthen its pick-up segment. The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5200 and 17300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, in the ratio of 1066: 843.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17359.52 down by 24.88 points or 0.14% after touching a high of 17378.68 and low of 17322.20. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.14% and Small cap index was up by 0.26%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Realty up by 0.68%, Oil & Gas up by 0.57%, FMCG up by 0.48%, CG up by 0.25% and CD up by 0.20% were the gainers. While IT down by 0.73%, TECk down by 0.58% PSU down by 0.14%, Power down by 0.10% and Metal down by 0.02% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.24%, RIL up by 1.09%, Sterlite Industries up by 0.89%, Dr Reddys Lab up by 0.83% and Tata Motors up by 0.78%. On the flip side, HDFC was down by 1.38%, Bharti Airtel  was down by 1.30%, NTPC was down by 1.27%, Coal India  was down by 0.94% and Tata Power  was down by 0.87%, were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar has stirred the proposal for consideration of cutting interest rate on crop loans before the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on drought. It is one of the major proposals to give financial assistance on crop loan, especially those rescheduled as term loan due to drought in some states.

The drought hit areas where farmers have taken crop loans are rescheduled into term loans due to their inability to pay. They may be charged lower interest rate at 7 % from 12 % to reduce their burden. During crisis like drought, the recovery is done by rescheduling the crop loan converted into a term loan and farmers get 3 years time to repay.

The monsoon is deficient in the country by 12%. The poor monsoon especially in 4 states: Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan have confirmed drought in more than 390 taluks.

 The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,246.10, down by 7.65 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 5,252.75 and 5,235.95. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Power Grid up by 1.65%, Ranbaxy up by 1.36%, DLF up by 1.34%, PNB up by 1.27% and Reliance up by 1.23%. On the flip side, IDFC down by 1.93%, HDFC down by 1.52%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.40%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.21% and Coal India down by 1.14%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian indices were trading  in red; Nikkei 225 down by 0.16%, Hang Seng index down by 0.28%, Shanghai Composite down by 0.38%, Kospi Composite Index down by 0.30%, Taiwan Weighted down by 0.06%, while Jakarta Composite up by 0.08%,Straits Times up by 0.04% and KLSE Composite up by 0.01% were the gainers.