BSE Sensex rises 0.3%; May inflation data in focus

The BSE Sensex rose 0.3% in early trade on Tuesday, with banks leading the rise, taking cues from strong Asian markets.

At 9:17 a.m. (0347 GMT), the 30-share BSE index was up 0.32% at 18,324.92 points, with 26 components advancing. The 50-share NSE index was up 0.4% at 5,502.75.

Financials such as State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bankwill be in focus as the data would provide cues on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) rate decision on Thursday.

The wholesale price index is expected to have risen 8.70% in May from a year earlier, up slightly from the previous month, thanks to rising food and fuel prices, a Reuters poll showed.

Economists expect the RBI to continue with its hawkish view as it attempts to control rising inflation.

Top mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp will be on the radar after sources said Citigroup has decided to reduce its stake in the firm to about 10% from 11.4% via stock market deals.

The MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 0.9% by 0304 GMT, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.2%.

The Nifty India stock futures in Singapore were up 0.1%.

On Monday, the 30-share BSE index closed barely changed at 18,266.03 points.

STOCKS TO WATCH

* Tata Communications after the telecoms firm said it had increased its effective holding in South Africa's second-biggest fixed-line phone operator Neotel to 61.5% from 49%.

* Oricon Enterprises Ltd after the firm said it had alloted 2.2 million shares to Clearwater Capital.

Moneycontrol.com

Sensex opens higher in early trade

Snapping a three-day losing streak, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex recovered by over 93 points in opening trade on Thursday on the back of a fresh spell of buying by funds as well as retail investors amid a firming trend on other Asian bourses.

However, participants kept their commitments restricted, on Thursday being the last session of monthly expiry in the derivatives segment on the NSE.

The 30-share barometer, which has lost nearly 153 points in the previous three sessions, rose by 93.36 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 19,542.05.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also moved up by 22.50 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 5,856.40.

Brokers said the emergence of buying by funds and investors, taking positive cues from other Asian markets in line with overnight gains in the US market following the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold short-term interest rates near zero, boosted the sentiment here.

Meanwhile, in the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up by 0.54 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei by 1.13 per cent in morning trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.76 per cent higher in the previous session.

Asian markets inch up; Wall Street ends lower

Asian shares inched higher in early trade on Wednesday, while the yen may head lower as some investors said the position unwinding due to risk aversion would be shortlived.

Crude oil slipped, extending two days of losses after Goldman Sachs urged investors to book profits, warning for a second time in as many days of an increased risk of price reversal .

Tokyo's Nikkei rose 0.4 percent while South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.2 percent, led by exporters, although resource-related stocks weakened across Asia , taking a cue from the widespread decline in commodity prices overnight.

The yen slipped 0.4 percent against the dollar as some analysts said its gains this week were because of stretched positioning and may be an opportunity to extend their short positions.

Brent crude for May was down 0.1 percent at $120.77 a barrel, extending a $3 plunge overnight. The May Brent contract expires on Thursday. U.S. May crude fell 0.1 percent to $106.12.

US stocks dropped on on worries falling oil prices could set off a reversal in the high-flying energy sector, while Alcoa's leaner-than-expected revenue disappointed.

Energy stocks led the S&P 500's losses, with the S&P Energy Index down 3 percent. Strategists were already worried the rally in energy stocks may have gone too far ahead of earnings, and a drop in oil prices could spark an extended sell-off.

Signalling the start of the US first-quarter earnings period, Alcoa Inc late Monday reported revenue that missed forecasts. Its profit, however, topped consensus expectations. Alcoa's stock slid 6 percent to $16.70 and was the Dow's biggest percentage loser of the day.

Materials stocks in general fell in sync with declines in metals prices. Investors are worried that Japan's massive earthquake and a nuclear crisis could weaken recovery prospects in the world's third-largest economy.

The SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF fell 2.2 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 117.53 points, or 0.95 percent, at 12,263.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexwas down 10.30 points, or 0.78 percent, at 1,314.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 26.72 points, or 0.96 percent, at 2,744.79.

The S&P Materials Index fell 1.4 percent while U.S.-traded shares of Rio Tinto fell 2.3 percent to $72.13. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc shed 3.1 percent to $53.70.

The day's slide broke some technical barriers, analysts said.

The S&P 500 fell below support at 1,320, and touched the rising 20-day moving average at about 1,310, according to Larry McMillan, president of McMillan Analysis Corp. in Morristown, New Jersey.

Composite volume was below average on the NYSE, Amex and Nasdaq, with 7.53 billion shares changing hands, compared with last year's daily average of 8.47 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by about 11 to 4 and on the Nasdaq by about 10 to 3.

Sensex slips into red; Realty, auto stocks fall

The markets have reversed direction and have slipped into the red. The Sensex fell 111 points to 19,479 and the Nifty declined 37 points to 5,848.

The markets have been consolidating over the past 3-4 sessions after the sharp up move that saw the benchmark indices gaining 10 per cent over 10 days. Analysts say there is little headroom for the markets on the upside from these levels.

Ambareesh Baliga of Way2Wealth said, "The markets are towards the end of the rally seen in the last 2-3 weeks. There are no data points for the markets to shoot above these levels."

Somil Mehta of Sharekhan said, "Investors need to be cautious because the markets have entered a euphoric stage because small caps and mid-caps are moving too fast. The Nifty is likely to head towards 5,700 levels."

All sectoral indices slipped into the red. Realty stocks saw sharp cut with the BSE Realty index slipping 1.6 per cent. Indiabulls Real Estate declined 4 per cent. HDIL fell 3.5 per cent. DLF was trading 1.4 per cent lower.

Auto stocks declined 1.2 per cent. TVS Motors fell 2.7 per cent. Tata Motors declined 2.2 per cent. Bajaj Auto, Hero Honda, M&M and Maruti were trading 1-2 per cent lower.

On the Sensex, only 5 stocks were trading higher. Bharti took the lead, rising 1.8 per cent. ITC, HUL, Sterlite and HDFC Bank were in the green. Jaiprakash Associates and Wipro fell 2-2.5 per cent.


Shilpi Cable Tech had a strong listing today but the stock has come under selling pressure and was trading 1 per cent lower.

Asian markets rose overlooking another strong quake in Japan. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was trading 2 per cent higher. The Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi gained more than 0.5 per cent.

Overnight, the Dow closed with minor losses, down 17 points to 12,409.

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/sensex-slips-into-red-realty-auto-stocks-fall-148311?pfrom=home-Business&cp

Asia Stocks Fall, Japan Bonds Gain on Growth, Nuclear Concerns

Asian stocks fell for a second day as Japan struggled to contain a meltdown at a nuclear power plant. Japanese government bonds advanced and crude oil declined on concern growth will cool in the world’s third-largest economy.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was 0.2 percent lower at 133.34 as of 1:14 p.m. in Tokyo, having earlier retreated as much as 0.9 percent. The Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average fell 0.4 percent. The yield on Japan’s benchmark 10-year debt dropped from a one-week high. The S&P GSCI Index of 24 raw materials slid for a third day as oil slid to a one-week low in New York. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.2 percent.

Stocks are retreating after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its forecast for economic growth in Japan, where radiation levels that can prove fatal were detected outside the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant’s reactor buildings. In the U.S., data is forecast to show consumer confidence fell this month for the first time since September. President Barack Obama defended his decision to commit U.S. forces in Libya as rebels advanced on leader Muammar Qaddafi’s hometown of Sirte.

“The situation at the nuclear plant isn’t getting better,” said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist in Tokyo at Daiwa Asset Management Co., which oversees about $104 billion. “We still don’t know how much of a negative effect it’ll have on the economy. The uncertainty is very negative for stocks.”

Losses on MSCI’s Asian index were capped as companies including Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. (1114) and Anhui Conch Cement Co. reported profits that topped analyst estimates. Brilliance China, the Chinese partner of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, jumped 7.8 percent in Hong Kong trading, while Anhui Conch, China’s biggest cement maker, rallied 5.6 percent.

Japan’s Economy

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. (8411), Japan’s third-largest bank by market value, sank 2.8 percent. Goldman Sachs said today the country’s economy will shrink next quarter and lowered its growth forecast for the fiscal year starting April 1 to 0.7 percent from 1.3 percent.

Japanese data released today showed unemployment fell and retail sales rose in February, before the nation’s biggest earthquake on record and an ensuing tsunami left 28,000 people dead or missing, flattened homes and crippled the nuclear plant. The ruling party may scrap a proposed corporate-tax cut and boost levies on individuals to pay for earthquake reconstruction and reduce the need to step up bond sales, officials said.

The yield on Japan’s benchmark 10-year bond declined 1.5 basis points to 1.23 percent at Japan Bond Trading Co. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

Government Spending

“It remains to be seen how the nuclear issue will affect stocks, and the extent of the earthquake damage is still unknown,” said Keiko Onogi, a Tokyo-based fixed-income strategist at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. “We hear talk about how much the government may need to spend, but nothing has been finalized.”

The yen weakened against most of the 16 most actively traded currencies, slipping 0.1 percent to 115.15 per euro. It traded at 81.75 against the dollar, after yesterday touching 81.85, the weakest level since March 18.

Treasury five-year notes snapped an eight-day decline before the release of the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index, which is forecast to fall to 65 from 70.4 in February, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. A separate survey showed the S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 U.S. cities probably fell 3.2 percent in January from a year earlier.

U.S. index futures fluctuated after the S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent yesterday, snapping a three-day gain. Halliburton Co. (HAL) dropped 2.1 percent in late trading after the world’s second- largest oilfield-services provider said disruptions in the Middle East and North Africa will “severely” affect first- quarter results, reducing earnings to a range of 3 cents to 4 cents a share.

Libya Offensive

Oil for May delivery slipped 0.6 percent to $103.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, extending a three- day, 1.7 percent slump. Brent crude oil declined 0.4 percent to $114.31 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The advance by Libyan rebels on Sirte extends their offensive along the coast, where over the weekend they recaptured the oil ports of Brega and Ras Lanuf, helped by the U.S.-led aerial bombardment of government positions. Obama said the decision to take military action was necessary to avert “a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world.”

The S&P GSCI index declined 0.4 percent. Immediate-delivery platinum declined 0.3 percent to $1,739.35 an ounce and gold slid 0.1 percent to $1,418.50 an ounce, after earlier dropping to $1.417. Silver lost 0.5 percent to $36.9450 an ounce.

To contact the reporters on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net; Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo at akitanaka@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net

bloomberg.com

Asia stocks rise on Japan progress; yen softer

Japanese stocks jumped nearly 4% on Tuesday amid reports of progress in containing radiation from an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant, and the yen was broadly softer on the possibility of further intervention by major central banks.

Shares elsewhere in Asia posted modest gains, after bouncing on Monday when Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday.

US stocks rose around 1.5% on Monday, buoyed by AT&T's move to buy Deutsche Telecom.

Oil prices were steady, following a 1% rise in the previous session as widening unrest in the Middle East intensified fears of supply disruptions.

Tokyo's Nikkei share average was up 3.9% in early trade, while Nikkei futures on the Osaka Stock Exchange leapt 3.4%.

The Nikkei remained down around 7% on its close on March 11, the day northeastern Japan was struck by a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that left at least 21,000 people dead or missing and crippled a nuclear power plant.

Benchmark 10-year Japanese Government Bond futures fell 0.28 point to 139.46.

The yen traded around 81.20 to the dollar and eased against the euro to around 115.45.

Last week, expectations of massive repatriations to pay for quake reconstruction drove the Japanese currency to a record 76.25 to the dollar before a rare intervention by the Group of Seven rich nations on Friday to curb its appreciation.

US crude oil futures edged up 8 cents to USD 102.41 a barrel and Brent crude rose the same amount to USD 115.04.

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