Markets continue to trade flat, oil & gas share weigh

Markets continue to trade flat, oil & gas share weigh

Markets continued to trade on a lacklustre note after opening higher as oil & gas shares weighed over subsidy sharing concerns. The Nifty was up 2 points, at 5,440 and the Sensex gained 22 points, at 18,158.

Oil & Gas shares were leading the losses on reports that the government would raise subsidy of upstream oil companies from 33% to 38.5% which would weigh on the profitability of these companies. After touching a high of Rs 282, ONGC slipped into the red for the second consecutive day, down 1% ar Rs 274. HPCL, BPCL and Indian Oil Corporation were down over 2% each.

Investors bought IT shares as a defensive bet, the BSE IT index was up 1.1%. Wipro surged 2.2%, Tech Mahindra advanced 1.4% and Infosys gained 1.2%.

--------------------------------------Updated at 9:30 hrs

Markets opened marginally higher tracking firm Asian cues, but immediately turned negative, few minuters after opening as investors turned jittery over earnings growth concerns as State Bank of India posted losses for the second consecutive day after 99% slump in Q4 earnings.

The Nifty was down 2 points, at 5,433 and the Sensex declined 22 points, at 18,119.
 
Yesterday markets broke bear flag pattern and touched a low of 5420 on high volumes. Edelweiss in the morning note said that Index may now drop to 5370-5350 support or it may also attempt to re-test the ‘bear flag’ pattern at 5480 which should be used to add short positions. On the upside, 5550 will act as a reversal point of the negative outlook.”

According to the data available on BSE, Foreign Institutional Investors were net sellers of Rs 487 crore in cash, while DIIs were also net sellers of Rs 571 crore.

Across Asia markets were trading in the green on bargain buying in energy shares. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.3% to 22,967. Property developers also gained modestly to pare some of their recent losses. Japanese stocks rose early Wednesday, with banks and oil related shares among the top gainers. The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average added 0.7% to 9,631.24.  China's Shanghai Composite index was also up 0.6%.

State Bank of India posted losses for the second consecutive day after brokerages Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs cut target price on the stock. State Bank of India fell 1.9%. Other banking shares were also weak, Canara Bank was off 2.8%, and Bank of Baroda fell 1.2% and Indusind Bank was off 0.9% dragging the BSE Banking index down 0.7%.

BSE FMCG index was the top gainer on expectations that good monsoon will boost the consumption driven sectors. Marico gained 2.3%, followed by United Breweries slipped 1.9% and ITC was off 1%.

Also from the auto space, Bajaj Auto was down 0.4% ahead of the fourth quarter results. From the oil & gas space ONGC rebounded 1% on bargain buying after the stock fell over 5% yesterday over subsidy sharing concerns.

Top losers on the Sensex were State Bank of India, down 1.9%, Tata Motors slipped 1.7% and Maruti Suzuku plummeted 1.3%.
Broader markets were trading flat. Market breadth was negative, 801 stocks declined for 720 stocks which advanced.