Markets Witness Higher Trades

The Indian markets opened positive, taking cues from the global markets. The Sensex is up by around 100 points nearing 17300 and Nifty is up 30 points below the 5250 level. Today is the day of the Presidential elections, with all the odds favouring the appointment of Pranab Mukherjee to the post. All the sectoral indices are trading in gains except for Auto, which is trading marginally in the negative territory. Consumer Durables, IT, Power and Metals are trading higher by over 1%, helping the markets to trade higher.

The other Asian markets are also trading higher, with Hang Seng up by more than 1.5% and Nikkei and Shanghai are trading higher almost 1% each. Media reports state that investors are looking at a possible improvement in the global economy, with technology firms lifted by the US results overnight.

Back home, BHEL is the leading index gainer, up 2.59% at Rs 235.60. Infosys is seeing some buying as it was beaten down quite heavily in the past couple of weeks. The stock is trading higher by 1.8% at Rs 2215. The Tata group majors, Tata Power and Tata Motors, are also trading up by 1.63% and 1.51% respectively. Metals stocks like Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries and Hindalco are trading with over 1.1% gains. Others like HUL, M&M, Coal India, HDFC Bank, etc. are trading marginally higher.

On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki is currently the worst performer among the index stocks. The scrip has plunged by 7.69% to Rs 1130.10. There were reports that one person was killed and at least 90 were injured on Wednesday, Jul 18, in a clash between the workers and managerial staff at the company's Manesar plant, forcing stoppage of work. This incident comes within a year of the workers’ settlement with the management. Other stocks like Bharti Airtel, ITC and ONGC are trading lower in the negative territory.

Further, stocks like Hero MotoCorp and Dr Reddy’s Labs are trading lower ahead of their Jun 2012 quarter numbers, which are expected to be declared today.

Diamond Power Infrastructure is trading higher by 4.11% at Rs 102.60 after the company reported to the exchange about the acquisition of a strategic stake in Maktel Control & Systems. Strides Arcolab is trading with marginal losses, down 0.41% to Rs 782 after the company made an announcement that it has received US FDA approval for the injection, Fluorouracil.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1361 shares have advanced, while 691 shares have declined and 78 shares are unchanged.

For today, we expect the markets to remain volatile, with a positive bias.