Nifty’s uptrend is still on the cards as long as it does not close below 5,905
 

The market managed to settle marginally in the green as the benchmarks pared early gains on nervousness ahead of the Union Budget, which is to be presented on 28^th February. Nifty’s uptrend is still on the cards as long as it does not close below 5,905. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) reported a volume of 66.77 crore shares and advance-decline ratio of 779:691.

The Indian market opened in the positive, tracking supportive global cues. Markets in the US settled higher on Tuesday as merger deals in the US have $158 billion in 2013 so far, twice the amount seen in the same period last year. The Asian pack was mostly higher in morning trade as global optimism improved investor sentiment.

The Nifty opened 26 points higher at 5,966 and the Sensex started off at 19,718, up 82 points over its previous close. The market hit its intraday high in initial trade itself with the Nifty going up to 5,971 and the Sensex rising to 19,742.

However, profit booking after two days of gains saw the indices coming off the highs in subsequent trade. The benchmarks dipped to their lows in noon trade on selling pressure from consumer durables, metals, fast moving goods and banking stocks. At the lows the Nifty touched 5,938 and the Sensex retracted to 19,620.

The Budget session of the Indian Parliament is set to begin tomorrow. The Railway Budget will be presented on 26^th February, the Economic Survey of India on 27^th February and the Union Budget for 2013-14 will be announced on 28 February 2013.

Select buying in oil & gas, realty and IT stocks helped the market recover from the lows. But volatility kept a cap on the gains with the indices hovering near their previous closing levels.

The market settled flat with a positive bias as nervousness set in ahead of the Union Budget, which is to be tabled next week. The Nifty added three points (0.06%) to 5,943 and the Sensex inched seven points (0.04%) higher to settle at 19,643.

The broader indices were mixed today. The BSE Mid-cap index fell 0.17% and BSE Small-cap index gained 0.36%.

The sectoral gainers were BSE Oil & Gas (up 1.70%); BSE Realty (up 0.77%); BSE IT (up 0.60%) and BSE TECk (up 0.29%). The top losers were BSE Consumer Durables (down 1.37%); BSE Metal (down 0.61%); BSE Capital Goods, BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods (down 0.47%) and BSE Bankex (down 0.38%).

Eleven of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The chief gainers were Reliance Industries (up 3.13%); Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.37%); Hero MotoCorp (up 1.26%); Coal India (up 1.12%) and GAIL India (up 0.99%). Tata Steel (down 1.75%); Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.47%); Cipla (down 1.32%); Bharti Airtel (down 1.04%) and State Bank of India (down 0.98%) were the main losers.

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Bajaj Finserv (up 6.65%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (up 4.49%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were— Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 6.39%) and Unitech (down 2.75%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—7Seas Technologies (up 20%) and Maharashtra Scooters (up 17.33%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were—LGB Forge (down 19.90%) and Venus Power Ventures India (down 19.98%).

Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 20 stocks settled in the positive. The major gainers were DLF (up 3.57%); Ambuja Cements (up 3.46%); BPCL (up 3.27%); RIL (up 3.19%) and HCL Technologies (up 2.48%). The key losers were Tata Steel (down 2.13%); IDFC (down 1.90%); JSPL (down 1.76%); Bharti Airtel (down 1.40%) and Cipla (down 1.34%).

 Markets in Asia closed mostly in the positive, on signs of an improvement in the global economic outlook. Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong Soo said that optimism in the global economy would help the export-driven nation exceed its growth forecast this year.

The Shanghai Composite advanced 0.60%; the Hang Seng climbed 0.71%; the Jakarta Composite gained 0.70%; the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.40%; the Seoul Composite surged 1.95% and the Taiwan Weighted settled 0.86% higher. Bucking the trend, the KLSE Composite lost 0.11%.

At the time of writing, the key European indices were marginally in the positive and the US stock futures were trading higher.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net sellers of stocks totalling Rs181.57 crore on Tuesday. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors were net buyers of shares aggregating Rs24.68 crore.

Government-owned exploration and refining major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is in talks to buy Videocon's 10% stake in a giant gas field off Mozambique. ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of the state explorer, and Oil India (OIL) are together negotiating for the stake for which Videocon is reportedly seeking at least $3 billion. Videocon closed 0.83% lower at Rs191.60 on the NSE.

Domestic tractor major Escorts had announced a partnership with Italian company BCS SpA to distribute and sell the speciality Ferrari brand of tractors in India. The first product being launched under the partnership is a 26 HP model that has all four equal sized wheels, an all-time 4-wheel drive and oscillating chassis system suited for use in vineyards and orchards in India. The stock gained 0.78% to close at Rs65 on the NSE.

State-run Power Finance Corporation has launched tax free bonds issue worth Rs100 crore, which would be utilised for lending purposes, debt servicing and working capital requirements. The issue, which opened on Monday, has an option to retain over-subscription up to the residual shelf limit of Rs3,890.25 crore. The stock closed 1.61% down at Rs214.55 on the NSE.