Nifty quiet

Indian equity benchmarks were hovering around their previous day's closing values at 14:31 hours and remained in a tight range since the beginning of trade today, despite strong global cues.

Investment Advisor, SP Tulsian feels that the market is likely to remain in a range around 5300-5500 till the expiry.

"I don't think that there is much weakness but there is neither any enthusiasm as well. We need to play on the cues coming in from the global market. In that scenario, whenever we see a fall of may be about 50 points on Nifty, the negative perception starts building up. However, I don't think that that kind of weakness really exists in the market. May be 5300 could see the renewed buying interest coming in or short-covering coming in and again whenever it moves to about 5500, we see the renewed selling or the shorts getting created. So, may be till expiry till [March 31] we are likely to see the move range bound move around 5300-5500.

Financial, steel and realty companies' shares were supporting the markets. Heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC too were on buyers' radar along with Tata Motors, M&M and Sun Pharma.

However, selling continued in TCS, Wipro, Ranbaxy Labs, Hindalco, NTPC, HUL, Infosys, Maruti, Cipla, Hero Honda, Ambuja Cements and Reliance Power.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 53 points at 17,932 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 20 points to 5,393.

On the global front, European markets like France's CAC rallied 2%, Germany's DAX jumped 3% and Britain's FTSE went up 1%. US index futures surged more than 1%.

Pipavav, Acropetal Tech, Fineotex Chemical, Sudar Garments, Tata Coffee, Reliance Industries, SBI, Infosys and Hindalco were the most active shares on exchanges.

HDFC, Sun Pharma, ITC up

The Nifty was extremely volatile in trade at 12:05 hours and was trading in a tight range of 5360-5400 since early trade. Market breadth was too mixed; about 630 shares advanced as against 622 shares declined on the National Stock Exchange.

The short-term is very range bound. "The market is trying to make up its mind as to which way to go from a medium-term perspective. The series of events which have been unfolding in the last two weeks is

• difficult to fully understand what the implications are and
• difficult to forecast how these events will take shape in terms of how much incremental damage could there be, either it is Japan or the Middle-East."

"The market is currently displaying a sort of confused move, choppy on either side without going anywhere. It just might continue like that for a while more," he added.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 76 points at 17,955 and the 50-share NSE Nifty went up 25 points to 5,397, supported by oil & gas, financial, capital goods and steel companies' shares.

Jindal Steel, M&M, HDFC, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, Sun Pharma, SAIL and Dr Reddy's Labs were top gainers, moving up 1-2%.

However, Ranbaxy Labs was the top loser with 4.6% loss as Mylan is seeking to block Lipitor generic in US. Lipitor was estimated to add USD 500-600 million to Ranbaxy's sales.

Infosys, TCS, HUL, NTPC, Reliance Communications, Cipla, Maruti, Hindalco, PNB and Reliance Capital were other losers in trade.

Crude prices have been on a rise since the past many months now and the unending unrest in the Middle-East is pushing it further up. Brent climbed 1.5% on Monday towards USD 116 per barrel after western forces launched a military campaign against Libya, stoking fears of intensifying violence in North Africa and the Middle-East.

Sensex choppy

The Nifty was trading with moderate losses amid volatility at 10:41 hours, dragged down by oil & gas, technology, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), power and realty companies' shares. Ranbaxy, SBI and ICICI Bank too were down. Rising oil prices could be weighed on the markets today; Brent crude was inching closer to USD 116 a barrel.

Crude prices may be buoyant till Libyan tensions continue, says Praveen Kumar of Facts Global Energy. Nymex crude was trading at USD 102.92 a barrel, up 1.83% and London Brent crude jumped 1.17% to USD 115.65 a barrel.

Casey Research sees lot of speculation in crude oil market. "Crude oil can hit USD 150-155/barrel if tensions escalate. Crude oil production is insignificant in Libya."

Praveen Kumar expects prices to cool down once MENA tensions subside. Facts Global said, "Saudi Arabia has already ramped up production, which was up from 8 million to 9.2 million barrels per day. This ramp up covers Libyan decline.


The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 17,820, down 58 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 17 points to 5,356. The broader indices too were quite volatile.

However, steel, capital goods and select auto companies' shares were supporting the markets to cut down losses. HDFC, HDFC Bank and Sun Pharma were too on buyers' radar.

Among frontliners, Jindal Steel, HDFC, Sterlite Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Suzlon Energy, Cairn India and Dr Reddy's Labs gained 0.5-1%.

However, Hindalco, Reliance Communications, Tata Power, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Sesa Goa and Reliance Power slipped 1-3%.

Ranbaxy Labs tumbled 4.63% as Mylan sued US FDA for Lipitor and is seeking to block Ranbaxy's Lipitor copy. Lipitor was estimated to add USD 500-600 million to Ranbaxy's sales.

Japan quake presents buying opportunity

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said on Monday that Japanese stocks were good investments after the deadly earthquake that hit the world's third-biggest economy last week.

Buffett said the quake was an "enormous blow," but should not prompt selling of Japanese stocks as it presented a "buying opportunity."

He was speaking to reporters during his second visit to South Korea to attend a ground-breaking ceremony for a factory run by a unit of an Israeli firm owned by his Berkshire hathaway Inc.

Japan's Nikkei share average plunged the past week, hit by the country's worst earthquake on record, followed by a tsunami and nuclear crisis.

Should know about before the opening bell

Ten days after the tsunami and earthquake hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, fears about nuclear contamination rise further. Inside the plant, the situation remains grave. Although electricity has now returned to some of the reactors, the crucial number 4 reactor is still without power. Meanwhile, aftershocks continue to rattle Japan, the latest being of 4.5 magnitude.

In the US, markets rallied on Friday but ended lower off the highs of the day amid global uncertainties in West Asia and Japan that continued to keep investors wary.

European stocks settled higher on Friday, although slightly off earlier highs, as investors welcomed the group of seven industrialized nations' intervention to stem the yen's rise and Libya’s move to halt military action.

Oil prices again in the cross-hair have been rising in early Asian trade as traders focus on the situation in Libya. Brent prices are inching closer to the 116 dollar mark.

The dollar has started the week in Asia, marking slight gains on the euro and the yen. The Bank of Japan and other G-7 central banks on Friday intervened in the currency market, with the multi-lateral intervention. This intervention sent the dollar-yen rates at 82.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi went on national TV via telephone, vowing to defend Libya against what he called crusader aggression. Earlier the US fired more than 100 missiles at Gaddafi's air defences as UK and French forces helped to enforce a UN sanctioned no-fly zone over the country. The airstrikes devastated the Libyan tank force near Benghazi while about two main airbases were reportedly hit.

Elsewhere in the region, it's the third day of protests in Syria. Yesterday, thousands took to the streets calling for a revolution. Crowd set fire to the ruling Ba'ath party head quarter in the southern city if Deraa demanding an end to 48-years of emergency law. Protestors say Syrian security forces fired into the crowds killing one person and wounding more than a 100.

And Yemen’s embattled president has sacked his government in face of massive protests demanding his resignation. The move comes as tens of thousands of people turned out in the capital Sanaa for the funeral of 52 people gunned down by snipers at an anti-government rally on Friday.

Bahrain's main opposition groups meanwhile demanded conditions be met before they talk to the government. They have called on the security forces to release demonstrators in the month long protests and the crackdown and ask the Gulf Arab troops to leave before any talks can be held. But the opposition also seems to be softening their stance overnight.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia thousands took to the streets in celebration after King Abdullah announced a fresh stimulus in a bid to ease social tensions, including last month's 37 billion dollars economic package. The king is now offering a total of 93 billion dollars in handouts.

And back home, it was a tough session for our markets on Friday with the Nifty closing down 73 points at 5,373…for the week, the Nifty ended down 1.5%.

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