Sensex cheers Eco Survey; Jet Airways up 20% on revised Etihad deal

3:46 pmThe Economic Survey lifted the market sentiment pushing both Sensex and Nifty to close higher.

Sensex closed at 19152.41, up 0.72 percent while the Nifty closed up 5796.90, up 0.62 percent.

The Economic Survey on 2012-2013 said that India is likely to hit a fiscal deficit target of 5.3 percent of GDP this year despite a significant shortfall in revenue, a government report said on Wednesday, a day before the budget, but it conceded economic growth would be a sluggish 5 percent.

1:46 pm Shares of Jet Airways today surged 18 percent after CNBC TV18 reported that some headway has been

made in the deal between the Indian carrier and the Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad. The report said that Jet Airways has made a fresh bid to woo Etihad and revised its proposal to rescue Etihad Deal by giving in to Etihad’s demand on a RoFR clause.

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12:50 pm The Indian equity markets extended the rise, after the economic survey reiterated the government’s commitment to fiscal consolidation and projected a modest inflation.

The survey stressed on the need to stay on path of indicated fiscal consolidation and to rein in oil subsidy, raising hopes that the government is likely to present the promised responsible budget by focussing on controlling its subsidy bill.

The Sensex was at 19155.68, up 0.74 percent and Nifty was at 5798.30, up 0.64 percent.

Nightmare returns on St as mid-caps again in free-fall

11:15 am Nightmare returned to haunt the market with mid-cap shares crashing again.

Core Education, a stock that had fallen 66 percent on Monday, extended the decline to 43 percent today.

Other shares that were down includes ABG Shipyard, down 20 percent, Core Projects, down 38 percent, Educomp Solutions, down 10.6 percent, HDIL down 4 percent, Jain Irrigation down 6.3 percent, Opto Circuits down 9 percent and Pantaloon Retail down 3.6 percent.

The mid-cap index, which opened in the positive territory, declined 0.5 percent. Of the total 250 scrips, 91 advanced as 151 declined.

The markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India, has initiated a probe into the fall in some of the scrips yesterday. Sebi chief UK Sinha has been quoted as saying in a report in the Economic Times that the regulator will take action whenever stock movements raise suspicion.

“A similar attempt was made sometime in July in about 4-5 scrips. We identified the people who tried to manipulate the market and passed orders against them,” he has said.

Whatever promises Sebi makes, the fact is that frequency of such crashes in the midcap space have increased over the last few months and are a vindication of the vulnerability of such stocks.

It also raises suspicion about the corporate governance practice of many listed small and medium companies.

It has to be noted that Core Education’s fall today is despite the clarifications given by the company’s management.

The fall in the shares were attributed to rumours that the company’s pledged shares were released in the open market.

10 am : Sensex, mid-caps bull back on bargain hunting; rail stocks decline

The Indian stock markets were up in modestly in early trades, as stocks that were battered yesterday managed to pull back with investors hunting for bargains.

The markets will take cues from the economic survey to be tabled in Parliament. The survey is likely to have pointers to tomorrow’s Budget.

The Sensex was at 19096, up 0.4 percent and the Nifty at 5784.35, up 0.4 percent.

The BSE mid-cap index, which was down about 2 percent yesterday, also rose 0.5 percent. Suzlon, up 9 percent, led the gains.

Saurabh Mukherjee of Ambit Capital told CNBC-TV18 that the crash in the mid-cap space was due to a funding crunch in the local market and that it is not related to the fundamentals and the budget expectations.

However, he said FIIs have turned cautious after the US Federal Reserve’s minutes from the most recent meeting released last week suggested it may slow or stop buying bonds sooner than expected.

But the US stocks yesterday rose as the Fed reassured markets of its commitment to strong monetary stimulus. Taking cues, Asian shares also revived today, though political gridlock in Italy is keeping investors vary, Reuters reported.

[caption id=“attachment_641213” align=“alignleft” width=“435”] FIIs have turned cautious due to the earlier statement from the US Federal Reserve. Reuters[/caption]

There has been a revival in sentiment globally too. According to a Reuters report, Asian shares rebounded, tracking US stocks higher as the Federal Reserve Bank reassured markets of its commitment to strong monetary stimulus. Political gridlock in Italy, however, kept investors vary.

Most of the stocks, such as ONGC, Reliance Industries and L&T that pummelled by investors yesterday, were up about 1 percent today.

Jet Airways also edged up4 percent, after a steep fall over the last few trading sessions.

Railway-related stocks, such as Kalindee Rail Nirman (down 9 percent), Texmaco (down 1.5 percent) and Titagarh wagons (down more than 5 percent), extended yesterday’s decline.

“There was not much in the railway budget to impact the markets. Most railway related stocks (Kernex, Titagarh, BEML and Kalindi Rail) ended sharply lower,” said Dipen Shah, head of private client group - research, Kotak Securities, yesterday.