After A Positive Start, The Benchmark Indices Turned Into Choppy - Jan 19, 2009

After a positive start, the benchmark indices turned into choppy amid of mixed cues from Asian market. The investors are looking cautious ahead of Barrack Obama’s swearing in as US president. Global market is expected to find a clear way from the inaugural speech by the new president. Among the sectoral indices, Realty, IT and TECk dipped by nearly 2.38%, 1.60% and 0.83% respectively. The market breadth is negative as 1062 stocks are trading in red while 764 stocks are in green.

At 11.30 AM, the BSE Sensex down by 32.51 points at 9,291.08 whereas NSE Nifty is down by 1.59 points at 2,826.85. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap are trading higher by 15.43 points and 29.98 points at 3,042.27 and 3,442.75 respectively.

Losers from the BSE Sensex Pack are Mahindra & Mahindra down by (3.38%) to Rs 313.3, along with TCS Ltd by (2.74%) to Rs.489.15, Housing Development Fin by (2.46%) at Rs.1526.95, Tata Motors by (2.28%) at Rs.149.9, ICICI Bank by (2.05%) at Rs.415.25 and Wipro Ltd by (2.02%) at Rs.233.05.

Losers from the NSE Nifty Pack are Unitech by (7.81%) at Rs.27.15 along with Mahindra & Mahindra by (3.13%) at Rs.314.6, TCS Ltd by (2.84%) at Rs.488.7, Housing Development Fin by (2.71%) at Rs.1523 and DLF Ltd by (2.66%) at Rs.190.35.

BSE Realty is trading lower by (2.38%) or 41.09 points at 1,682.67. The top losers in the index are Unitech down by (8.47%) to Rs.27.55 along with Indiabulls real estate by (2.21%) to Rs.110.40 crore, Omaxe Ltd by (2%) to Rs.51.35, DLF Ltd by (1.69%) to Rs.191.90, followed by Sobha Dev by (0.12%) at Rs.84.60.

BSE IT is trading lower by (1.60%) or 34.88 points at 2,150.10. The top losers in the index are TCS Ltd down by (2.40%) to Rs.490.90 along with Wipro Ltd decreased by (1.80%) to Rs.233.35, Infosys Tech by (1.87%) to Rs.1244.50, followed by Oracle Fin by (1.46%) at Rs.448.

Market Opens Higher

The market today opens marginally higher but didn’t able to sustain at higher level as selling emerged in the selective scrips. The significant selling witnessed among the frontline line indices. However, the broader market is trading firm in th opening trade. The Capital Goods, IT and Bank stocks are in pressure in the early trade whereas the Metal, Oil & Gas and Realty stocks are facing the buying momentum.

The overall market breadth is positive as 884 stocks are advancing whereas 784 stocks are declining on BSE.

At 10.30AM, the BSE Sensex was down by 90.15 points at 15,742.40 and the Nifty was down by 9.10 points to 4,762.50.

The BSE Mid Cap increased by 17.69 points to 6,404.92 and the BSE Small Cap advanced by 6.62 points to 7,846.91.

Tata Steel reported the top gainer from the BSE Sensex pack. It is trading with a gain of 2.26% at Rs.674.50 while Infosys Technologies the top loser declined by 2.15% to Rs.1,488.90.

BSE Oil & Gas index advanced by 42.93 points to trade at 10,574.81. The top gainers are RPL Oil inclined by (2.09%) to Rs.173.35, Essar Oil increased by (1.95%) at Rs.228 followed by Cairn India and BPCL up by (1.31%) and (0.69%) to Rs.231.30 and Rs.414.

BSE Capital Goods index dropped by 162.43 points to trade at 13,052.30. The major losers are ABB, BHEL, L&T and Siemens grew by (2.30%), (2.05%), (1.97%) and (0.95%) to Rs.1,112.40, Rs.1,718.90, Rs.2,794 and Rs.594 respectively.

NALCO is trading higher by (1.11%) at Rs.454. The company has entered into an agreement with Bharat Earth Movers Limited to collaborate for the production of aluminium rail wagons and subsequently, aluminum rail coaches and metro coaches. According to the agreement, the products would be jointly developed by these two companies and Nalco would supply the aluminum extrusions after conversion from its billets and ingots through a third party.

Asian Stocks Hit 7-Week Low, Dollar Weak

HONG KONG: Asian stocks hit their lowest in nearly seven weeks on Monday, while the dollar was near a record low against the euro and an eight-year low against the yen after weak employment data fuelled US recession fears.

Malaysian stocks were among the region's biggest decliners, falling as much as 7.6 per cent to a seven-month low after the ruling coalition suffered its worst election result in decades.

Inflationary pressures remain a concern around Asia. Data on Monday showed South Korean producer prices rose 6.8 per cent in February from a year before, the biggest gain in over three years, while Chinese producer prices were up 6.6 per cent.

Oil prices remained near a record high despite the worsening global economic outlook, held up by cold weather in parts of the United States, while gold moved back above $975 an ounce.

"We keep hearing bad news, and expect to receive more unfavourable sets of data and figures for some time. Markets will continue to test the bottom in the meantime," said Kim Joong-hyun, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities in Seoul.

The MSCI measure of Asian stocks outside Japan was down 2.4 per cent by 0338 GMT after hitting its lowest since January 23.

The prospects of a US recession and worsening global credit conditions have hit Asian stocks hard this year, with the MSCI index down 14 per cent as of last week, worse than the 12 per cent fall in the Standard & Poor's S&P 500 or the 10 per cent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Exporters such as Sony Corp, which depend on US consumers, dropped after data published on Friday showing US employers unexpectedly cut jobs last month at the steepest rate in nearly five years.

Financial firms fell on concerns about more writedowns worldwide after US housing loan provider Thornburg Mortgage Inc said on Friday it could not meet its own lenders' demands for $610 million of cash or collateral.

"The subprime problem is a creeping disease. It initially infected relatively few people, but the contagion has spread to a much greater portion of the credit market," MF Global analyst Edward Meir said.

Japan's Nikkei average hit its lowest level since September 2005 and was down 1.6 per cent at 0418 GMT.

Shares in China, Taiwan and Singapore were down more than 2 per cent, while stock markets in South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia were down nearly 2 per cent.

China Railway Construction made a weaker-than-expected Shanghai debut after raising a combined $5.4 billion in a dual listing with Hong Kong in the world's largest initial public offering this year.