Sensex is still hovering in negative terrain, Aug-14-2009 11:40

The benchmark Sensex is still hovering in the negative terrain on selective profit booking across IT index. After a smart rally in yesterday’s session, the domestic stock market holds back to a bit on concerns of weak monsoon rains and weak Chinese stocks on concerns that this year’ rally has overvalued the prospects for earnings growth, and these put some pressure on the investors’ sentiments. On the economic front, India has signed a trade pact with 10 nation Association of South East Asian Nations, which will eliminate tariffs on around 4,000 products such as consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, machinery, metals and readymade garments. Moreover, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, to suggest measures to control the damage caused by the failure of summer crop. On the stock specific front, ONGC is trading with decent gains of 4.88% at Rs. 1,221.20 on the back of reports that ONGC is in talks with three Russian firms about a joint bid for a stake in YPF, an Argentinean arm of Spanish oil major Repsol YPF SA. Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas jumped by 2.01% and 1.57% respectively. Overall the market breadth is positive as 1,33 stocks are trading in green while 895 stocks are in red.

At 11.35 AM, the BSE Sensex is trading marginally lower by 57.26 points at 15,461.23 whereas NSE Nifty is down by 11.50 points at 4,593.50. Besides, the BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap are trading higher by 12.21 points and 56.31 at 5,621.10 and 6,443.36 respectively.

Losers from the BSE Sensex Pack are HDFC lower by (1.84%) to Rs. 2,319 along with JP Associates by (1.54%) to Rs. 220.85, Infosys by (1.37%) at Rs. 2,037, Wipro by (1.23%) at Rs. 509.15, TCS by (1.14%) at Rs. 521.

Gainers from the BSE Sensex Pack are ONGC higher by (5.23%) at Rs. 1,225.35 along with Reliance Infra by (2.30%) at Rs. 1,195, Tata Steel by (1.84%) at Rs. 479.15, M&M by (1.65%) at Rs. 808 and Grasim Inds by (1.56%) at Rs. 2,716.

BSE Consumer Durables index is trading higher by (2.01%) or 61.57 points at 3,129. The major gainers are Gitanjali GE up by (4.57%) at Rs. 113.35 along with Videocon by (3.67%) at Rs. 207.80, Rajesh Exports by (3.46%) at Rs. 44.85, Titan Inds by (2.21%) at Rs. 1,221.05.

BSE IT index is trading lower by (1.11%) or 44.55 points at 3,980.04. The top losers in the index are HCL Tech down by (3.62%) to Rs.271.80 along with Infosys by (1.27%) at Rs. 2,038.90, TCS by (1.16%) to Rs. 520.90, Wipro by (1.07%) to Rs. 510 and Finance Tech by (0.49%) at Rs. 1,499.95.

Markets opened flat.

The stock markets today opened on a flat note and suddenly turned volatile and slipped into the negative territory as investors booked profits after a sharp rally in the previous session. The IT, Realty, Auto and Banking stocks are facing the selling pressure in the early trade. However, some buying among the Oil & Gas, PSU, Consumer Durables and Metal stocks are supporting the markets today. The broader market indices however trading flat in the opening trade

The BSE Sensex is now trading below the 15500 mark and the NSE Nifty below the 4600 mark in the early trade.

At 10.32 IST, the BSE Sensex is trading down by 71.46 points or (0.46%) at 15,447.03 and the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 21.50 points or (0.47%) at 4,583.50.

The BSE Mid Cap is trading lower by 9.26 points at 5,599.63 while the BSE Small Cap grew by 20.69 points or (0.32%) to 6,407.74.

ONGC reported the top gainer from the BSE Sensex pack, as it is trading up by (3.33%) at Rs.1,203.15 while Jai Prakash Associate reported the top loser trading down by (2.21%) at Rs. 219.35.

The Overall market breadth is positive as 965 stocks are advancing while 831 stocks are declining and the 59 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

The US stocks markets closed higher on Thursday, on strong performance by Wal-Mart. In addition, investors applauded an encouraging business-inventories report, which indicated that the recession might be winding down. Wal-Mart beats Street expectations and reported better-than-expected earnings along with solid outlook. Upward movement was also contributed by the news that the German and French economies both exceeded expectations by posting second quarter growth of 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended up by 36.58 points at 9,398.19, NASDAQ index inclined by 10.63 points to 2009.35 and the S&P 500 (SPX) closed higher by 6.92 points at 1,012.73.

Asian markets were trading mixed today as the Nikkei 225, Straits Times and Seoul Composite index are trading up by (0.79%), (0.24%) and (1.27%) respectively. Whiel Hang Seng index is trading down by (0.79%).

BSE Consumer Durable index advanced by 23.88 points or (0.78%) at 3,091.31. The top gainers are Gitanjali Gems grew by (3.78%) to Rs.112.50, Rajesh Export inclined by (3.11%) to Rs.44.70 followed by Titan Industries increased by (1.28%) to Rs.1,210.

BSE Metal index grew by 90.73 points or (0.71%) at 12,870.45. The top gainers are Jindal Saw grew by (2.46%) to Rs.579.90, Sterlite Industries inclined by (1.65%) to Rs.671, SAIL increased by (1.56%) to Rs.173 followed by Nalco up by (1.25%) to Rs.323.50.

Sterlite Industries is trading higher by (1.72%) at Rs. 670.30 amid reports that the government is planning to sell its 49% stake in Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) to Sterlite Industries at around Rs.2000 crore. Sterlite Industries had earlier bought 51% stake in Balco in 2001.

HDFC, the country’s largest home loan financer has reduced the interest rate by 50 basis points on loan amount ranging between Rs.30-50 lakh. After this cut, the new rate will carry 9% per annum down from 9.5% earlier. However, the stock is now trading down by (1.20%) at Rs. 2,334.75.

Foreign Stock Market, dated 13/08/09

Thursday, the US stock markets ended with gains on strong performance by Wal-Mart. In addition, investors applauded an encouraging business-inventories report, which indicated that the recession might be winding down. Wal-Mart beats Street expectations and reported better-than-expected earnings along with solid outlook. Financials were main contributor in the market''s strong close. Upward movement was also contributed by the news that the German and French economies both exceeded expectations by posting second quarter growth of 0.3%. However, July advance retail sales posted unexpected 0.1% decline. Further, increase in jobless claims dampened sentiment a bit.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended up by 36.58 points at 9,398.19, NASDAQ index inclined by 10.63 points to 2009.35 and the S&P 500 (SPX) closed higher by 6.92 points at 1,012.73.

Inventories for the month of June dropped by more than 1% to 1.35 trillion dollars, helped by a 0.9% increase in sales. The inventory-to-sales ratio fell to 1.38 from 1.41.

In economic news, total retail sales for July reported an unexpected fall of 0.1% and sales less autos fell a sharper-than-expected 0.6%. In addition, July import prices dropped for their first time since January by declining a steeper-than-expected 0.7% month-over-month.

Initial jobless claims came at 558,000, which larger than expected. Consequently, the 4-week moving average went up to 565,000 from 556,500. In the meantime, continuing claims made a more-than-expected move back to 6.20 million, but the drop is most probable from unemployed workers losing their benefits.

US light crude oil futures for September delivery ended at $70.65 per barrel up by 0.7% on the New York Mercantile Exchange as better-than-expected results from Wal-Mart reinforced hopes for an economic recovery.

Gold futures for the month of December delivery finished the session at $956.50 per ounce higher by 0.4% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Pre Session Indian stock Market Commentary, dated 14/08/2009

Today Indian stock are likely to open positive as there is moderate buying sentiments prevailing across broader level. The US markets closed with minimal gains due to disappointing macro economic data however the resurgence of European economy is likely to bring a lot of confidence across Asian markets. Today one could expect a range bound trade with positive bias.

On Thursday, Domestic markets closed with staggering gains. Market rallied sharply following firm European markets along with positive US index futures and higher Asian stocks. Further, strong industrial production (IIP) also boosted investor’s sentiments, which expanded 7.8% in June 2009, at the fastest pace in 16 months. The draft direct tax code, which proposes to reduce tax rates on individual and corporate and scrapping of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) also contributed to the upward movement across the board. Meanwhile, inflation fell to the lowest in three decades to (-) 1.74% for the week ended 1st August 2009. During final trading hours, market gained further grounds and concluded its upward journey with strong gains. From the sectoral front Realty, Metal, Bank, Auto, Capital Goods, FMCG, PSU and Power witnessed most of the buying from these baskets.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 498.33 points or (3.32%) at 15,518.49 and NSE Nifty ended up by 147.50 points or (3.31%) at 4,605. BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps closed with gains of 194.36 and 252.12 points at 5,608.89 and 6,387.05 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 15,545.13 and intraday low of 15,207.96.

On Thursday, US stock markets closed higher. There was lot of optimism and strong buying sentiment during the opening bell as German and French economies both exceeded expectations by posting second quarter growth of 0.3%. However array of bad US economic news tarnished the shine of stocks. Total retail sales for July made an unexpected 0.1% decline and sales less autos fell a sharper-than-expected 0.6%. Initial jobless claims were also higher than expected at 558,000 and propelled the 4-week moving average up to 565,000 from 556,500. Meanwhile, continuing claims made a larger-than-expected retreat to 6.20 million, but the drop is most likely from unemployed workers losing their benefits. US light crude oil futures for September delivery closed at $70.65 per barrel higher by 0.7% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed higher by 36.58 points at 9,398.19, NASDAQ index inclined by 10.63 points to 2,009.35 and the S&P 500 (SPX) closed higher by 6.92 points at 1012.75.

Today major stock markets in Asia are trading mixed. Shanghai Composite is low by 74.47 points at 3,066.92. Japan''s Nikkei is trading up by 60.46 points at 10,577.65 followed by Strait Times which is trading lower by 0.26 points at 2,613.92 and Seoul Composite is trading higher by 15.97 points at 1,580.61. Hang Seng is trading low by 190.63 points at 20,670.67.

Indian ADRs ended mostly up on Thursday. In the banking space, ICICI Bank was up 4.14% and HDFC Bank was up 2.01%. In the telecom space, Tata Communication was up 3.69% and MTNL was up 1.48%. In the IT space, Satyam Computers was up 2.94%, Patni Computers was up 3.26%, Wipro was up 0.9% while Infosys was down 0.37%. In other sectors, Sterlite Industries was up 4.41%, Tata Motors was up 3.2% while Dr Reddy''s Labs was down 0.06%.

The FIIs on Thursday stood as net sellers in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 2,595.00 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 2,705.50 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 119.60 Crore, while gross debt sold stood at Rs 285.50 Crore. The net investment of equity reported was Rs (110.50) Crore and net debt was Rs (165.80) Crore.

On BSE, total number of shares traded were 48.06 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs 6,105.39 Crore. On NSE, total number of shares traded were 96.66 Crore and total turnover was Rs 17,892.37 Crore.

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty – Unitech with total volume traded 60974334 shares, followed by Suzlon Energy with 46635075, DLF with 13008636, Hindalco with 11631313 and Tata Steel with 10466794 shares.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 704015 with a total turnover of Rs 15,182.35 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 596910 with a total turnover of Rs 18,937.86 crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 1283432 with a total turnover of Rs 29,578.09 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 57906 and notional turnover was Rs 1,853.89 Crore.

Today, Nifty would have a support at 4,568 and resistance at 4,655 and BSE Sensex has support at 15,425 and resistance at 15,675.

FMC May allow MCX to launch freight futures

MCX will get permission to start a freight rate futures contract if the country’s legal framework permits trade in the intangible commodity, Forward Markets Commission (FMC) Chairman B C Khatua said.
MCX has required the commodity market regulator’s approval to launch freight rate futures, said Khatua.

In 2004, MCX had tied-up with London’s Baltic Exchange to offer freight rate contracts in India.

However, Khatua said FMC was unlikely to permit MCX to launch a deliverable commodity basket contract, which will include a composite of commodities to be traded as a group.

Spot rubber prices improve

On Thursday, spot rubber went up. Sharp gains in the domestic and international rubber futures catalyzed the market mood and sheet rubber improved to Rs 102.50 from Rs 101.50 a kg on fresh buying and short covering. "

RSS 4 imporved at its August futures to Rs 104 (102.27), September to Rs 103.39 (99.93), October to Rs 101.35 (97.99) and November to Rs 100.44 (97.17) a kg on National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE). The August futures for RSS 3 firmed up to Yen 203.6 (Yen 199) (Rs 101.76), September to Yen 200 (Yen 194.1), October to Yen 202.1 (Yen 193.8), November to Yen 204.3 (Yen 196.5), December to Yen 206.4 (Yen 198.3) and January to Yen 209 (Yen 201) a kg during the day session on TOCOM. The grade (spot) was flat at Rs.99.40 a kg at Bangkok.

Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 102.50 (101.50); RSS-5: 100.50 (100); ungraded: 99 (98); ISNR 20: 94.50 (94.50) and latex 60 per cent: 79 (79).

Pulses output may fall 50 % in K''taka

It is feared that pulses output may fall drastically in 2009-10 in Karnataka with the major pulses-growing districts reeling under severe moisture stress conditions.

The present sowing season for the kharif crop is almost over and a significant area under pulses is witnessing a failure due to a lack of rains in the districts of Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar and Koppal. Though sowing has taken place in three-fourths of the target area, the apprehension is that late sowing could result in low yield. Moreover, crops are drying up due to dry spell, and it looks like the state is headed for about 50 per cent drop in the pulses output this year.