Markets remain subdued

RIL trading lower by over 1% ahead of Q4FY12 results

Markets continue to trade on a subdued note in the noon deals. The Sensex is down 61 points at 17,442 and the Nifty has shed 17 points to 5,315 levels.

According to AK Prabhakar, Senior Vice President (Equity Research), "Market doesn’t have a major trigger as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sounded hawkish after the 50 basis point (bps) rate cut on April 17, and our belief is that the central bank is done with the rate cuts for now."

"The Q4FY12 results of India Inc would start with full flow next week and after this a trend can be possible. However, we are of the view that the Nifty would be range for next few months between 5,000-5,500 levels with stock specific out performance," adds Prabhakar.

Meanwhile, the Asian markets are also trading on a subdued note. Hang Seng was down 7 points at 20,988, Nikkei shed 27 points to 9,561 and Taiwan was down 115 points at 7,507 levels.

Back home, index heavyweight Reliance Industries is trading lower by over 1% at Rs 733 ahead of its Q4FY12 results which are to be annoounced later in the day today. BHEL, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Auto, HUL, HDFC, Tata Motors and HDFC bank are also among the losers.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra is trading higher by 2.3% at Rs 722 on reports that the government approved the foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal worth of Rs 25.99 crore for company’s radar systems. Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Wipro, Sterlite Industries, Infosys, Coal India, Hero MotoCOrp and ITC are also among the gainers.

On the sectoral front, capital good and power stocks are amongst the worst hit in trades so far. The BSE capital goods index is the top sectoral loser, down 1% or 103 points at 9,955. Suzlon Energy, Punj Lloyd, BEML, BHEL, Bharat Electronics, Crompton Greaves and Alstom Projects are among the top losers from this space. Power index has shed 0.7% or 15 points to 2,111 levels.

Realty, bankex, oil & gas, PSU and healthcare indices are also among the losers. At the same time, consumer durables, auto, IT, metal and FMCG stocks are witnessing some bit of buying.

Among the individual stocks, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) is trading lower by around 5% at Rs 62.65 on reports that the company has shut down majority of the process units on Thursday following shortage of raw water.

JHS Svendgaard Laboratories has locked upper circuit of 10% at Rs 46.05 after signing agreement with the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company Colgate Palmolive (India).

The broader markets are also trading on a subdued note. The BSE mid-cap index is down 22 points at 6,457 while the small-cap index is up 16 points at 6,948 levels.

The overall breadth is neutral as 1,255 stocks are advancing while 1,296 are declining.