Markets Trading Flat, Await WPI Data

The Indian markets opened their first trades of the day in the negatives and are now trading almost flat. The Sensex and Nifty are lower by 0.02% and 0.07% respectively. The markets are awaiting the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation numbers for Nov 2012, which would be released shortly.

Among the sectoral indices, FMCG and Consumer Durables continue with their weak performance and are trading down 0.44% and 0.67% respectively. On the other hand, Realty, Auto, Capital Goods are trading higher in the positive territory.

The other Asian markets are trading higher, with the Nikkei and Hang Seng up 0.26% and 0.79% respectively. The Chinese Index Shanghai Composite is up 2.8% at 2121. According to Bloomberg reports, China’s stocks rose the most in three months after a survey showed that the nation’s manufacturing may expand at a faster pace this month and amid speculations that Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. is investing in the markets.

Back home, Bharti Airtel is the worst performing stock at this hour of trade, down 1.5% at Rs 312 per share. Other stocks like BHEL, Maruti Suzuki and ITC are trading lower by over 1% each. Banking majors like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank have also dropped 0.06% and 0.40% respectively. Bajaj Auto, Cipla, Hindalco and Infosys are among the stocks that are marginally in losses.

Jindal Steel is the leading index gainer as of now, trading higher by 1.71% at Rs 427.30 per share. Tata Motors is continuing its gains from yesterday, up 1.39% at Rs 291.40 per share. Other stocks like TCS, RIL, M&M, L&T are also in the green zone.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is weak. On the BSE, 1202 shares have declined, 1164 shares have advanced and 107 shares are unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile for the day.