March 14: mid-session report

The Indian markets took cues from other Asian peers and opened on a positive note with gains of close to 1 per cent, before being dragged down by the bears, as profit booking took the index a tad lower. Markets showed a similar trend in the last trading session of the previous week as it succumbed to profit booking from higher levels. CNX Metal Index was the biggest drag as it declined by more than 0.60 per cent.

Nifty is trading up by 20 points at 7530; and Sensex by 72 points at 24792. Both the leading indicators are trading with gains of 0.27 and 0.30 per cent respectively.

The advance-decline ratio is showing a similar trend as majority of the counters are trading in green. 1218 scrips are trading in the positive territory; 1171 scrips are trading in the negative zone; however 143 stocks have remained unchanged on the NSE.

Top Nifty Gainers: ICICI Bank is leading the gainers list as it is trading up by close to 4 per cent followed by Tata Motors, BHEL, Cairn India and Ambuja Cements which are up 3.68; 2.46; 2.28; and 2.05 per cent respectively.

Top Nifty Losers: Coal India is leading the losers list, down by close to 7 per cent, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma and M&M which are down anywhere between 0.70 per cent to 0.55 per cent.

All the major sectoral indices are trading in green except for BSE Metal Index and BSE PSU Index which are trading up with minor losses. BSE Bankex and BSE Auto Index are the biggest gainers in the first half of the session as they were up by 0.83 and 0.68 per cent respectively. BSE Small-Caps index also saw good buying as it increased by 0.43 per cent. However, BSE Mid -Cap index saw some fair bit of buying as it traded with gains of 0.27 per cent.

All the other major Asian markets traded in green. Chinese benchmark index CSI ended the day with gains of 1.57 per cent. Japanese Nikkei too was trading with gains of 1.74 per cent at close. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng too closed the day with some smart gains. Korean KOSPI and Taiwan’s FTSE TWSE 50 Index closed the day with slight gains.

In commodities, Oil prices dipped on Monday, weighed by global oversupply and slowing economic growth; although the prospects of falling production lent crude some support. U.S. crude futures were trading at  USD 38.28 per barrel, down 22 cents from their last settlement.

Buzzer: - Coal India was buzzing in trade as it is down close to 7 per cent in trade owing to the declaration of interim- dividend of Rs 27.40 post adjustment.

In the second half of the day, markets are likely to take cues from the European bourses as they are expected to open with minor gains.