MARKETS DRIFT FURTHER

Indian equity markets added losses to continue its weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters and taking cues from European counterpart. The sentiments on the street were on pessimistic note after country's FY12 GDP growth was revised to 6.2 percent from 6.5 percent. The government meanwhile has also pegged FY12 gross domestic savings at 30.8 percent, down from 34 percent earlier. Traders were seen piling some position in Consumer Durables, PSU and Realty sectors while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT and Oil & Gas sectors. The market may remain volatile today as traders may roll over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. January 2013 series to next month i.e. February 2013 series. The January 2013 F&O contracts will expire today i.e. on January 31, 2013.

In the scrip specific movement, Union Bank of India was trading in green after reporting net profit growth of 37.7 percent year-on-year to Rs 302.4 crore in the third quarter of financial year 2012-13, led by lower non-performing assets. The country's second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) reported a forecast beating nearly 14% year-on-year rise in its third quarter net profit at Rs 1,306 crore, aided by lower provisions against bad loans, which in turn sent the stock higher. Jet Airways was trading firm on reports that the much awaited Jet Airways-Etihad deal may happen by tomorrow. Oil India (OIL) was trading in green after the Government of India said that it will sell 6.01 crore shares constituting 10% of the total paid up capital of the company via Offer for Sale (OFS) through the stock exchanges mechanism on Friday, February 1, 2013.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading on a mixed note while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 6,050 and 20,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1159:1470 while 176 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,915.08, down by 89.92 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 20,008.83 and 19,902.49. There were 8 stocks advancing against 21 declines while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in red; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were trading down by 0.03% and 0.26% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables up by 1.07%, PSU up by 0.72%, Realty up by 0.35%, Health Care up by 0.30%, and Power up by 0.12%, while, Metal down by 0.77%, IT down by 0.55%, Oil & Gas down by 0.40%, TECK down by 0.38% and Auto down by 0.20% were the top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.45%, ITC up by 0.77%, Coal India up by 0.76%, Sun Pharma up by 0.72% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Sterlite Industries down by 2.66%, Tata Power down by 2.37%, Wipro down by 1.37%, Reliance Industries down by 1.30% and Jindal Steel down by 1.25% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has urged the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to reconsider the 'unsustainable spectrum prices' for the upcoming spectrum auction. In a letter to Union Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal, COAI has written that at the current prices proposed by the government for 1800 MHz and 900 MHz spectrum would allow only leading players to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction, which is scheduled to be held in March.

As per the COAI, the government has recognized that a high reserve price is the key detrimental factor when revising the reserve price for CDMA operators by 50%. Further, COAI has also stated that this time the government has freedom to slash the GSM reserve prices also which could bring more operators into the auction. Further, this move of the government will also ensure the complete deployment of all available spectrums and continuing competition in the market.

COAI said in its letter that there should be parity between the reserve price for 800MHz and 900MHz bands by slashing the reserve price for 900MHz equal to that of 800 MHz spectrum. Even TRAI has acknowledged parity between CDMA and GSM bands.

Further, it also stated that the licensees coming up for extension in November 2014 cannot be arbitrarily compelled to participate in the forthcoming auction and the government must honour and abide by the provisions for extension as contained in policy and license. Further, to maintain a level playing field and fairness in the auction, it added that this revised price should be extended to all 21 service areas and not just the circles which see no bidders.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,038.15, down by 17.60 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 6,058.05 and 6,034.90. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were PNB up by 7.36%, Bank of Baroda up by 3.20%, BHEL up by 2.82%, Lupin up by 2.16% and DLF up by 1.45%.

On the flip side, Tata Power down by 2.47%, Sesa Goa down by 2.33%, Wipro down by 1.43%, Reliance Industries down by 1.38% and Jindal Steel down by 1.30% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading on a mixed note; Hang Seng lost 0.39%, Jakarta Composite declined 0.21%, Straits Times dipped 0.11% and KOSPI Composite decreased 0.13%.

On the other hand Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.22%, Nikkei 225 up by 0.22%, KLSE Composite edged higher by 0.06% and Shanghai Composite was trading up by 0.12%.

The European markets were trading in red with; France's CAC 40 lost 0.47%, Germany's DAX declined 0.13% while the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 edged lower by 0.23%