BSE Sensex gains, Tata Power up 3% on tariff hike

Moneycontrol Bureau
Live Market Commentary

9:50 am Buzzing: Morgan Stanley says that Infosys may cut its FY14e revenue guidance to 4-6 percent year-on-year. Earlier Infosys had given revenue guidance of 6-10 percent. The stock is down 1 percent on the BSE.

9.43 am Market check: The Sensex is up 83.54 points at 19479.35, and the Nifty is up 23.65 points at 5865.85. About 790 shares have advanced, 341 shares declined, and 55 shares are unchanged.

9:40 am Chinese data: China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) slipped to 50.1 in June from 50.8 in May, a survey showed on Monday, reinforcing worries about tepid growth in the second quarter.

The PMI reading, published by the National Bureau of Statistics, was slightly stronger than market expectations of 50.0 in a Reuters poll.

9:35 am Losers: Infosys (down 1.33 percent), Bajaj Auto, Wipro, TCS and HUL are top losers in the Sensex.

9:30 am Buzzing: Consumers of Tata Power will have to pay 25 percent more tariff as MERC has approved an average increase in tariff to Rs 5.26 per unit from Rs 4.19 per unit. Price changes applicable today onwards. The stock is up around 3 percent on the BSE.

9:20 am Expert view: Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank sees the rupee trading in 59-59.50 range this week. He told CNBC-TV18 that the Indian rupee has become much more volatile compared to any other emerging market (EM) currency and he expect this volatility to continue.

"Our flows are larger as compared to other EMs and we have the current account deficit," he added.

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The market has opened on a flat note with a negative bias. The Sensex is down 48.24 points at 19347.57, and the Nifty slips 8.10 points to 5834.10.

According to technical analyst Sudarshan Sukhani of S2anlytics.com, the short-term market is up. Intra-day traders should trade on the long side. "Buy on dips. Those holding Puts for July can continue to hold them. But, this current bull trend won't continue for the long period of time," he told CNBC-TV18.

Indian rupee has opened lower by 7 paise to 59.46 per dollar on Monday as against Friday's closing of 59.39.

Arvind Narayanan of DBS Bank says the rupee is expected to weaken primarily driven by underlying dollar demand by OMCs (oil marketing companies) and banks. "Also, weak Chinese manufacturing data is dollar positive," he adds.

Later in the session today, HSBC's final PMI score for June will be released. Its preliminary reading for the month came out at a nine-month low.

Asian markets were cautious in morning trade on Monday. Chinese manufacturing data showed a continued slowdown in factory activity, China's official Purchasing Managers' Index for June came in at 50.1, slightly better than the of 50, but still a decline from May’s reading of 50.8.

Brent crude was trading below USD 102 levels after slipping on Friday. From precious metals space, gold price stood around USD 1230 an ounce. Back home, the government has cut base import price of gold to USD 401 per 10 gram and for silver it cut to USD 604 per kg.