MARKETS REMAIN ON SIDELINES

Indian stock markets once again snapped the session on a dull note, marginally below the neutral line as investors remained on the sidelines amid absence of major triggers. The session largely remained characterized by choppiness as the aimless indices moved only sideways in a tight band. Unexciting leads from across the globe coupled with crude hovering at elevated levels restricted investors from opening long positions in blue chip stocks. But consistent foreign fund inflow, second consecutive drop in India's weekly food inflation numbers and expectations of upbeat quarterly earnings performances by heavyweights companies in fourth quarter limited the downside risks for the frontline indices. Meanwhile, broader markets once again showcased a boisterous performance by outclassing their larger peers by a big margin as investors carried forward their value hunting in beaten down shares from the midcap and small cap space. The NSE's 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, settled with minor losses below the crucial 5,900 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex too slipped below the psychological 19,600 mark. The broader indices continued to hog the limelight as the BSE Midcap Index went home with gains of 0.98% as it moved higher for the 14th successive day while the Smallcap Index surged 1.25% and extended the gaining streak for the seventh consecutive session. On the sectoral front, the Realty pocket grabbed the top gainer's position after amassing 1.12% as majors like Unitech and Indiabulls Real Estate garnered 5.08% and 2.98% respectively. The Capital Goods counter too witnessed buying interests and advanced 0.53% on the back of gains in stocks like Suzlon Energy and L&T which added 1.04% and 0.71%. On the other hand, BSE's IT counter shed 0.71% amid concerns of stronger rupee as it would dampen the earnings of major software exporting companies. IT bellwethers like TCS and Infosys sank 2% and 0.71% respectively. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries too failed to make its presence felt in the session as it slipped by 0.35% by the end of trade. Individually, NTPC which shaved off 3.13% in the session after surging 1.78% on Wednesday, along with nasty cuts in the range of 2% - 3% in shares like Sesa Goa, ONGC and Cairn.

On the global front, majority of Asian equity indices finished the day's trade in the positive terrain with Malaysian benchmark KLSE Composite being the top gainer in the space after rising around half a percent, while most other indices ended on flat to positive note. The European markets began on a flat note with positive bias and the France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE are currently trading on a mixed note. On the other hand, the screen trading for US index futures indicated that the Dow could open on a quiet note.

Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark started the day on an absolutely flat note since leads from the Asian markets were mixed as cautious investors remained on the sidelines seeing the modest rise in overnight Wall Street as concerns over spiraling crude oil prices loomed large. The indices continued to trade on a somber note through the first half but made a desperate attempt to rise above the neutral line in afternoon session tracking the positive opening of the European peers. However, the indices soon drifted into the red zone after touching the highpoint of the day in the mid afternoon session as cautious investors chose to book profits at higher levels. Finally, the bourses failed to keep their head above the water for yet another session and settled with marginal losses below the psychological 5,900 and 19,600 levels. Markets registered tepid volumes of over Rs 0.90 lakh crore compared to Wednesday while the turnover for NSE F&O segment too remained lower at over Rs 0.74 lakh crore. Market breadth remained extremely positive as there were 1912 shares on the gaining side against 1020 shares on the losing side while 100 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 21.02 points or 0.11% to settle at 19,591.18 while the S&P CNX Nifty slipped by 6.05 points or 0.10% to end at 5,885.70.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 19,665.09 and 19,537.02 respectively. The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices gained by 0.98% and 1.25%, respectively. 

HDFC up 2.31%, Hindalco Industries up 1.79%, Wipro up 1.21%, Bharti Airtel up 0.92% and Tata Power up 0.92% were the major gainers on the Sensex.

On the flip side, NTPC down 2.61%, ONGC down 2.10%, TCS down 2.00%, Maruti Suzuki down 1.20% and Sterlite Industries down 1.16% were the Major losers on the index.

As the global economy continue its recovery, demand for the Indian textile industry is also increasing from the rich world. The impact is clearly visible on the battered apparel sector which is finally beginning to see some strong growth. According to the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), in the month of February 2011, total apparel exports have increased by 21.5%.

The data compiled by AEPC showed that apparel exports in Feb 2011 stood at Rs 5,284 crore compared with Rs 4,346 crore worth exports seen in the same month of last year. There was an improvement on sequential or month-on-month basis as well with exports in Feb 2010 increasing by 1.6% from exports worth Rs 5,193 crore seen in the previous month.

On a cumulative basis, however, the exports over April-February 2011 period continue to be in the red. India has exported apparels worth Rs 45,081 crore in the first eleven months of the fiscal, down nearly 2.25% as compared with exports worth Rs 46,120 crore in the same period of previous fiscal. The decline mainly represents sharp downturn in apparel exports seen in early months of the fiscal.

In dollar terms, exports have grown by 1.6% on sequential basis and nearly 24% on annual basis to touch $1,163 million in Feb 2011.  On cumulative basis, exports in Apr-Feb 2011 stood at $9,883 million, recording a positive growth of 2.04% compared with same period of last fiscal. Better growth performance in dollar terms is mainly because of appreciation in Indian currency over the period under review. However, AEPC point out that since costs of Indian shippers are denominated in rupees, it is the returns in local currency that finally matter to them.

Textile exports had witnessed very strong growth in the three fiscals preceding the global economic crisis (FY05-FY08), but the growth slowed down sharply in FY09 as the industry struggled with surging commodity prices in the first half of the fiscal and global economic crisis in the second half. Things remained poor in FY10 as well and a string recovery started gathering momentum by middle of the last fiscal only on gradual improvement in demand from key export destinations including Europe and US. Most analysts though believe now that if there are no negative surprises on global economy front apparel exports will continue exhibiting a positive trend going forward.

Realty up 1.12%, Capital Goods up 0.53%, Health Care up 0.42%, Bankex up 0.25%, and Metal up 0.14% were the major gainers in the BSE sectoral space. IT down 0.71%, Oil & Gas down 0.49%, TECk down 0.42% and PSU down 0.31% and Consumer Durables (CD) down 0.20 were the major losers in the BSE sectoral space.

The S&P CNX Nifty touched a high and a low of 5,906.10 and 5,866.25 respectively.

The top gainers on the Nifty were HDFC up 2.44%, BPCL up 1.82%, Hindalco up 1.55%, Wipro up 1.51% and HCL Tech up 1.47%.

The top losers on the index were NTPC down 3.13%, Sesa Goa down 3.09%, ONGC down 2.16%, Cairn down 1.93% and TCS down 1.89%.

India's telecom industry continues to add subscriber numbers at a scorching pace notwithstanding the ongoing controversies relating to 2G spectrum issue. According to the latest data released by the telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI), the industry added 20.2 million new subscribers in February. 

Total mobile subscriber base increased to 791.38 million at the end of February from 771.18 million in the preceding month, said the TRAI in a press release on Wednesday. On a month on month basis, the growth rate of subscribers stood at 2.62%, which also means that India continues to remain the fastest growing market for wireless telecom business.

Looking at the cross section trends, the growth in the wireless category was led by Vodafone which added 3.5 million users, taking its total subscriber base to 130.92 million by end of February 2011. Reliance Communications followed closely and added 3.3 million customers taking its total subscriber base to 132.18 million. Market leader Bharti Airtel also added 3.2 million new subscribers, taking its user base to 158.99 million.

Among the rest, Idea Cellular and Aircel added 2.5 million and 1.66 million users respectively. The total subscriber base of two companies now stands at 86.80 million 53.60 million respectively. Tata Teleservices added 1.6 million users in the month under review taking its total subscriber base to 87.65million. State-controlled BSNL and MTNL respectively added 1.4 million and 22,532 new subscribers in February.

Wireline category however continued to see a negative growth with its total subscriber base declining to 34.87 million at the end of February from 34.94 million in the previous month. Total telephone subscriber number (wireless and wireline) as a result reached 826.25 million. With the latest addition, the overall tele-density or number of telephones subscribers per 100 people in the country increased to 69.29%.

European markets were trading in red on Wednesday. France's CAC 40 slipped by 0.05%, Germany's DAX was down by 0.25% and Britain's FTSE 100 declined by 0.21%.

Most of the Asian equity indices finished the day's trade in the positive terrain on Thursday. Chinese main stock index closed nearly five-month high, supported by strength in cement companies shares on expectations of strong earnings in the first quarter while, Japanese Nikkei pared most of its early gains and ended on a flat note as yen climbed for the first time in 11 days versus the dollar after Bank of Japan cut its assessment of the economy following the nation's record earthquake and before the European Central Bank decides on interest rates today. Moreover, Korean stocks ended lower Thursday after technology major Samsung Electronics Co. provided weak earnings guidance.