Markets recover smartly; still in the red

Though still trading in the negative territory, the local equity markets, after falling sharply in the early morning session, have recovered smartly. The recovery was mainly led by index heavy-weight Reliance Industries, which is trading up by around one and half-a-percent providing ceiling from further decline. The Sensex which had fallen more than 500 points and Nifty which had declined more than 150 points amid fears of a nuclear catastrophe in Japan have shrugged the global cues off to recover the lost ground. But the mood still seems to be extremely bearish in the markets on the back of rising inflation, possible rate hike announcement by RBI, crude oil prices and the economic impact of the calamity in Japan on global markets. All the Asian markets are trading in the red with deep cuts as the condition in earthquake hit-Japan worsened on the news that radiation level at the nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefacture in Japan shot up following a third explosion at one of its reactors. Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan said there was a high risk of elevated levels of radiation from a reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant that exploded earlier in the day. US index futures too have tumbled in trade today at this point of time. Back home, all the sectoral indices with an exception of Oil & Gas, which was up by 0.56% were trading in the red. Realty stocks saw the biggest sell off. Power, information technology, metals, auto counters followed suit. The broader markets are still reeling under pressure and mirroring their fall, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have now lost 1.14% and 1.16%, respectively. The volume has already crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark at this point of time. The market breadth on the BSE was negative; the losers thrashed the gainers in a ratio 1840:708 and 83 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Sensex tumbled 216.51 points or 1.17% at 18,222.97. The index touched a high and a low of 18,246.45 and 17,920.55, respectively.

The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices plunged 1.14% and 1.16%, respectively.

All the sectoral indices on the BSE barring Oil & Gas, which was up by 0.56% were trading in the red. Realty down 2.62%, Power down 1.84%, Information Technology (IT) down 1.66%, Metal down 1.57% and Auto down 1.56% were the major losers.

Meanwhile, state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made a considerable gas discovery in Tripura. The well AD 30, located on the northwest flank of Agartala Dome in Agartala license of Assam-Arakan Basin, was drilled to a depth of 3,515 meter. On testing, one of its sand zone flowed gas at the rate of 1,13,400 cubic meter per day.

The discovery has been already notified to upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), it said without giving details of the reserves the find may hold.

ONGC reported a net profit of Rs 7083.23 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 as compared to Rs 3053.58 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, up 131.96%. Its total income increased by 38.75% to Rs 21473.41 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2010 from Rs 15476.01 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

The top losers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki down 2.89%, DLF down 2.61%, JP Associates down 2.55%, Tata Power down 2.53% and Sterlite Inds down 2.36%; while RIL up 1.41% was the lone gainer on the index.

In connection with the Adarsh Housing Society Scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the premises of senior IAS officer and former Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Jairaj Phatak in three different cities of Mumbai, Pune and Delhi.

Phatak has been alleged to have illegally regularized the increased height of the Colaba tower to 100.7 metre without referring it to the high rise committee. His son Kanishka is among the 103 members who owned an apartment in Adarsh Society.

Meanwhile, the scam has claimed the job of former chief minister Ashok Chavan after allegations surfaced of conspiracy between bureaucrats and politicians to corner flats in the 31-storey building constructed on a prime plot in the posh Colaba area of south Mumbai, originally meant for Kargil war widows and heroes.

The S&P CNX Nifty tanked 65.80 points or 1.19% at 5465.70. The index touched high of 5472.85 and a low of 5373.65 respectively.

The top losers on the Nifty were RPower down 4.12%, Sesa Goa down 3.31%, Maruti Suzuki down 2.85%, HCL Tech down 2.81% and Suzlon Energy down 2.80%.

On the other hand, Reliance Inds up 1.68%, Sun Pharma up 1.16%, BPCL up 0.92% and Siemens up 0.36% were the only gainers on the index.

All the Asian markets were trading in the red with deep cuts. Shanghai Composite tanked 1.71%, Hang Seng tumbled 3.22%, Jakarta Composite sank 1.93%, KLSE Composite dipped 0.82%, Nikkei 225 plunged 10.55%, Straits Times trimmed 2.45%, Seoul Composite dropped 2.40% and Taiwan Weighted plummeted 3.35%.

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