Markets Edgy, Trading Lower

The Indian markets opened in the negative territory today in line with global cues. The Sensex and Nifty are trading lower by 0.45% and 0.63% respectively. This is after the slowdown in global growth coupled with investors eyeing Ben Bernanke's speech at Jackson Hole later in the day.

Among the sectoral indices, Auto, Power and Capital Goods are trading in the negatives. Only two indices, Consumer Durables and Healthcare, are trading higher by 0.60% and 0.44% respectively.

Investor and traders are waiting for the key GDP number for the Jun 2012 quarter, which are expected to be released today. The general market consensus says that the GDP for the Jun quarter would be in the range of 4.9%-5.2%. If the number falls below 5%, there would be negative sentiments on the street fuelled by a strong feeling that the economy has taken a severe beating and faces further slowdown.

The other Asian markets are also trading in the negative territory, with Hang Seng and Nikkei down by 0.31% and 0.07% respectively. The Nikkei market is trading in the deep red, lower by more than 1%. This was after media reports which said that Japan’s industrial output showed a surprising drop in Jul, with an equally bleak view for the months ahead, even as household spending for the month indicated unexpected strength.

Back home, Hindalco is the leading index loser, trading 1.74% lower at Rs 104.25. Other Metals stocks are also showing a lacklustre performance, with Tata Steel and Jindal Steel taking losses of 0.78% and 0.30% respectively. Stocks like Coal India, BHEL, GAIL India, TCS, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp are down by over 1% each.

Business Standard has reported that country’s largest power producer, NTPC, has cut down its investment size by a fourth or around Rs 50,000 crore. The scrip is trading lower by 1.69% at Rs 168.30.

On the other hand, Cipla is the leading index gainer, up by 2.31% at Rs 380.65. Other stocks like HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, ONGC and Sun Pharma are trading in the positive territory.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is strong at the moment. On the BSE, 1006 shares have advanced, 890 shares have declined and 87 shares are unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain to remain volatile for the day, taking cues from the GDP data.