Markets Pivoting In A Tight Range

The markets have not seen much movement since morning and have been trading in a tightly bound range, pivoting between 16884 and 16954. The rupee has not found any strength and is still trading very close to 56, often touching and breaching the 56 mark.

Of the 13 sectoral indices, 6 are trading negative, with the highest losses seen in the Capital Goods, IT and Teck indices. Sectors that have gained include FMCG, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas. Companies in the FMCG sector, like Colgate and HUL, have posted better-than-expected results and have shown robustness, leading the index higher. IT has been lower because of the underwhelming results posted by Wipro, which has dragged the scrip down by 2.72%.

The European markets have opened higher, and the FTSE and CAC are currently up by 0.07% and 0.26% respectively. The German index DAX has been trading lower by 0.17% because of the downgrade by Moody’s. The Spanish index IBEX also opened higher, but was moderated within a few minutes of trading. The Spanish and Italian governments' moves to ban short selling for 3 months has given European markets support against the drastic slip like they witnessed yesterday.

In the Asian markets, the Shanghai Composite Index has seen an upward trend due to the flash PMI figures announced by London-based Markit Economics. Though the figures indicate pressure on demand and employment, they are a tad better than those witnessed over the last 5 months. This has provided the markets with some optimism, taking them slightly higher. Even the losses on the other Asian markets were moderated because of this news. The typhoon-struck Hang Seng is trading lower from its opening by 0.25%. The Nikkei too is down by 0.24%.

Though the European market regulations and Chinese manufacturing data have placed the Indian markets marginally higher, there seems to be no more upward push for the markets. In fact, the high is being capped because of the rupee hovering around the 56 level. The markets may continue to be flat and trading in a limited zone through the day.