Markets Trade on a Flat Note

The Global Markets trade in a negative territory. U.S. stocks fell, trimming the biggest first-quarter rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1998, as a Federal Reserve official said interest rates may need to rise and concern about Europe’s debt crisis grew. European stocks fell as inflation unexpectedly accelerated to the fastest pace in more than two years in March and investors speculated that the region will struggle to contain its sovereign-debt crisis. This morning Asian stocks declined for the first time in three days as exporters dropped after a Federal Reserve official said interest rates may need to rise. In commodities, Oil’s biggest advance in two years led commodities to a third straight quarterly gain as political turmoil erupted in the Middle East and North Africa, while stocks were curbed by Japan’s strongest earthquake on record. Gold may advance as fighting in Libya and concerns about European debt increase demand for an alternative investment, a survey found. Copper gained after data showed that manufacturing in China, the top metals user, accelerated for the first time in four months, boosting speculation metals demand will remain robust and paring a first-quarter price decline. After opening with marginal gains, the Sensex has slipped to trade flat and is currently trading flat at 19,458 while the Nifty is down three points at 5,830. However in the broader markets, the small cap index is up 0.8% and the midcap index has added 0.6% outperforming the BSE benchmark index which is flat. On the BSE sectoral chart, Realty up 1% is the top gainer in the morning trades folowed by Metal, Power and Capital Goods gaining 0.5% - 0.8%. However, bankex is down 1% followed by IT and PSU index shedding 0.1% - 0.3%. The market breadth is very positive. Of the total 2331 stocks traded on the BSE, 1512 stocks have advanced while 735 have declined.