Nifty has to stay above 5,920 for another upmove

On par with the most of the Asian indices which were trading in the green the domestic indices too opened in the positive on news that China’s December exports were far larger than expected. The Sensex opened 61 points up at 19,728 while Nifty opened 27 points up at 5,999. We may now see the Nifty witnessing a sideways move, however the index has to stay above 5,920 for another upmove. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) saw an advance decline of 575:1146 while the volume was 89.64 crore shares.

China's trade surplus soared to $31.6 billion in December, thrashing estimates and widening sharply from a $19.6 billion surplus in November, aided by a strong growth in the country's exports. Official data released Thursday showed exports expanded 14.1% during the month from the year-earlier period, while imports grew 6%.

However this positive opening was short-lived and after hitting the intra day high, the indices soon started their downward journey to enter into a negative zone. The Sensex hit a lower intraday high of 19,784 while the Nifty too hit a lower high of 6,005 for the third day in a row.

After announcing a hike in railway fares, the government is now set to raising diesel prices by one rupee per month for 10 months and increasing the number of subsidised cylinders. A hike of Rs 4.50 per litre in diesel prices and that of Rs 100 per cylinder for LPG prices is expected. Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said the government was looking to hike GDP growth to 8% in two to three years and was willing to take tough decisions.

The fall continued to make the indices hit a lower low on the indices. The Sensex hit a low of 19,596 while the Nifty hit a low of 5,947. However, soon the indices made a smart recovery to end marginally in the red with the news of approval of plan by the Cabinet to infuse Rs122 billion in state-run banks. India's state-run banks are facing rising non-performing assets (NPA) and write-offs because of poor lending decisions. Finance minister P Chidambaram said the combined injection of capital would not exceed the Rs150 billion provisioned in the budget for the fiscal year ending 2013, which is short of the banks' requirements.

The Sensex closed at 19,664, three points (0.02%) lower while the Nifty settled at 5,969, three points (0.05%) down.

Among the broader indices, the BSE Mid-cap index fell 0.49% and the BSE Small-cap index fell 0.54%.

The sectoral gainers were led by BSE Bankex (up 0.62%); BSE Oil & Gas (up 0.47%); BSE PSU index (up 0.32%); BSE Auto (up 0.31%) and BSE Realty (up 0.04%). BSE Power (down 0.93%); BSE Healthcare (down 0.70%); BSE Metal (down 0.63%); BSE Capital Goods (down 0.62%) and BSE TECk (down 0.37%) were the main losers.

Seven of the 30 stocks on the Sensex closed in the positive. The chief gainers were ONGC (up 3.41%); Tata Motors (up 2.07%); HDFC Bank (up 1.24%); SBI

(up 0.70%) and Coal India (up 0.49%). The key losers were BHEL (down 2.19%); Hindalco Industries (down 1.52%); TCS (down 1.35%); Sterlite Industries (down 1.28%) and Sun Pharma (down 0.99%).

The top two A Group gainers on the BSE were—Oil India (up 4.04%) and Tech Mahindra (up 4.02%).

The top two A Group losers on the BSE were— Engineers India (down 4.11%) and UltraTech Cement (down 3.42%).

The top two B Group gainers on the BSE were—Shree Rama Multi-Tech (up 19.91%) and RM Mohite Industries (up 19.85%).

The top two B Group losers on the BSE were— APW President (down 19.99%) and Parekh Aluminex (down 19.98%).

Out of the 50 stocks listed on the Nifty, 12 stocks settled in the positive. The major gainers were ONGC (up 3.70%); Tata Motors (up 1.97%); Bank of Baroda (up 1.47%); Axis Bank (up 1.44%) and HDFC Bank (up 0.97%).  The top losers were UltraTech Cement (down 3.18%)%); Ambuja Cements (down 2.84%); BHEL (down 2.28%); Hindalco Industries (down 2.01%) and Sesa Goa (down 1.85%).

The European Central Bank is due to release its monthly interest-rate decision later in the global day today, 10 January 2013. The Bank of England is also due to release its monthly interest-rate decision later in the day.

Except for Jakarta Composite (down 1.04%) and KLSE Composite (down 0.32%), all other Asian indices closed in green, with the highest gainer being the Taiwan Weighted (0.94% up). At the time of writing, two of the three key European indices were trading higher and the US stock futures were in the positive.

Back home, foreign institutional investors were net buyers of shares totaling Rs848.95 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors were net sellers of equities aggregating Rs518.30 crore.

Punj Lloyd, stepped up its offer for the construction business of Macmahon Holdings, looking to trump a current deal with Leighton Holdings. Punj Lloyd unit Sembawang Australia said it would offer A$38 million for Macmahon's construction businesses, including its rail business. Alternatively, it is offering to beat Macmahon's existing A$20 million agreement with Leighton for the construction assets, minus the rail business, by A$5 million. Punj Lloyd fell 4.21% to close at Rs60.25 on the NSE.

Rolta International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rolta India, has been awarded a $31 million (around Rs 170 crore) contract by the largest three-service municipal utility in the United States, Memphis Light Gas and Water (MLGW). The deal to be executed over the next two years, will see Rolta provide consulting, systems integration and software services. Rolta India fell 0.92% to close at Rs 64.55 on the NSE.