Nifty trades near day’s low level; auto and realty drags

The local equity indices are trading near their day's low in late morning session as continuous selling pressure in Auto, Realty and Bankex counters are pulling the markets down while some defensive sectors like FMCG and IT are trying to give some support to the markets .Meanwhile the other regional markets too were not showing that much encouraging mood, majority of them were trading in red while US index futures were also showing down tick in screen trade. Back home, defensive counter Wipro up 3.02% was the top gainer on the BSE Sensex  as the company's Lighting and Furniture Business arm has introduced its premium range of indoor and outdoor LED-based lighting range and designer modular furniture WE and Toronto based designer chair range Transit .While Realty major DLF once again is reeling in red, down by 2.47% .The broader indices too were trading in the red, the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were down by 0.83% and 0.56% respectively. The market breadth on the BSE was in favour of declines in the ratio of 1487:965 while 92 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex declined 73.97 points or 0.41% at 18137.55.The index has touched a high of 18,306.75 and a low of 18,133.00 respectively.

The BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were down by 0.83% and 0.56% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Consumer Durables (CD) up by 0.23% , FMCG up by 0.10% and IT up by  0.03% while, Auto down by 1.50%, Realty down by 1.44%, Bankex down by 0.87%, Power down 0.72 and Healthcare down 0.58% were the major losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 3.02%, Sterlite Industries up by 1.75%, Jindal Steel up by 1.71%, RIL up by 0.86% and L&T was up by 0.56%.

DLF down by 2.47%, Hero Honda down by 2.30%, Tata Power down 2.08%, Tata Motors down by 2.04%, and NTPC down by 1.96% were the top losers on the index.

In order to give a boost to the affordable housing concept, Industry body Assocham has urged the government to re-introduce the tax based incentive scheme in the forthcoming Budget for 2011-12. It also wants a core sector tag for the real estate industry to help bring down prices of homes and hence boost demand.

The industry body has, in a letter addressed to the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the tax based incentives under the section 80IB (10) of the Income Tax Act should be extended by five years in the coming budget.  The industry body feels that these incentives will not only help boost the demand for real estate sector but also help social inclusion by generating more affordable houses. 

The government had in last year's budget extended a similar scheme by one year keeping in mind the state of the economy, but given the fiscal constraint is understood to be unwilling to extend the scheme again. The real estate industry however feels that continuation of the scheme is a must for increase in affordable housing construction, something that the government would also like to see as part of its social inclusion agenda.

'The realty firms must be encouraged through fiscal incentives to construct small dwelling units at affordable prices, which should go a long way in uplifting the social status of 'aam aadmi',' said the industry body adding that tax incentives will not impact revenue much as these will boost the volumes, compensating for lower rate of taxation. Another demand raised by Assocham is that the sector should be accorded the long pending status of an industry for purpose of availing long term and short term finances like other industries. It should be provided with a separate ministry for better policy making and should have an independent regulator to ensure such policies in letter and spirit by all the parties concerned.

The industry body is also seeking core sector status for real estate, particularly for integrated affordable housing project development from the regulators like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). This will help solve the funding problem for the realtors and help bring down the cost of projects and making the 'affordable houses' all the more affordable. Finally, the industry body also wants greater tax concession for first time house buyers to distinguish them for people who houses as an investment. 

The S&P CNX Nifty trimmed 24.45 points or 0.455 at 5,434.50.The index has touched a high of 5,483.55 and a low of 5,433.85 respectively.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Wipro up by 2.85%, Sterlite Industries up by 1.68%, Jindal Steel up by 1.46%, , IDFC up by 1.36% and ACC up by 1.10%.

The top losers of the index were Sesa Goa down by 2.68%, Tata Motors down by 2.62%, DLF down 2.49%, Hero Honda down by 2.44% and NTPC down was down by 2.26%.

Majority of the other reginal peers are trading in red; Hang Seng trimmed 0.37%, Jakarta Composite slid 0.21%, Straits Times slipped 0.44%, Seoul Composite dropped 0.39% and Taiwan Weighted declined 0.05% while KLSE Composite surged 0.11%, Shanghai Composite gained 0.87% and Nikkei 225 increased by 0.14%. 

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