Intraday recovery gathers steam

Intraday recovery gathered steam, with the two key benchmark indices erasing a lion's portion of initial steep losses triggered by a fresh setback in global stocks. At 12:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 62.10 points or 0.25% at 24,792.01. The losses for the 50-unit Nifty 50 index were higher in percentage terms than those for the Sensex. The Nifty was currently off 23.70 points or 0.31% at 7,538.70. The broad market depicted weakness.

The Sensex lost 35 points or 0.14% at the day's high of 24,819.11 in early afternoon trade. The barometer index fell 380.89 points or 1.53% at the day's low of 24,473.22 in early trade. The Nifty fell 18.20 points or 0.24% at the day's high of 7,544.20 in early afternoon trade. The index fell 118.60 points or 1.56% at the day's low of 7,443.80 in early trade.

The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,713 shares fell and 700 shares rose. A total of 157 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently down 0.74%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 0.74%. The decline in both these indices was higher than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.

On the macro front, the latest data showed that inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) remained in negative zone last month. WPI inflation stood at minus 0.73% in December 2015, compared with a reading of negative 1.99% in November 2015. Meanwhile, the headline WPI for October 2015 was revised to a reading of minus 3.7% from 3.81% reported earlier.

In overseas stock markets, key Asian markets traded off intraday lows, with the Shanghai Composite index moving to positive zone from negative zone in mainland China. The Shanghai Composite index was currently up 1.05%. Barring mainland China, other Asian stocks hovered in negative zone. US stocks slumped yesterday, 13 January 2016, as a rout in oil prices heightened worries about the global economy.

FMCG shares were mixed. Jyothy Laboratories (down 1.96%), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (down 1.46%), Tata Global Beverages (down 0.92%), Bajaj Corp (down 0.35%), Hindustan Unilever (down 0.19%) and Britannia Industries (down 0.06%), edged lower. Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.08%), Dabur India (up 0.45%), Godrej Consumer Products (up 0.52%), Marico (up 0.82%), Nestle India (up 0.86%) and Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 0.98%), edged higher.

Telecom shares edged lower. MTNL (down 2.42%), Idea Cellular (down 2.35%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.68%), Reliance Communications (down 0.51%) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) (down 0.27%), edged lower.

Cadila Healthcare was down 0.33% at Rs 318.85. The government has approved the company's proposal for fresh equity infusion of upto Rs 5000 crore under FDI route by way of Qualified Institutional Placement on a private placement basis for financial expansion of the business.

Ambuja Cements was down 0.38%. ACC was down 1.05%. The government has deferred decision on approval sought by Ambuja Cements for the acquisition of 24% shares in its holding company, Holcim (India) from the latter's holding company Holderind Investments (NR) and subsequent reverse merger through a share swap.

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