CAUTIOUS MARKETS

Trade has turned choppy for the domestic markets and the local bourses that were showing a sign of recovery after a weak start have once again pared almost all their gains. Though all the regional peers, barring Shanghai Composite was trading in green but the domestic investors' mood has turned cautious due to mixed earnings announcement and the F&O series expiry later in the week. Oil & Gas sector remains the laggard of the trade weighed by the decline in the sectors heavyweight Reliance and drop in PSU oil marketing companies. Though, Consumer durables and the IT sector stocks are slightly supporting the markets. The broader markets are outperforming the benchmarks, trading higher by over a quarter percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,604.84, up by 2.61 points or 0.01%.  The index has touched a high and a low of 19,697.49 and 19,531.34 respectively.  There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices gained 0.26% and 0.48% respectively. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, CD up by 0.89%, IT up by 0.57%, FMCG up by 0.56%, PSU up by 0.52% and TECk was up by 0.32%.

On the other hand Oil & Gas down by 1.21%, Realty down by 0.58%, power down by 0.22%, Auto down by 0.13% and Metal down by 0.11% were the top losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.17%, Infosys up by 1.20%, Sterlits Industries up by 1.09%, ONGC up by 1.08%, L&T up by 1.06%.

On the flip side, RIL down by 2.56%, DLF down by 1.44%, Jindal Steel down by 1.15%, JP Associates down by 1.13% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.08% were the top losers on the index.

The Planning Commission of India, top economic strategy maker for the country, has agreed to set the target for growth in Twelfth Five Year Plan somewhere between 9-9.5%, slightly below the earlier talks of 10%, as fiscal consolidation remains key to sustainability and the global scenario too continues to remain somewhat uncertain despite the ongoing recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.

The Planning Commission accepted that in order to boost the growth sustainably to over 9%, further reforms will be required, particularly in governance and in foreign sector.  The manufacturing sector will also require substantial pick up to a pace of growth of 11-12% in order to create greater number of employment opportunities. Foreign direct investment should be promoted to boost capacities in the manufacturing sector and at the same time trade policies should be made simpler and trader friendly.  

"Exclusive manufacturing zones, more liberal foreign direct investment and trade policies together with a better regulatory frame work are among the prescriptions," the Planning Commission said in its presentation to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh while making suggestions for reviving the slowing down manufacturing sector. The Commission said rate of investment should be further boosted to over 40% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in order to sustain a 9% or higher growth. This will again require bringing greater FDI into India despite the fact that the country enjoys a high saving rate of around 33-35%.

"There was general agreement that the Planning Commission should focus on policy and governance reforms, while working towards a growth target of 9.0% to 9.5% for the Twelfth Five Year Plan. We should also set monitorable targets related to different dimensions of inclusiveness, and then work to achieve these targets by appropriate design of policy and funding of Plan schemes," said the Prime Minister in his concluding remarks following the meeting with the Commission.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,879.85, down by 4.85 points or 0.08% and has touched a high and low of 5,906.60 and 5,857.00 respectively. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were HCL tech up by 4.90%, SBI up by 2.02%, PNB up by 1.64%, Ranbaxy up by 1.27% and Kotak Bank was up by 1.21%.

Axis Bank down by 4.86%, Siemens down by 2.77%, Reliance Industries down by 2.46%, DLF down by 1.56% and Jindal Steel down by 1.44%, were the top losers on the index.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; Nikkei 225 gained  0.13%, Straits Times added 0.07%, Seoul Composite zoomed 0.72% and Taiwan Weighted was trading higher by 0.10%.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was trading lower by 0.68%.