Markets Remain Edgy, Coal India Up

As expected in our morning update, the Indian markets opened positive today but continued to remain in a narrow range. The markets may take cues from the WPI numbers, which are expected to be released later during the day. The street expects the WPI figure for Jul 2012 to be around 7.25%. At present, the broader indices are trading with minimal gains. Among the sectoral indices, Metals, Oil & Gas, Bankex are in the green zone, while Power, Realty and FMCG are trading lower.

In the other Asian markets, Hang Seng and Nikkei are in gains of 0.24% and 0.32% respectively, while the Chinese Index Shanghai is trading 0.36% down. A Bloomberg report said that China’s stocks have fallen, sending the benchmark index lower for the third day in succession, on concerns of the nation’s slowing economy hurting the corporate earnings.

Coal India is the leading index gainer, trading higher by 2.23% at Rs 355.30. Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors are over 1% up. Other stocks like HUL, TCS, Hindalco, GAIL India, etc. are marginally in the green zone.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma is leading the losers list, down 2.46% to Rs 665.30. Business Standard reports said that the Sun Pharma-Taro saga that began more than 5 years ago has entered a new phase, with Sun raising its offer price for the remaining shares of Israeli major Taro Pharma by as much as 60%. Sun Pharma, the country’s largest drug maker by market value, holds 66.5% stake in Taro. It will have to cough up about US$ 600 million for the remaining shares under the new offer.

Other stocks like Maruti Suzuki, Sterlite Industries and Bajaj Auto are all trading lower in the range of 0.90%-1.30%. Dr Reddy’s Labs, L&T, Infosys, BHEL, etc. are trading marginally in the red zone.

Zylog Systems is trading 1.76% up at Rs 301 after the company made an announcement on the exchange that accelerated growth was driven by vertical aligned technology products and solution innovation in the global market. 

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is strong at the moment. On the BSE, 1196 shares have advanced, 910 shares have declined and 116 shares are unchanged.