Markets Holding Gains

The Indian markets are holding their morning gains trading higher in the green zone. At present both the Indices are up almost 0.6 per cent. This is after Investors see some buying opportunity in banking and IT stocks leading the markets to move northwards. Among the sectoral Indices Bankex, Power, IT, Metals Indices trade higher in the green zone while Indices Oil and Gas, Auto and Consumer durable are trading weak in the negative territory.

Globally Investors await and watch out for European summit which will further provide the direction for the markets. Asian markets are trading in mixed bagged with Hang seng and Nikkei trading higher in the green zone while Shanghai is trading lower in the red zone. The European markets have opened with moderate gain with major Indices like FTSE, CAC and DAX trading higher almost 0.5 per cent.

Back home, Tata Power is the leading Index gainer up 2.30 per cent to Rs 97.7. This is after power companies have hiked the tariff rates in Delhi. Banking stocks continue to trade higher with HDFC bank up 1.51 per cent and ICICI bank trading higher 1.3 per cent. IT space witness some buying with stocks like Infosys, TCS and Wipro are trading higher in the range of 0.2 to 1.6 per cent. Other stocks like HDFC, Jindal steel, SBI etc are also trading higher marginally in the green zone.

On the other hand, Tata motor continues to be the leading Index loser down 1.22 per cent to Rs 243.6. Other stocks like ONGC, Mahindra and Mahindra, HUL, RIL and Bharti Airtel and Cipla are trading on the lower side in the red zone.

Strides Arcolab is trading higher 1.84 per cent to Rs 731.9, however during the day it inched higher almost 6 per cent after the company made an announcement that company redeemed FCCBs due of USD 80 million. The company’s net debt equity ratio is estimated at 0.75 after this redemption as against 1.67 for the year ended 31st December 2011. Sadbhav Engineering is up 3.51 per cent to Rs 145.9, after the announcement that the Company has been awarded the project/work by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. for aggregating contract value of Rs. 33.55 crores.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1446 shares gained, 1012 shares declined, and 137 shares remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile and advise readers to play with caution.