Indices Slip Back Into Negative

The Indian markets have turned their direction. At this hour, they have given up their morning gains and are trading lower. The Sensex and Nifty are trading down by 0.37% and 0.20% respectively. Among the sectoral indices, Oil & Gas, Realty and Metals are dragging the market southwards, while Consumer Durables, Power and Auto continue to trade in the positive territory.

In the other Asian markets, Hang Seng and Shanghai are up by 0.39% and 0.58% respectively while Nikkei is lower by 0.63%. Bloomberg reports said that the Japanese stocks fell for the third day after the nation’s capital spending rose less than expected and the yen strengthened after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signalled further bond purchases.

Back home, Jindal Steel is the leading index loser, 1.79% lower at Rs 346. Tata Power, Dr Reddy’s Labs and Wipro are in losses of over 1% each. Other stocks like HUL, Sun Pharma, TCS etc. are trading marginally in losses.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto is up by almost 3% at Rs 1662.90. Cipla, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki and BHEL are all trading higher by over 1%. GAIL India, HDFC Bank, Sterlite Industries and ITC are some of the other stocks supporting the broader indices.

Wockhardt is trading marginally lower by 0.25% at Rs 1220. The company was shifted from the 'A' group to the 'T' group today. Investors and traders watching the scrip ignored the positive announcement that the company has launched a generic version of the anti-depressant drug Wellbutrin SR.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is still strong. On the BSE, 1316 shares have advanced and 1163 shares declined. 120 shares remain unchanged.

We expect the volatility to continue with a negative bias.