Markets Trade Marginally in Green

The Global Markets emanate mixed vibes this morning. U.S. stocks fell, ending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s five-day winning streak, as a Moody’s Investors Service downgrade of Portuguese debt rekindled concern the economy will slow and offset gains by energy producers. European stocks were little changed, after the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index posted six days of gains. This morning Asian stocks swung between gains and losses as Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. jumped in Seoul after a takeover bid collapsed and Chinese banks slumped after share sales and on concern about credit quality. In commodities, Oil traded near a three-week high in New York on speculation crude inventories declined for a fifth week in the U.S., signaling fuel demand may be rising in the worlds biggest consumer of the commodity. Gold climbed the most in five weeks as a deteriorating credit outlook for Chinas banks boosted demand for the precious metal as a store of value. Copper rose to a 10-week high on speculation that cooling growth will allow monetary tightening to slow in China, the worlds largest metals buyer. Markets turned positive and were trading marginally higher in the morning session led by gains in heavyweight Reliance Industries, TCS and Infosys which contributed around 40 points to the Sensex. The S&P CNX Nifty opened on a soft note and touched a low of 5,622 in opening trades, but the index reversed course and eked out marginal gains-up 15 points, at 5,645 and the benchmark Sensex advanced 40 points, at 18,785. Among the sectoral pack, the BSE Realty index was leading the gains, up 1%. Anant Raj Industries was up 2%, DB Realty added 1.7% and Phoenix Mills gained 1.5%. Defensive pharmaceutical space was a laggard in trade, the BSE healthcare index was down 0.2%. Cadila health was down 3.4%, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories declined 0.5% and IPCA lab gave up 0.3%. From the broader markets, the midcap and the small cap indices were up 0.3% and 0.2% each.