Action now shifts to Fed, Indian equities tread water

3.30 p.m: European markets have recovered from their lows ahead of the Fed announcement. Indian markets, however, traded in a very narrow range with BSE Sensex closing at 17,052, down 47 points, while NSE Nifty closed lower at 5,128, down 11 points.

Among the stocks that swung the most was Hero Moto Corp, which fell by 3.43 percent at Rs 2,130.

BHEL touched a new yearly low at Rs 1,626 as markets disapprove of government’s plan of divestment in the company.

Titan shot up near the end of the day, closing 3.46 percent higher at Rs 234.75.

Reliance Industries slipped 1.91 percent to close at Rs 835. Its fall caused the oil and gas index to lose 1.3 percent, making it the biggest losing sectoral index.

Nocil moved smartly by over 13 percent on the news of its group company Navin Flourine picking up over six percent stake in the company.

2. p.m: European markets continue to slide ahead of the Fed announcement. Indian markets, too, remained in the negative territory with BSE Sensex trading 55 points lower at17,043 and NSE Nifty trading 18 points lower at 5,122.

Hero Moto Corp is the biggest loser among the top traded stocks, tumbling 2.53 percent to Rs 2,150. Reliance continued to stay weak at Rs 835, down nearly 2 percent. The oil and gas index fell 1.25 percent because of Reliance’s weakness.

ICICI Bank is the top gainer, inching up 1.65 percent to Rs 896. This has made the banking index the top performing sectoral index, rising 0.78 percent.

Maruti has said that it will be investing $1.3 billion for a new plant in Gujarat. The stock, however, is trading 2.52 percent lower at Rs 1,127.

HCL Tech confirmed its 5-year order from Deutsche Bank, which it has bagged along with TCS. The stock trades 0.81 percent higher at Rs 406.

Borosil Glass has said the company is considering a buyback. The stock has shot up 9.34 percent to Rs 799.

1. p.m: A weak opening by the European markets is spilling over to Indian markets. BSE Sensex slipped 73 points to 17,026 while NSE Nifty was trading at 5119, down 21 points. Eurpoean markets are trading nearly 1 percent lower than the previous close.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has raised the price target of Eicher Motors to Rs 1,965 as its joint venture with Volvo, the fastest growing commercial vehicle company in the country, measures up well. Its two-wheeler business is also gaining traction with a waiting list of 6-10 months for consumers. The stock has touched a new all-time high of Rs 1,619.95, but currently trades at Rs 1,594.

In a report, Goldman Sachs has said the proposal being considered by the finance ministry to ask ONGC to contribute more towards fuel under-recoveries is unlikely to go through as the reported proposal is just one of the many proposals being considered.

Sterlite Technologies , meanwhile, is trading higher by 3.25 percent at Rs 41.30 on the news of the company receiving an order from BSNL.

12 p.m: Markets continue to trade in a narrow range with the BSE Sensex trading at 17,136, up 36 points, while NSE Nifty is up 9 points at 5,149.

Reliance remains in the negative zone, hovering at Rs 840, down 1.40 percent. KS Oil is turning weaker on the news about its auditor pointing out that the company is likely to face a loss of Rs 400 crore which has not been accounted for. The loss was on account of trading by the promoters in mustard oil. KS Oil had a net profit of Rs 177.46 crore in March 2011. The stock is trading at Rs 10.95, down 11.3 percent.

Meanwhile, analysts are upbeat after a meeting with the management of Tata Power. In their note, they have mentioned that actual coal price for Mundra power plant will be lower by 33 percent as the company has an inventory of 1 million tonnes from Indonesia, which was imported before the country raised the export duty. The management plans to repatriate coal profits to India by merging the coal mine holding company based in Mauritius with Mundra, which could eliminate dividend tax from the coal mining company.

Rio Tinto CEO’s warning of a slowdown could impact metal stocks as some of its clients are asking for a rescheduling of their shipments.

10.45 a.m: Markets have retreated from their day’s high, with both BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty trading marginally lower than the previous day’s close. BSE Sensex is at 17,090, a drop of 8 points, while NSE Nifty is down 2 points at 5,138.

Coal India stood out among the top traded stocks after the environment ministry cleared the decks for commissioning of its mines. The stock trades at Rs 386.75, an uptick of 2.16 percent. Reliance continues to slide and is currently trading at Rs 838.20, down 1.60 percent. Reports say the company’s gas output has dipped further.

In its report on Lupin, RBS has said there is a limited upside from the company getting an approval for selling generic oral contraceptive Norethindrone in the US market. The report points out that Lupin is the secong Indian company to get the licence after Glenmark. RBS says that though Lupin will start shipping the product soon, Glenmark’s progress in the US as far as the drug is concerned is not encouraging.

Meanwhile, research firm Quant has downgraded Bajaj Auto to ‘Reduce’ as it sees limited upside in the stock from current levels. The stock trades 0.57 percent lower at Rs 1,618.

9.30 a.m: Taking cues from Asian peers, Indian markets have opened flat with the BSE Sensex trading at 17,171, higher by 71 points, and NSE Nifty at 5,165, up 26 points.

Among the stocks that have done well is Everonn , which has hit the upper circuit of 5 percent at Rs 385.60 on account of the preferential allotment to the Varkey Group at Rs 528 per share. Possibility of an open offer, which will be triggered due to a change in management control, has seen hectic buying at the counter.

Bajaj Hindusthan’s fall of 9.27 percent to Rs 42.65 is due to the scrip going ex-rights from today.

[caption id=“attachment_88426” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Markets are waiting for cues from the Fed as to how it is planning to bring down fiscal deficit and the possibility of another round of quantitative easing. Reuters”] [/caption]

KS Oils, which was in the news of late due to a possibility of a stake sale to Glencore, is down nearly 7 percent at Rs 11.45.

HCL Tech has edged up by over 1.52 percent to Rs 409.15 on the news of securing an order from Deutsche Bank, along with TCS.

Asian markets are steady, with most of them trading at around 0.25 percent higher.

Markets are waiting for cues from the Fed as to how it is planning to bring down fiscal deficit and the possibility of another round of quantitative easing.

Among the top traded stocks, ICICI Bank is the top gainer with a rise of 1.56 percent at Rs 896. Reliance, on the other hand, has lost the most among top traded stocks with a fall of 0.79 percent at Rs 845.

Lupin has touched a new all-time high after the company received US FDA approval for launching a generic version of an oral contraceptive. The stock trades at Rs 491.95, a rise of 1.75 percent.

Voltas is reported to be in talks with Wipro to buy out its water business.