Nifty recovers after testing 18-week low; Bharti gains

Indian equity benchmarks recovered from early scare, with recouping half of its losses after the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) came with clarification on Indo-Mauritius tax treaty.

Nifty had plunged to record its lowest level in more than 18 weeks today post the news that India and Mauritius will restart talks on tax treaty.

However, CBDT clarified that government was yet to start talks with Mauritius on tax treaty, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting agencies. CBDT also said Mauritius has expressed willingness to talk three months ago.

Finance Ministry sources told CNBC-TV18 that Mauritius has agreed to talk on tax treaty this March. But there is no development on tax treaty renegotiation. CNBC-TV18 also learnt that there is no time frame yet for treaty and no specific tax provisions identified for renegotiation.

Dow, S&P rise but..........

The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Friday after France and Germany outlined an agreement to aid debt-burdened Greece, but analysts said a recent bearish trend may not be over. The Dow managed to close just above 12,000, but the S&P 500 barely squeaked out a gain for the week after six straight weeks of losses. The uncertainty surrounding a resolution of the debt crisis kept investors wary of committing more cash to equities.
Research In Motion Ltd's US-listed shares sank 21.5% to USD 27.75 in its busiest day of trading in almost six years. The BlackBerry maker's sour results, released late Thursday, pushed the Nasdaq lower and dragged on other top technology names such as Apple Inc, down 1.5% at USD 320.26.

Commodity prices will fall from their high 2010-11 levels as markets respond to these prices and the opportunities for increased profitability that they afford, a joint report by OECD and UN body FAO on Friday said.

But, for achieving it, harvests this year are critical, the report -- OECD FAO Agricultural Outlook 2011-12 -- released on Friday said." A good harvest this year will be critical in bringing more stability to commodity markets," it said. It, however, said restoring market balances may take some time. "Until stocks can be rebuilt, risks of further upside price volatility remains high,"

Nifty below 5400 on Friday

ndian equity benchmarks closed lower for third consecutive session on Friday, with falling about 2% for the week and more than half a percent in today's trade. Oil & gas, technology, auto and select metal companies' shares dragged down the market while buying in banking, power and telecom stocks has limited the downside.


Benchmarks stayed below their psychologically important levels for another session - the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 30.35 points, to close at 5,366.40 and the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 115.35 points, to end at 17,870.53. Shorts build up in heavyweights could be the reason behind today's downtrend.

Sensex Below 18K

Equity benchmarks extended sell-off on the back of further fall in European markets, reacting to Greek's debt worries. Nifty has broken the 5400 mark - at three-week low, dragged down by heavyweights like TCS, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Wipro, L&T and HDFC Bank, which fell 1-3%. Metal, cement, auto, select healthcare and private banking companies' shares too were adding pressure on the market.

The 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 5,391, down 56 points and the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 172 points to 17,960 on further build up in shorts. European markets like France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE fell 1-2%.