The key Indian equity benchmarks have gained modestly in early minutes of trade after a really slow start. The NSE Nifty remains above the psychological level of 5400 while the BSE Sensex is trading above 17,800. The market breadth is positive as the Small-Cap and Mid-Cap indices have extended their recent advance. INDIA VIX is down marginally, trading just above 23.
At 09:20 am ( IST), the BSE Sensex was 17,875, up 44 points over the previous close. It had earlier touched a day’s high of 17,881 and aday’s low of 17,798. It opened at 17,817.
NSE Nifty was quoting 5,423, up 11 points over the previous close.It has earlier touched a day’s high of 5,424 and a day’s low of 5,399. Itopened at 5,399.
The BSE Mid-Cap and BSE Small-Cap index was trading at 1%.
Auto, Metal, Oil and Gas, Power, HC,Consumer Durables,PSU, Bankex, FMCG indices are the gainers.
Teck, Realty and IT indices are the losers.
L&T, ONGC, RPower, Ranbaxy, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Sterlite Inds, ITC, Hero MotoCorp, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, were among the notable leaders in the Sensex and the Nifty.
Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, DLF,Hindalco Inds, were among the notable losers in the Sensex and the Nifty.
The undertone has been buttressed by news that Greek leaders have reached an agreement on new budget cuts that are needed to get more international money and avoid a debt default. However, the eurozone finance ministers are yet to clear the new bailout funds pending an approval of the austerity measures by the Greek parliament.
Meanwhile, the US Labor Department’s count of Americans filing initial claims for jobless benefits dropped by 15,000 last week to 358,000. The four-week moving average fell to 366,250, its lowest since April 2008.
China’s exports fell for the first time in more than two years in January as trade was disrupted by the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday. The overseas demand was also hit by Europe’s prolonged debt crisis.
China's exports declined 0.5% from a year earlier, the customs bureau said today. Imports dropped by a more-than-forecast 15.3%, leaving a trade surplus of US$27.3bn.
Tata Power is trading firm ahead of its Q3 FY12 earnings while DLF is under some pressure before its results. Tata Steel has gained after its Q3 results but Hindalco is in the red. RCOM is up before its Q3 earnings. ACC has advanced after posting strong quarterly profits. L&T, Bajaj Auto, Grasim, SAIL, Sesa Goa and BPCL are among the top leaders so far.
December IIP print is seen between 2.5% and 3.5%. This is slower than November’s reading of 5.9%. However, the markets may not get swayed much as the IIP data generally has been quite erratic.
Globally, equities have got off to a strong start in 2012. So, don’t be surprised if market players turn a little hesitant in pushing stocks much higher.
Indian market resumed its ascent on Thursday after the initial jerk in opening trade. The Nifty closed above 5400. There could be further rise in the Nifty towards 5500 in the coming days, provided the FII inflows remain positive and global markets are supportive.
Trend in FII flows:
The FIIs were net buyers of Rs 12bn in the cash segment on Thursday while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers at Rs 10.37bn, as per the provisional figures released by the NSE.
The FIIs were net sellers of Rs 973.6mn in the F&O segment on Thursday, according to the provisional NSE data.
The foreign funds were net buyers of Rs 4.5bn in the cash segment on Wednesday, as per final SEBI data. Mutual Funds were net buyers at Rs 300mn on the same day.
Major Results Today:
Apollo Hospitals, Aurobindo Pharma, BPCL, Britannia, DLF, Eros International, Gammon Infra, GE Shipping, Hathway Cable, Hotel Leela, IDFC, JSW Steel, Lovable Lingerie, MMTC, MTNL, Neyveli Lignite, Pantaloon Retail, Pipavav Defence, Reliance Capital, RCOM, Shriram Transport, Sun TV, Tata Chemicals and Tata Power.
Global Data Watch:
China's trade balance, UK PPI, Germany's CPI, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's speech, US trade balance and US consumer sentiment.