Nifty below 5500; banks, infra, FMCG slip

Indian equity benchmarks were witnessing selling pressure today at 10:54 hours on the back of continued worries in Libya. London Brent crude climbed above USD 116 a barrel yesterday, up 3% over previous day's close and NYMEX crude too gained upto USD 105 a barrel, which was worrying factor for global markets.

Libyan leader Gaddafi forces hit oil facilities in Central Libya; crushed rebels with artillery and gunfire in at least two major cities. Asian markets too were under pressure - Shanghai, Nikkei, Kospi and Taiwan fell over 1%. Straits Times and Hang Seng lost over 0.5%.

Ian Scott global head of equity strategy with Nomura says these geo-political (Middle East and North Africa) concerns have had an effect on equity markets particularly some of the big oil importers like India. "Investors are more concerned about the geo-politics than high oil prices. I think stock market can live with oil above USD 100 a barrel if we could get rid of some of the concerns on the geo political side," he adds.

Scott says he prefers developed markets to emerging ones. Nomura has, in fact, cut its exposure in emerging market since the first week of December, moving from an overweight view to an underweight one.

On the rationale behind his stand on emerging markets, he says, "The inflationary backdrop here is bad and is probably going to worsen before getting any better. Also, valuations have been a little stretched, especially in India. The gap in PE multiples between India and other emerging markets (particularly China) needs to narrow down."

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,336, down 133 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty slipped 41 points to 5,490. However, the broader indices were flat in trade.

He feels it is too early to come back to Indian markets; "the relative valuations are still high here and there is still some adjustment to take place in terms of monetary policy. We may see some near-term pressure on margins as a result of higher cost as well," he says.

Technology, financial, FMCG, infrastructure and select metal companies' shares were dragging the markets down.

Among frontliners, ICICI Bank, SBI, Tata Power, TCS, Hindalco, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HCL Tech were the top losers with 1-2% fall.

However, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies' shares like Reliance Capital and Reliance Infrastructure gained 3.4% & 1.7%, respectively. Reliance Communications too gained 0.5%. SAIL, Maruti, ACC, Ambuja and Tata Motors were other gainers.

New listing - Acropetal Tech was trading at Rs 121.25, up 34.72% over issue price of Rs 90 a share.

In midcap space, Wockhardt, Bayer Cropscience, HCC, KS Oils and Uttam Galva gained 4-6% while Godfrey Phillip, KGN Industries, AstraZeneca, Kirloskar Oil and Atlas Copco lost 2.5-5%.

In smallcap space, Gokaldas Export, Symphony, TTK Healthcare, Gulf Oil Corp and Ester Inds rallied 7-12% whereas Urja Global, EIH Associated Hotel, Genesys Int, Poly Medicure and OCL Iron fell 5-10%.

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Nifty slips on weak Asian cues; crude rises

The benchmark Nifty slipped below the 5500 mark in opening trade following weak global cues, tracking jump in Brent crude to USD 116 a barrel, jumped nearly 2% on renewed tensions in Libya.

Nymex crude was up 0.35% at USD 104.75/bbl after crude oil inventories rose more than expected by 2.5 million barrels. Libyan leader Gaddafi forces hit oil facilities in Central Libya and crushed rebels with artillery and gunfire in at least two major cities.

Among frontliners, TCS, BHEL, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, ITC, Wipro, Infosys, L&T, NTPC, Sterlite and HDFC Bank were witnessing selling pressure.

However, Tata Motors, Cairn, Reliance Capital, HDFC, Reliance Infrastructure, and ACC gained.

At 9:17 hours IST, the 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 5,490, down 40 points and the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 128 points to 18,341.

The CNX Midcap fell 27 points to 7,649. About 250 shares advanced as against 431 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

New listing - Acropetal Technologies was trading at Rs 136, up 51% over an issue price of Rs 90 a share.

Hanung Toys jumped 8% and Raj TV rallied 18%. ITI was up 2% and HCC up 1%.

However, Canara Bank fell 1% as it launched QIP and fixed issue priced at Rs 604/share.

Asian markets were trading lower. Shanghai, Nikkei and Kospi fell 1-1.5%. Hang Seng, Straits Times and Taiwan went down 0.7%.

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Global cues:

Global markets were down yesterday as Brent crude turned back at USD 116 a barrel amid intensified fighting in Libya.

Base metals witnessed profit booking; Baltic Dry Index surged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 1.3 points at 12,213, after seeing recovery of 60 points from day's low.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 14 points at 2,752, after seeing recovery of 15 points from day's low. The S&P 500 Index fell 2 points at 1,320, after witnessing recovery of 8 points from day's low.

Commodities

Nymex crude was up 0.35% at USD 104.75/bbl after crude oil inventories rose more than expected by 2.5 million barrels.

London Brent crude gained nearly 2% at around USD 116 a barrel

Copper was down 3%; lowest level since December

Zinc fell almost 7%; lowest level since January 2010

Lead lost over 4%

April natural gas contract gained 1.4% at USD 3.93 per MMBtu

April gold contract was up 0.2% at USD 1429.6/ounce

May silver contract gained 1.1% at USD 36.04/ounce

Baltic Dry Index shot up 3.4%; up 18% in last 10 days and gained 40% since February 4

F&O cues:

Total Futures Open Int up Rs 1238 crore, Total Options Open Int up Rs 1324 crore

Total stock futures Open Int add 86 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty futures Open Int add 9.2 lakh shares in Open Int, premium down at 11 pts from 15 pts prem

India VIA down 1.6% at 23.28

Nifty Open Int PCR down to 1.27 from 1.29

Total Put add 2.34 lakh shares, call add 15.2 lakh shares

Highest OI outstanding at 5400 put, 5300 put, 5600 call

Nifty 5600 call add 7.9 lakh (14%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5000 Put add 3.4 lakh (7%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5800 call add 3.3 lakh (7%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5600 put add 2.9 lakh (16%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5500 put add 2.5 lakh (5%) shares in Open Int

Nifty April 5500 Put adds 1.7 lakh (33%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5400 put shed 3.2 lakh (3%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5100 put shed 3.4 lakh (5%) shares in Open Int

Nifty 5300 put shed 2.6 lakh (3%) shares in Open Int