MARKETS GETTING WEAKER

Indian equity markets trimmed gains to continue weak trade gyrating around neutral line in late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters. Investors have started eyeing the Budget Session of the Parliament which will commence on February 21, 2013 and is likely to conclude on May 10, 2013 providing further direction to the market. Traders were seen piling some position in Capital Goods, IT and TECk sectors while selling was witnessed in FMCG, Metal and PSU sector. In the scrip specific development, Exide Industries was trading firm on reports that the company will raise prices for replacement auto batteries by 5-6% due to rising input costs. Talwalkar Better Value Fitness is trading in green as the company is looking to set up new recreational clubs for which it is eyeing to tie-up with real estate companies. Jyothy Laboratories was trading in green as the company expects its topline to rise 25% year-on-year in FY2014, as it expands into new geographies and product. Public sector lender Canara Bank was trading in red after the bank's third quarter net profit dropped 19% year-on-year to Rs 710.5 crore, dented by higher provisions.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 5,950 and 19,600 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1061:1576 while 138 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,591.81, up by 11.49 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 19,648.07 and 19,549.13. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices witnessed some selling pressure; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index was down by 0.27% and 0.54% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.21%, Information Technology (IT) up by 1.11%, TECk up by 0.98%, Consumer Durables (CD) up by 0.41% and Power up by 0.35%. While, FMCG down by 0.92%, Metal down by 0.70%, PSU down by 0.51%, Health Care down by 0.37% and Oil & Gas down by 0.31% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.94%, BHEL up by 2.21%, L&T up by 1.81%, NTPC up by 1.42% and HDFC Bank up by 1.26%,.

On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.13%, Sterlite Industries down by 2.15%, Coal India down by 1.86%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.39% and ITC down by 1.18% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the union cabinet has given its approval for the formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project and also permitted public sector natural gas major GAIL India to join the SPV. The four countries involved in the project signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) along with a Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA).

The projected 1,080-km long worth $7.6-billion TAPI project will transport gas from Turkeminstan (144 km in Turkmenistan, 735 km in Afghanistan and 800 km in Pakistan) will have a capacity to transport 90 mmscmd of gas in which 38 mmscmd each are for India and Pakistan and the remaining 14 mmscmd for Afghanistan. However, this 14 mmscmd is now available to India and Pakistan as the Afghanistan has said that it does not require the gas at present, but may approach Turkmenistan in future.

As per the union cabinet statement, TAPl is required to have an initial contribution of $ 20 million that is $5 million from an identified entity from each of the four participating countries, while India's Navratna company, GAIL is empowered to make investment at this project from country side.

In the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) and Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA), a suitable provision for security and safety of the pipeline has been made. The SPV would also take up the feasibility study and design work of the pipeline to meet the agreed timelines, as well as search for a consortium lead. Further, need of an active interest in the project by all the partner countries at this stage has been asked which would sustain the credibility of the project and generate interest in the international market and would also pave the way for selection of an appropriate consortium leader in the future.     

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,932.50, down by 6.30 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 5,953.70 and 5,921.85. There were 18 stocks advancing against 31 declines on the index, while 1 share remains unchanged.

The top gainers of the Nifty were TCS up by 3.06%, BHEL up by 2.31%, L&T up by 1.90%, NTPC up by 1.49% and HDFC Bank up by 1.32%.

On the flip side, Ambuja Cements down by 5.00%, Cipla down by 3.12%, Coal India down by 1.93%, ACC down by 1.81% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.62% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in the green; Shanghai Composite rose 0.57%, Hang Seng increased 0.16%, KLSE Composite added 0.44%, Straits Times jumped advanced 0.31% and KOSPI Composite jumped by 0.99%.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite slipped 0.10% and Nikkei 225 descended by 1.80%. Taiwan Weighted remained shut for the trade today.  

The European markets were trading in green; France's CAC 40 added 0.71%, Germany's DAX rose 0.27% and United Kingdom's FTSE 100 edged higher by 0.47%.