JUBILIANT MOOD

Stock markets in India have continued their jubilation on the last trading session of the week with the benchmark equity indices extending their skyward journey and trading around session's high levels. After the gap-up opening in morning, the frontline gauges managed to capitalize on the momentum and sail beyond the important psychological 5,250 (Nifty) and 17,350 (Sensex) levels. Sentiments remained sanguine since the start of trade as domestic markets rallied in tandem with their Asian peers after some heartening developments surfaced from the Euro-zone Summit. Concerns over the Euro-zone's onerous debt trouble got allayed after reports indicating the leaders in Euro-zone decided to create a single supervisory body for euro zone banks and to allow them to be recapitalized directly by the currency area's rescue fund without adding to government debt. Moreover, European Council chairman Herman Van Rompuy's comments that nations that were meeting the terms with European Union budget policies would be able to access the bloc's temporary EFSF and permanent ESM rescue funds to support their government bonds on financial markets, fortified sentiments globally, prompting tentative recovery in investors' appetite for riskier assets like equities. The European markets too started with a sharp rally as all major equity indices traded with notable gains in the range of 1-3%. Back home, market participants remained in cheerful mood hoping that the government would soften its stand on contentious taxation issues and bring in more clarity in the controversial General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) provisions. The Capital Goods counter witnessed relentless buying in the session as it jumped over three percent and remained the top gainer in the BSE sectoral space. While the power sector stocks too shot up by close to three percent gains after reports highlighted that Central government to incentivize power distribution companies' performance and around 50% of discoms' load burden will be shouldered by states. Investors also drew some solace after Indian rupee, which has so far been the worst performing currency in Asia, appreciated against the US dollar. Though largely across the board buying was evident, investors were seen exerting some selling pressure on individual names like Cairn India on the back of sharp drop in international crude oil prices and also on BPCL due to overnight cut in petrol prices.

Moreover, the broader markets continued to trade on a positive note with notable gains of over a percent, but underperformed their larger peers. The bourses rallied on good volumes of over Rs 0.6 lakh crore on the first day a new F&O series while the market breadth on BSE was in favor of advances in the ratio of 1693:817 while 138 scrips remained unchanged

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,365.38 up by 374.62 points or 2.20% after trading as high as 17,380.47 and as low as 17,134.61. All the 30 stocks on Sensex were advancing, leaving no declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index surged 1.17% and Small cap index soared 1.09%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Capital Goods up 3.03%, Power up 2.77%, Bankex up 2.63%, Consumer Durables up 2.32% and FMCG up 2.31% were the major gainers, while there were no laggards in the space.

Tata Power up 3.79%, ICICI Bank up 3.68%, Hindalco up 3.47%, BHEL up 3.44% and Maruti Suzuki up 3.40% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while there were no losers in the index.

Meanwhile, in its move to allay concerns over contentious taxation issues, the Finance Ministry in its draft guidelines issued on June 28, 2012, put forward a proposal to set a monetary limit for invoking the controversial General Anti-Tax Avoidance Rules (GAAR). The draft guidelines cited that those deals which are over a prescribed limit should be covered by GAAR provisions however, it remained silent on any specific monetary limit.

The recent draft guidelines also talked about invoking GAAR provisions only in cases where FIIs choose to take the benefit of double tax avoidance treaties, but would not in any case be invoked in the case of the non-resident investors of the FII. Highlighting that the provisions will apply only to the income arising to taxpayers on or after April 1, 2013, the draft guidelines also advocated the idea of setting up a three-member Approving Panel to decide whether a particular case would attract the provisions of the GAAR.

Former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is now seen by many as the frontrunner in the race of becoming President of India, in his Union Budget 2012-13 had proposed the GAAR provisions to curtail tax evasion. The provisions had invoked sharp criticism from the foreign and domestic investors, following which the government constituted a high-level committee to look into their concerns.

According to some estimates Indian markets had lost around Rs 1 lakh crore or about $20 billion worth of investments from the overseas funds and ultra-rich foreign individuals over the three month period between March and May on new taxation proposals and the government's recent white paper on Black Money. General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) remained the buzzword over last three months in the financial circles and though not many knew about the nitty-gritties of it, most witnessed how talks surrounding its implementation from April 1, 2012 rattled foreign institutional investors (FII) which in turn triggered a free-fall off sorts in Indian stock markets.

A committee headed by Director General of Income Tax (international taxation), looked into the concerns of the investors and came out with draft guidelines to seek comments of the stakeholders. Proposing time limits for completion of various actions under the GAAR, the draft also has examples for what would be deemed as permissible and impermissible arrangement.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,260.40, higher by 111.25 points or 2.16% after trading as high as 5,264.05 and as low as 5,189.00. There were 48 stocks advancing against 2 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were R Infra up 4.13%, Tata Power up 4.10%, HCL Tech up 3.89%, ICICI Bank up 3.68% and Hindalco up 3.60%.

Cairn down 5.71% and BPCL down 0.73% were the major losers on the index.

In the Asian space, Shanghai Composite surged 1.23%, Hang Seng shot up 2.49%, Jakarta Composite soared 1.74%, KLSE Composite advanced 0.51%, Nikkei 225 jumped 1.50%, Straits Times Index climbed 1.63%, KOSPI Composite Index garnered 1.91% and Taiwan Weighted accumulated 1.77%.

The European markets got off to an encouraging start as France's CAC 40 shot up 3.11%, Germany's DAX got buttressed by 2.59% and the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 got underpinned by 1.69%.

GAP UP START

After three days of consolidation, the Indian equity markets have made a gap up start on hopes that the Government will announce economic reforms to revive the economy. Moreover, positive news coming from Europe also helped the gains in Indian markets after euro-zone leaders struck a deal by opening the door for its rescue funds to help bring down borrowing costs of nations. While, all the Asian counters were trading in the green at this point of time, indicating euphoric investors' sentiment. 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 17,250 and 5,200 mark respectively. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry proposing a monetary limit for invoking the controversial General Anti-Tax Avoidance Rules (GAAR) in its draft guidelines issued late last night too buoyed the trading sentiment. On the sectoral front, capital goods, FMCG, power, banking, healthcare, auto, realty, consumer durables and metal all were trading with over 1-2 percent in the trade. The broader indices too were trading with great traction and the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,147 shares on the gaining side against 372 shares on the losing side while 66 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 17,134.61; about 144 points higher compared to its previous closing of 16,990.76, and has touched a high of 17,282.68 while low remained its opening.

The index is currently trading at 17,257.79, up by 267.03 points or 1.57%. All the 30 stocks on the Sensex were on advance side.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 72.37% stocks advancing against 23.47% declines. The broader indices too were trading with traction; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 0.85% and 0.81% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CG up by 2.05%, Power up by 1.95%, FMCG up by 1.91%, Bankex up by 1.70% and HC up by 1.61%. While, there were no losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.59%, Tata Power up by 2.93%, ITC up by 2.43%, BHEL up by 2.40% and ICICI Bank up by 2.40%. While there were no loser on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, according to the recent data released by the Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry, the production of crude oil in India registered a trivial increase of 0.5% in May to 3.25 million tonnes. May month's crude oil output at 3.25 million metric tonnes, which is equal to 768,200 barrels a day, rose marginally from 3.23 million tonnes in the same month last year period, but failed to surpass the government's forecast of 3.33 million tonnes.

Moreover, the production of natural gas in the country prolonged its receding trend in May for the 18th month in a row, underscoring the fact that India is struggling to keep up production at its ageing assets. In May, natural gas production plummeted by 10.8 percent to 3.70 billion cubic meters from last year's May month figure of 4.14 billion cubic meters, largely on account of sharp decline in gas production by major Reliance Industries from the D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari Basin. However, the numbers managed to surpass the government's forecast of 3.45 billion cubic meters.

The gap between India's total domestic gas production of about 115 mmscmd and gas demand of about 165 mmscmd, is met through imports. Asia's third largest India economy, which meets more than 75 percent of its energy needs through imports, has been taking serious efforts in order to boost domestic production as India's rising import bill has adversely impacted the nation's current account deficit and has also stocked inflationary pressures.

However, the declining potential of sedimentary basins and ageing and depleting fields have emerged as major roadblocks for the way of India's aim to boost domestic energy production. India, the world's fourth largest oil importer, saw its dependence on crude oil and gas imports expand as domestic refiners imported 5.8 percent more crude oil in May year-on-year at 14.586 million tonnes from 13.784 million tonnes in the same period last a year earlier, taking the refining capacity of the country to nearly 215 million tonnes.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,191.25; about 42 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,149.15, and has touched a high and a low of 5,233.10 and 5,189.00 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,226.05, higher by 76.90 points or 1.49%. There were 48 stocks advancing against only 2 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.65%, Tata Power up by 3.03%, BHEL up by 2.67%, ITC up by 2.51% and ICICI Bank up by 2.44%. While Cairn down by 6.48% and BPCL down by 0.42% remained the few losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite climbed 14.21 points or 0.65% to 2,210.05, Hang Seng Index jumped 403.47 points or 2.12% to 19,428.74, Jakarta Composite surged 59.12 points or 1.52% to 3,946.70, KLSE Composite advanced 6.63 points or 0.42% to 1,600.87, Nikkei 225 accumulated 133.21 points or 1.50% to 9,007.23, Straits Times Index soared 38.76 points or 1.36% to 2,885.58, KOSPI Composite Index garnered 13.12 points or 0.72% to 1,832.30 and Taiwan Weighted amassed 80.59 points or 1.12% to 7,250.20.

VOLATILE

Converse to the characteristic of massive volatility on F&O expiry day, Indian equity markets, so far barring the trend are depicting steady moves, as barometer gauges continue to hold their respective 17000 (Sensex) and 5150 (Nifty) bastions. However, gains of the bourses are under check on expectations that an EU summit is unlikely to produce concrete measures to contain the region's debt crisis. The broader indices, however, have pared some of their gains, Positive opening of European markets are also supporting the optimism at Dalal Street. However, regional counterparts are exhibiting mixed trend, as on one hand, encouraging U.S. economic data has buoyed demand, but anxiety of investors ahead of a European Union summit of leaders, which are deeply divided on how to tackle the long euro zone debt crisis, have led to winding up of positions by select group of investor's.

Closer home, Tyre stocks have also lost momentum on the buzz of CCI imposing fine on five leading companies, which control over 95% of market. Report also alleges that these leading industry players have collectively blacklisted tyre importers. The regulatory body is likely to slap a fine amounting to 10% average sales of three years or three times the profit earned by companies in the years of contention. Staggering under pressure, were stocks from MRF, CEAT, Apollo Tyres and JK Tyre & Industries. On the BSE sectoral front, stocks from Power, Capital Goods and Public Sector Undertaking are sustaining the gaining momentum of the bourses, while stocks from rate sensitive's Auto, Bankex and Realty continue to languish at the bottom. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of advances which have piped declines in the ratio of 1369:1037, while 121 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,011.63, up by 43.87 points or 0.26% after trading as high as 17,029.20 and as low as 16,982.85. There were 18 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices pared some of their gains; the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap indices were trading up by 0.40% and 0.46% respectively.

 On the BSE sectoral space, Power up 0.80%, FMCG up 0.60%, Capital Goods up 0.56%, PSU up 0.38% and Metal up 0.32% were the major gainers, while Auto down by 0.39%, Bankex down by 0.18%, Realty down by 0.09% and Oil & Gas down by 0.08% were top losers on the sectoral space.

NTPC up 1.65%, Tata Power up 1.48%, ITC up by 1.09%, Infosys up by 0.87% and BHEL up 0.84% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Tata Motors down 1.30%, Gail India down 1.17%, SBI down 0.92%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.27% and TCS down 0.22% were the major losers on the index.

Meanwhile, Indian economy appears to be on a revival path with the new finance minister and the present Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the helm of affairs following the resignation of ex-finance minister Pranab Mukherjee who is tipped to be the front runner in the race to become the country's president. The new finance minister called upon a meeting with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan and senior officials from the Finance Ministry after taking over the Finance portfolio and showed his intent to revitalize Asia's third largest economy by initiating urgent steps to reverse the climate of pessimism with re-generation of animal spirit.

Manmohan Singh acknowledged that at the current juncture, India is passing through challenging times economically as growth rate has been deteriorating, the industrial production remains abysmal, investment climate too looks relatively unattractive while inflation also continues to be a problem. But, emphasizing that reviving investor sentiment was his top priority, he opined that government needs to work towards making India resilient in meeting external as well as internal challenges to get the economy going again and restart the India growth story.

The finance minister also voiced his concerns over the external factors and the way the exchange rate has behaved and also over the drying capital flows. While, he highlighted that there have been various challenges that have contributed to the general negative mood, Manmohan Singh advocated the idea of addressing problems on the tax front and he also called for solving problems faced by the Mutual Funds and Insurance sectors.

The finance minister is also scheduled to meet Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao and Planning Commission members on June 28, 2012 as part of his review of affairs concerning the economy. 

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,150.55, higher by 8.65 points or 0.17% after trading as high as 5,159.00 and as low as 5,145.75. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declines and one remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Siemens up by 1.67%, NTPC up by 1.55%, JP Associates up 1.51%, Tata Power up by 1.48% and Ambuja Cement up 1.38%.

Axis Bank down 2.84%, HCL Technologies down by 1.88%, IDFC down 1.82%, Gail India down 1.40% and Tata Motors down 1.38% were the major losers on the index.

In the Asian space, Hang Seng rose 0.04%, Nikkei 225 surged 1.65%, Straits Times Index climbed 0.66% and KOSPI Composite Index inched up 0.08%. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite eased 0.57% Jakarta Composite shed 0.31%, KLSE Composite fell 0.34% and Taiwan Weighted down 0.19%.

European shares after opening positive adopted to cautious stance, DAX gained 0.06%, FTSE 100 lost 0.07% and CAC40 decline 0.25%.

MODERATE GAINS

Stock markets in India continue to trade with a positive bias in an extremely tight range in mid-morning trades on Thursday as the frontline equity indices rose by around a quarter percent. The benchmark indices were holding on to the psychological 17,000 (Sensex) and 5,150 (Nifty) levels but showed little signs of moving significantly higher from those levels. Market participants remained reluctant to open fresh positions ahead of the important Euro-Zone leaders' Summit since the pressure on Euro-zone leaders intensified amid speculations that Spain is sliding closer to a bailout as the region's recession deepens and government faces unsustainable cost of debt refinancing. Barring the Japanese markets which traded with over a percent gains, most equity indices in Asia traded in close proximity with their previous closing levels. Moreover, the encouraging US economic reports which showed long-lasting US manufactured goods demand rebounded in May and a gauge of business spending plans increased went on to temper concerns that a European summit would do little to solve the region's debt crisis. On the domestic front, sentiments were supported by India's new Finance Minister and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that he has directed urgent steps to reverse the climate of pessimism and revive the animal spirit. Moreover, cues from the money market remained supportive as the Indian rupee snapped its streak of depreciation against the dollar and appreciated to the 57 mark against the US dollar. On the BSE sectoral space, the Power pocket climbed over three fourth of a percent and remained the top gainer in the space followed by the PSU and Capital Goods pockets  which traded with gains of over half a percent. However, investors were seen booking mild profits in the rate sensitive Auto and Bankex counters which slipped marginally.

Moreover, the broader markets too traded on a positive note with moderate gains of around half a percent, performing relatively better than their larger peers. The bourses advanced on good volumes on the June series Futures and Options contract expiry day while the market breadth on BSE was in favor of advances in the ratio of 1268:732 while 109 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,010.75 up by 42.99 points or 0.25% after trading as high as 17,023.64 and as low as 16,982.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading on a positive note; the BSE Mid cap index advanced 0.51% and Small cap index added 0.47%.

On the BSE sectoral space, Power up 0.78%, PSU up 0.52%, Capital Goods up 0.52%, Metal up 0.51% and Consumer Durables up 0.35% were the major gainers, while Auto down 0.13% and Bankex down 0.06% were the only laggards in the space.

Tata Power up 1.79%, NTPC up 1.42%, Infosys up 0.99%, Jindal Steel up 0.95% and Coal India up 0.89% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Tata Motors down 1.32%, TCS down 0.46%, Wipro down 0.46%, HDFC Bank down 0.37% and Bajaj Auto down 0.28% were the major losers in the index.

Meanwhile, Indian economy appears to be on a revival path with the new finance minister and the present Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the helm of affairs following the resignation of ex-finance minister Pranab Mukherjee who is tipped to be the front runner in the race to become the country's president. The new finance minister called upon a meeting with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan and senior officials from the Finance Ministry after taking over the Finance portfolio and showed his intent to revitalize Asia's third largest economy by initiating urgent steps to reverse the climate of pessimism with re-generation of animal spirit.

Manmohan Singh acknowledged that at the current juncture, India is passing through challenging times economically as growth rate has been deteriorating, the industrial production remains abysmal, investment climate too looks relatively unattractive while inflation also continues to be a problem. But, emphasizing that reviving investor sentiment was his top priority, he opined that government needs to work towards making India resilient in meeting external as well as internal challenges to get the economy going again and restart the India growth story.

The finance minister also voiced his concerns over the external factors and the way the exchange rate has behaved and also over the drying capital flows. While, he highlighted that there have been various challenges that have contributed to the general negative mood, Manmohan Singh advocated the idea of addressing problems on the tax front and he also called for solving problems faced by the Mutual Funds and Insurance sectors.

The finance minister is also scheduled to meet Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao and Planning Commission members on June 28, 2012 as part of his review of affairs concerning the economy.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,154.05, higher by 12.15 points or 0.24% after trading as high as 5,157.35 and as low as 5,145.75. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Tata Power up 1.48%, NTPC up 1.42%, Siemens up 1.34%, JP Associates up 1.22% and Grasim up 1.15%.

Tata Motors down 1.46%, HCL Tech down 1.44%, IDFC down 1.30%, Axis Bank down 1.30% and R Infra down 0.84% were the major losers on the index.

In the Asian space, Hang Seng rose 0.25%, Nikkei 225 surged 1.31%, Straits Times Index climbed 0.64%, KOSPI Composite Index inched up 0.08%and Taiwan Weighted rose 0.20%.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite eased 0.03% Jakarta Composite shed 0.27% and KLSE Composite fell 0.32%.

FLAT AGAIN

Key domestic bourses have opened flat for third consecutive session on Thursday as investors remained on the sideline ahead of the June F&O series expiry. Globally, investors remained cautious ahead of European Union summit scheduled for June 28-29 in Brussels. The US markets ended higher overnight on getting upbeat economic data and rising oil prices while, Asian markets is exhibiting mixed trends at this point of time with most markets hardly budging from their previous closing levels. Back home, Sensex and Nifty recaptured their crucial 17,000 mark and 5,150 mark respectively. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee too has been moving around the 57 mark against the US dollar despite the announcement of measures to cap rupee's slide by the Reserve Bank of India. Power witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by capital goods and metal while technology remained the lone loser on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were also trading with great traction. Meanwhile, Power stocks continued to witness buying consecutively for the second day. Stocks like Lanco Infra, Torrent Power and Tata Power rallied in the early trade after Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission hiked power tariffs in Delhi that would be effective from July 1. Domestic prices went up by 24% and commercial prices up by 19.5%. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 974 shares on the gaining side against 411 shares on the losing side while 78 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 16,985.58; about 18 points higher compared to its previous closing of 16,967.76, and has touched a high and a low of 17,023.64 and 16,982.85 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 17,016.91, up by 49.15 points or 0.29%. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 66.58% stocks advancing against 28.09% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices rose 0.59% and 0.51% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 0.95%, CG up by 0.66%, Metal up by 0.59%, PSU up by 0.58% and Realty up by 0.44%. While, IT down by 0.04% remained the lone loser on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.81%, Tata Motors up by 1.69%, ICICI Bank up by 0.98%, Sterlite Industries up by 0.90% and L&T up by 0.82%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 0.84%, Wipro down by 0.54%, TCS down by 0.52%, GAIL down by 0.45% and Sun Pharma down by 0.38% remained the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, looking at the poor monetary and fiscal policy of the government, Nomura has cut India's economic growth forecast to 5.8 percent from 6.7 percent; this comes as a result of weak market conditions and lack of government initiative. It has also reduced India's GDP forecast to 6.6 percent in 2013-14 from 6.9 percent earlier. The government is targeting a GDP growth rate at about 7.6 percent is this fiscal year. India's economic growth rate has slowed down to 6.5 in 2011-12 from that of 8.4 percent in the last two fiscals, as India's monetary and fiscal policy are stagnant and in doldrums. Due to persistent high inflation the government has not been able to cut interest rates, which has affected the liquidity situation in the economy.

Nomura further opined that the longer Asia's third largest economy stays in current crisis amid lack of reforms the government will have to employ even bigger measures to get the economy back on the higher growth trajectory. The Japanese brokerage firm has upwardly revised its wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation forecast to 7.6 percent in the current fiscal from the previous fiscal of 7.1 percent due to high food prices and depreciation of rupee.

It also revised upward India's fiscal deficit to 5.8 percent of GDP in the current fiscal from 5.2 percent earlier. The government is trying to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5.1 percent in the year 2012-13 from 5.8 percent in the previous fiscal year. Nomura's decision to cut India's growth forecast comes after credit rating agency Moody retained a stable rating on India.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,148.95; about 7 points higher compared to its previous closing of 5,141.90, and has touched a high and a low of 5,157.35 and 5,145.75 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,156.05, higher by 14.15 points or 0.28%. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were NTPC up by 1.68%, Siemens up by 1.63%, Tata Power up by 1.43%, JP Associates up by 1.37% and ICICI Bank up by 1.11%.

On the flip side, IDFC down by 1.77%, Axis Bank down by 1.40%, HCL Tech down by 1.18%, Tata Motors down by 0.84% and TCS down by 0.54% remained the top losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading on a mixed note; Hang Seng Index rose 37.00 points or 0.19% to 19,213.95, Nikkei 225 surged 79.72 points or 0.91% to 8,810.21, Straits Times Index gained 6.25 points or 0.22% to 2,847.85 and Taiwan Weighted added 2.78 points or 0.18% to 7,195.79.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite eased 1.55 points or 0.07% to 2,215.38, Jakarta Composite declined 9.28 points or 0.24% to 3,925.59, KLSE Composite shed 6.95 points or 0.43% to 1,594.94 and KOSPI Composite Index fell 3.55 points or 0.20% to 1,814.10.

SUSTAINING GAINS

Indian equity markets sustaining their early gains continued to trade in fine fettle supported by the stocks belonging from the Power, Bankex and Metal counters. Increased buying by funds and retail investors amid covering-up of short positions by speculators on the penultimate day of June month's F&O expiry, also spurred gains in local equity markets. Additionally, gains of regional counterparts, also added to the vigour of the bourses. 30 scrip sensitive index, Sensex, capturing gains of over 0.50%, was at a striking distance of 17,000 mark, while the 50 share widely followed index, Nifty, too amassing gains of similar magnitude, neared the 5150 psychological level. Meanwhile, the broader indices continued to deliver performance at par with the frontline indices. Sanguinity in the equity markets was also led by stocks of Reliance Infrastructure and Tata Power, which rallied in the early trade after Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission hiked power tariffs in Delhi that would be effective from July 1, 2012.

On the global front, Asian stocks were trading buoyant for the first time in five days amid speculation China will add to economic stimulus. The China Securities Journal said the country may introduce "more proactive" policies to ensure stable growth in the world's second-largest economy, while the Xinhua News Agency said China is planning measures to boost cooperation with Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the US future indices, continued to showcase mixed trend on the screen trade.

Closer home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 16,993.80, up by 87.22 points or 0.52%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,029.27 and 16,975.76 respectively.   There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 declines on the index. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1407:585, while 94 shares remained unchanged.

The broader indices continued to deliver performance at par with the frontline indices; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged by 0.57% and 0.55% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Power up by 1.14%, Bankex up by 0.88%, Metal up by 0.86%, Information Technology up by 0.85% and Realty up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Auto down by 0.41%, Consumer Durable down by 0.25%, Oil & Gas down by 0.15% were the laggards of the BSE sectoral chart.

Tata Power up by 2.51%, Hindalco Industries up by 1.78%, ICICI Bank up by 1.56%, NTPC up by 1.53% and Tata Steel up by 1.13% were the top gainers on the index. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.56%, ONGC down by 1.03%, HUL down by 0.32% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.10% were the losers on Sensex.

Meanwhile, a study by industry body Fertilizer Association of India has anticipated that the demand supply gap of urea will rise 11 million tonnes (MT) by 2016-17. Currently, India produces 22 MT tonnes while the consumption is around 28 MT, the shortfall of 6 MT is covered through imports. Thus, it is essential to construct new urea plants which can fill the gap of estimated 11 MT.

Till 2001-02, India had adequate production of the key fertilizer, however, with the rising consumption and lack of major investment, led to the demand-supply gap which is widening now.

In order to infuse more capital in the urea sector considering the high cost of capital, a contributing policy is essential.  According to the planning commission for 12th five year plan (2012-17), India needs to invest Rs 40,000 crores in the sector to increase the production capacity to 33.7 million tonnes by the end of 12th five year plan.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,149.55, higher by 28.75 points or 0.56%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,159.10 and 5,145.65 respectively.  There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.30%, Reliance Infra up by 2.19%, IDFC up by 2.15%,  Hindalco Industries up by 1.87% and ICICI Bank up by 1.55%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.82%, ONGC down by 1.23%, Kotak Bank down by 0.87%, ACC down by 0.62% and BPCL down by 0.45% remained the top losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite gained 0.34%, Hang Seng Index soared 1.10%, Jakarta Composite surged 0.93%, KLSE Composite added 0.47%, Nikkei 225 accumulated 0.34%, Straits Times Index advanced 0.96%, Taiwan Weighted climbed 0.67% and KOSPI Composite Index rose by 0.02%. 

SLENDER GAINS

After slipping off in the red terrain in the early deals, barometer gauges have now managed to squeeze out slender gains as market-men shopped for fundamentally strong blue chip stocks that have bought some sort of relief in otherwise ailing Indian equity markets which have termed RBI's latest action a damp squib. 30 scrip sensitive index, Sensex, shaving off all the losses, is currently trading in proximity to its neutral line. Meanwhile, the widely followed index, Nifty, on NSE too knocking off all the losses, is trading flat near the 5110 level. Conversely broader indices, have trimmed substantial gains. Increasing skepticism around the European Union summit that is scheduled for June 28-29 in Brussels, is mainly keeping the markets around the globe jittery. Asian markets were marginally lower today after Cyprus, third smallest economy in Eurozone, also joined the bailout queue and announced intention to request for funding. Cyprus is the fifth country after Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain to seek refuge. Meanwhile, the US future indices continued to show an uptick in the screen trade.

Closer home, stocks from Oil & Gas, defensive Health Care and Rate Sensitive counter, have slug hard for the optimism, however, stocks from FMCG, Metal and Information Technology are keeping a lid on the gains of the bourses. Depreciation of Rupee again past '57/$' psychological level is mainly keeping the markets in a jinx. Sectorally, Oil & Gas gauge is the star performer amongst the 13 sectoral indices, on account of dwindling brent crude prices and on the hopes that Government will now be ready to bite the bullet of diesel price hike. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1054:892, while 127 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex, after touching a high and low of 16,908.54 and 16,841.13 respectively, is currently trading marginally up by 3.52 points or 0.02% at 16,885.68. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declining one's on the index.

Conversely, broader indices pared gains; BSE Mid cap index gained 0.26%, while Small cap index was holding up in green by 0.03%.

Oil & Gas up by 0.62%, Health Care up by 0.54%, Bankex up by 0.46%, Power up by 0.45% and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) up by 0.45% were the top gaining sectoral indices on 30 scrip sensitive index of BSE, Sensex. On the flip side, Fast Moving Consumer Goods down by 0.66%, Metal down by 0.46%, Information Technology down by 0.22%, Technology down by 0.16% and Consumer Durable down by 0.08% remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral chart.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Gail India up by 1.66%, Tata Power up by 1.65%, TCS up by 1.43%, ONGC up by 1.41% and Dr Reddy's Lab up by 1.29%.

On the flip side, HUL down by 1.49%, Infosys down by 1.35%, Sterlite Industries down by 1.31%, Tata Steel down by 1.22% and ITC down by 0.74% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, after the government's much hyped measures to boost foreign investments disappointed both markets and corporate and even failed to arrest slide in rupee, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia vowed that more such measures are in the offing to revive growth momentum and boost inflow of foreign funds. Apart from what has also been already announced, the government is working on other set of measures particularly, on implementation of large projects on which the Prime Minister has set up new mechanism to move things faster.

In a bid to boost Indian economy in the back drop of rupee depreciation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and has enhanced foreign institutional investors (FIIs) investment caps in corporate bonds. The central bank also increased existing limit for investment in Government securities (G-Secs) by SEBI registered FIIs to $20 billion. It has allowed Indian companies in sectors of manufacturing, infrastructure and others having foreign exchange earnings to avail ECBs upto a limit of $10 billion.

The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman commending RBI's efforts stated that they are encouraging basically the larger flow of resources and also affirmed that it is certainly a step in the right direction. He also went on to rebuff the criticism that the measures were not enough as the markets did not react positively and rupee slid further immediately after the measures were announced by the RBI. The BSE benchmark index Sensex, after surging to highest levels in around seven weeks high, sank by over 90 points post the announcement of RBI measures while the rupee which opened at 56.44, depreciated to 57.92 against a dollar immediately after the measures were announced.

On the recent disappointing performance of Indian currency, he said though the rupee has depreciated a lot, this has been a year in which currencies everywhere in the world are highly unstable. But he exuded confidence in the underline strength of the Indian economy and was hopeful that Asia's third largest economy would come back to high growth trajectory.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,117.10, up by 2.45 points or 0.05%. The index touched a high and low of 5,124.85 and 5,102.30 respectively. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 1.81%, ONGC up by 1.71%, Gail India up by 1.48%, TCS and HDFC Bank was up by 1.41%.

On the flip side, SAIL down by 1.72%, HCL Technologies down by 1.56%, HUL down by 1.49%, Infosys down by 1.36% and Asian Paints down by 1.35%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity markets were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite declined 0.49%, KLSE Composite dropped 0.30%, Nikkei plunged 0.75%, Strait Times slid 0.28%, Kospi Composite Index shed 0.27% and Taiwan Weighted lost 0.43%, Hang Seng contracted 0.13%.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite up by 0.25% was the lone gainer amongst the Asian pack. 

MARKETS TRADE FLAT

After witnessing downfall in previous session, domestic benchmarks have opened on a flat note tracking subdued global cues. US stocks fell sharply overnight as investors saw little reason to be optimistic about a European Union summit this week while, most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red at this point of time after Spain lost hope of getting help from the European Leaders in the upcoming summit in Brussels to protect its banks and investors. Back home, on the sectoral front, healthcare, realty and oil & gas remained the top gainers while, fast moving consumer goods, capital goods and metal remained the major loser on the BSE sectoral indices. Meanwhile, IT stocks continued to underperform the broader markets. Infosys, HCL Tech and Wipro were among the laggards on the Nifty index. IT stocks have been out of favour over the uncertainty in the direction of the rupee and the global macro environment. However, Cement stocks like Ambuja Cements, Ultratech Cements and ACC have bounced back after the adverse order by CCI. Moreover, the broader indices too were outperforming benchmarks. The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 799 shares on the gaining side against 521 shares on the losing side while 73 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 16,873.09; about 9 points lower compared to its previous closing of 16,882.16, and has touched a high and a low of 16,908.54 and 16,857.00 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 16,864.89, down by 17.27 points or 0.10%. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 57.36% stocks advancing against 37.40% declines. The broader indices were outperforming benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices surged 0.23% and 0.14% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, HC up by 0.44%, Realty up by 0.37%, Oil and Gas up by 0.30%, Power up by 0.21% and PSU up by 0.17%. While, FMCG down by 0.69%, CG down by 0.32%, Metal down by 0.31%, IT down by 0.08% and Bankex down by 0.07% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 1.54%, Jindal Steel up by 1.12%, Dr Reddy up by 1.11%, TCS up by 0.95% and Sun Pharma up by 0.76%.

On the flip side, HUL was down by 1.33%, Tata Steel was down by 1.29%, ITC was down by 0.88%, Infosys was down by 0.68% and Hindalco was down by 0.48% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a bid to boost Indian economy in the back drop of rupee depreciation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and has enhanced foreign institutional investors (FIIs) investment caps in corporate bonds.

The Reserve bank has increased existing limit for investment in Government securities (G-Secs) by SEBI registered FIIs to $20 billion. It has allowed Indian companies in sectors of manufacturing, infrastructure and others having foreign exchange earnings to avail ECBs upto a limit of $10 billion.

The central bank has decided to allow long term investors like Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), multilateral agencies, endowment funds, insurance funds, pension funds and foreign central banks to be registered with SEBI, as to invest in G-Secs for the entire limit of $20 billion. The lock-in period and residual maturity for FII investment in infrastructure debt and the scheme for non-resident investment in Infrastructure Development Funds (IDFs) have been further rationalized.

Further, Qualified Foreign Investors (QFIs) has been allowed to invest in mutual fund (MF) schemes that hold at least 25% of their assets in infrastructure sector under the current $3 billion sub-limit for investment in mutual funds related to infrastructure.

The S&P CNX Nifty opened at 5,107.45; about 7 points lower compared to its previous closing of 5,114.65, and has touched a high of 5,124.85 while low remain its opening.

The index is currently trading at 5,110.70, down by 3.95 points or 0.08%. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Grasim up by 1.59%, Tata Power up by 1.49%, Jindal Steel up by 1.14%, TCS up by 0.95% and Sun Pharma up by 0.92%.

On the flip side, SAIL down by 1.67%, Tata Steel down by 1.39%, HUL down by 1.22%, ITC down by 0.88% and Hindalco down by 0.77%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity markets were trading in the red; Shanghai Composite was down by 15.63 points or 0.70 percent to 2208.48, KLSA Composite slide by 3.06 point or 0.19 percent 1600.15, Nikkei dipped by 66.67 point or 0.76 percent to 8668.06, Strait Times declined by 6.47 point or 0.23 percent to 2809.12, Kospi Composite Index shed by 3.80 points or 0.22 percent to 1821.47 and Taiwan Weighted plummeted 39.69 points or 0.56 percent to 7126.96.

On the flip side, Hang Seng Index managed to rally as compared to its Asian Counterparts and was up by 21.25 point or 0.11 per cent to 18918.70 while, Jakarta Composite up by 12.85 points or 0.33% to 3,870.44. 

FIRM & STEADY

Indian equity markets pared some gains but continued to outperform its Asian peers amid expectation that the government's new motivational measures to be announced today will boost the currency and economy. However, rating agency Moody's stable outlook on India's sovereign rating also supported markets to a great extend. In currency markets, rupee rebounded against American currency on the back of positive expectations from RBI intervention. On sectoral front rate sensitive stocks like banking, realty and automobile were trading notably higher. Capital goods, metal and power stocks were also mostly up in positive territory, while information technology stocks were mostly subdued. On the global front, Asian shares traded lower despite gains on the Wall Street on Friday and ahead of EU summit later this week. Back home, the market breadth favoring positive trend; there were 1,675 shares on the gaining side against 705 shares on the losing side while 88 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,080.26, up by 107.75 points or 0.63%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,131.15 and 17,023.06 respectively. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 declining ones on the index. 

The broader indices continued to outclass larger peers; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were trading higher by 0.83% and 0.96% respectively.

Realty up by 1.30%, Consumer Durable up by 1.09%, Capital goods up by 1.03%, Auto up by 1.00% and Bankex up by 0.98% were the top gaining sectoral index on the BSE, while Information Technology down by 0.16%, was the lone loser on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Gail India up by 2.30%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.98%, Tata Power up by 1.59%, ICICI Bank up by 1.45% and Tata Motors up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Hindalco Industries down by 0.38%, TCS down 0.34%, Infosys down 0.18% and ONGC down by 0.16% were top losers amongst the 30 scrip sensitive pack.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is front runner in the race for becoming the next President of India, opined that the government is likely to come up with a host of measures to bolster market conditions. The finance minister stated that there are various steps that have been taken already and the government will be announcing further measures on June 25, 2012 to boost the wilting economic sentiment.

On growing economic growth concerns, the finance minister admitted that the gross domestic product (GDP) is showing signs of weakness but he remained confident that the economy will bounce back and sentiments would turnaround once government's measures are implemented. The government is also likely to come out with measures to revive investor confidence and check fiscal deficit and current account deficit.

The government is also likely to announce measures to rein in the beleaguered rupee's depreciating streak. The Indian currency, which has been Asia's worst performing currency, touched its historical lows of 57.31 against the American dollar on June 22, 2012. Expressing worries over sharp depreciation in rupee and inflationary pressures, Pranab Mukherjee explained that at a time when the global economy is in turmoil, no country including a large economy like India can anticipate that there will be pocket of development. He further stated that the third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity cannot remain insulated from adverse external factors.

With rupee losing over 20 percent against the US dollar in the last one year, it is expected that the Finance Ministry along with Reserve Bank of India would resort to measures like refinancing exporters via foreign currency and an interest rate subvention. Besides the deposit program, relaxing limits on foreign investment could also be considered by the government to halt the currency's downslide.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,179.85, higher by 33.80 points or 0.66%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,194.60 and 5,158.45 respectively. There were 40 stocks advancing against 10 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Cairn up by 2.28%, GAIL up by 2.19%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.06%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.89% and IDFC up by 1.75%.

On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 0.84%, BPCL down by 0.66%, Hindalco Industries down by 0.43%, Asian Paints down by 0.42% and TCS down by 0.24%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the red. Nikkei fell by 0.66%, South Korea's Kospi shed 1.19%, Straits Times declined 0.30%, Jakarta Composite dropped 0.06%, Shanghai Composite lost 0.91%, Taiwan Weighted skid 0.77% and Hang Seng index down by 0.07%.

KLSE composite gained 0.16% was the only gainer amongst the Asian pack.