MARKET SLIPS IN RED

Giving up all the gains, barometer gauges have suddenly ran out of their breath after the announcement of Union Budget 2013-14, lacking any big-bang announcements the budget failed to enthuse investor which had hoped big from the Finance Minister, P Chidambaram. The markets apparently had already factored in the good news of the economy being able to contain the fiscal deficit at 5.2% of the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) or 2012-13 and failed to find any further cues to hinge on. Thus sliding to intra-day's low. Benchmark 30 share index, Sensex, declined over 3/4 of a percent,to trade below the 19100 level. Likewise, Nifty too enticing losses was trading sub 5800 mark.

Budget brought some good news for textile stocks and Arvind and  Alok Industries,gained momentum after FM proposed Rs 2,400 crore for textile technology up-gradation. Additionally, Education stocks too hogged limie light after Chidambaram proposed to allocated Rs 65,877 crore to Education sector; representing 17% hike from 2013. The overall market breadth on BSE still remains in the favour of declines which have thumped advances in the ratio of 1160:1281, while 99 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19069.20, down by 83.21 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 19322.28 and 19028.03. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.23% and Small cap index was up by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Realty up by 0.57%, TECk up by 0.24%, IT up by 0.17%, Consumer Durables up 0.15% and Capital Goods up by 0.07%, while Bankex down by 0.96%, Auto down by 0.74%, Oil & Gas down by 0.63%, Metal down by 0.48% and PSU down by 0.36% were the few losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 2.62%, HDFC Bank up by 1.42%, Wipro up by 1.17%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.14% and Sun Pharma up by 0.79%.

On the flip side, ICICI Bank was down by 2.56%, Maruti Suzuki was down by 2.42%, SBI was down by 1.84%, Jindal Steel was down by 1.09% and Tata Steel was down by 1.07%  were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, with the level of bilateral trade and investment between India and Russia remaining below its potential, President Pranab Mukherjee has called upon the two countries to make concerted efforts to take their two-way trade to $20 billion by 2015. 

Mukherjee, who met a parliamentary delegation from the Russian Federation on February 25, said that India-Russia ties were strong in diverse areas such as energy, defence, space, trade and economics, science and technology, culture and people-to-people ties, but the level of bilateral trade and investment, however, remained below potential.

He stated that Russia is a key partner and friend of India for many decades and that the India-Russia privileged strategic partnership was a unique and multi-dimensional relationship, characterized by stability and warmth. By adding further he said, that Russia remains a key priority for India's foreign policy and the India-Russia Strategic Partnership reflects its remarkable convergence of interests in bilateral spheres as well as on the global stage.

He said, 'India would like to see greater parliamentary exchanges between our parliaments at all levels. Frequent exchanges between the federal legislatures of both the countries can add another dimension to our vibrant and dynamic relationship.' Frequent exchanges between the federal legislatures of both the countries can add another dimension to our vibrant and dynamic relationship.

Even, the leader of the Russian parliamentary delegation, Matvienko said that India would remain a reliable and true friend of Russia, and the bilateral relations between these two countries had stood the test of time.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,784.70 down by 12.20 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 5,849.90 and 5,756.40. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Coal India up by 2.73%, DLF up by 1.93%, HDFC Bank up by 1.65%, Wipro up by 1.25% and Asian Paint up by 1.19%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.84%, ICICI Bank down by 2.51%, Punjab National Bank down by 2.39%, BPCL down by 2.24% and Lupin down by 1.97% were the major losers on the index.

All of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite surged 2.14%, Hang Seng soared 1.57%, Jakarta Composite strengthened 1.31%, KLSE Composite rose 0.38%, Nikkei 225 zoomed 2.71%, Straits Times added 0.31%, KOSPI Composite increased 1.12% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.22%.