Markets Looking Range-Bound

The Indian markets are looking pretty range-bound at the moment and continue to trade on a flat, choppy note, with no positive triggers from the global markets. The European markets are sending weak sentiments across the globe. The Sensex and Nifty are marginally up by 0.16% and 0.25% respectively.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Capital Goods is leading with gains of 1.24% on the back of the news that the government has proposed to increase the import duty on foreign power equipment. This will in turn lead to more domestic sales. The Power index is also up by 1.12% after the government allocated 116 new coal blocks to Coal India. In the losers pack, Realty, Teck and IT are down by nearly 0.2% each.

The other Asian markets have rebounded and are trading on a mixed note. Hang Seng and Nikkei are up by 0.55% and 1.10% respectively, while Shanghai is down by 0.35%.

The European markets have opened on a flat, negative note. Investors are looking forward to the measures to be taken by the European policymakers to tackle the region's debt crisis. The markets are also hoping that the US Fed will announce further stimulus measures to boost economic growth in its meeting scheduled for tomorrow. The major indices, FTSE, CAC and DAX, were down by 0.17%, 0.06% and 0.15% respectively in the opening trade.

Cement stocks continue to remain under pressure after reports that the companies will be fined by the CCI over alleged cartelisation of cement and jacked up prices.

Reliance Communications is marginally down by 0.6%. The scrip was penalised by 5% on the bourses after research firm Veritas downgraded the stock to 'sell' and cut the price target to Rs 15 as against current market price of Rs 62.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1447 shares rose and 980 shares fell. 159 shares are unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile for rest of the day on the back of weak global markets and persistent domestic issues.