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Markets trade cautiously ahead of Railway Budget 2013-14

IT and FMCG shares buck trend, Maruti Suzuki slumps 2%

SI Reporter Mumbai
Markets continued to languish in morning trades with the Sensex dropping 98 points to19,233. Earlier in the day, the index touched a low of 19,186. Nifty is down 36 points at 5,818. All eyes are on the Railway Budget 2013-14 which is set to be announced at 1100 hrs IST by the Railway Minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Broader markets underperformed the benchmark index. BSE mid-cap index is down 0.8% at 6,474. SMall-cap index has delcined 0.7% at 6,426.

From the sectoral pack, almost all the sectors, barring IT and FMCG are in red. BSE IT index is up 0.7% at 6,774. FMCG index is trading flat at the moment.

The rupee fell by 19 paise to Rs 54.05 in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange, due to dollar demand from importers.

On the other hand, BSE auto index has slipped 1.3% at 10,641. Capital goods, healthcare and bankex are down 1% each.

Country's largest private telecom company Bharti Airtel has surged 4% at Rs 320 as the telecomm player will launch 4G services in Chandigarh by the end of next month. Infosys and TCS from the IT pack are up 0.8% each. HUL and ITC are marginally in green.

"We have been bullish on Idea since the last 2 days, from 112 we have a target of 120. It almost achieved it today. But, I think these are good turning points for Bharti as well as Idea. The first sign of a sector providing support to the market. What is important is whether it will sustain this rally or succumb to selling pressure like many of the other frontline stocks," said Kunal Bothra, Technical Analyst, LKP Securities.

Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki is down 2.3% at Rs 1,409 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that foreign institutional investor (FII) cannot buy shares of the country's largest car manufacturer as their limit of 24% has been breached. Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors also from the auto pack are down 1.5% each.

ICICI Bank is down 1.3%, followed by HDFC. Larsen & Toubro, ONGC, Hindalco and Wipro are also in red.

Jet Airways is down 3.5% at Rs 487 as the much anticipated Jet-Etihad deal has hit a roadbloack.

Kingfisher Airlines has crashed 5% to its lower circuit of Rs 10.74 as Government withdrew of all domestic and international flying slots of the grounded carrier with immediate effect.

Tata Power is down 1% at Rs 97.20 while Adani Power is down 1.5% at Rs 46.90 as CERC is likely to announce the orders on petitions moved by Tatas and Adanis seeking higher tariff for electricity generated from their imported coal-fired projects.

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First Published: Feb 26 2013 | 10:24 AM IST

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