Tuesday 6 August 2013

Sensex to open on a weak note

The monsoon session began with an adjournment and the government has itself to blame. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier appealed to the Opposition to cooperate and discuss issues.  But on the first day of Parliament, the members of the BJP literally watched the fun as the ruling coalition’s own MPs from Andhra Pradesh disrupted the House on the Telangana issue.

The services sector showed contraction for the first time since October 2011, according to the HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index. The index dived to 47.9 points from 51.7 points in June, the steepest fall since April 2009. Meanwhile, rising automation and low attrition in IT sector may act as a dampener for job seekers with industry body Nasscom expecting hiring to decline by up to 17% to 1,50,000 in the current fiscal.

While indices are more or less afloat, a study shows that over 45% stocks on the NSE are below their 2008 lows. For the day, the indices are expected to open on a weak note today. Some turnaround could always happen towards close. Tata Power, Unitech, Crompton Greaves will be in focus as they announce their results.

Global cues are not encouraging. US indices retreated from their record levels. The Dow fell 0.3%, while S&P 500 lost 0.15% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.09 percent. Brent crude was down 25 cents to $108.70 a barrel and U.S. crude settled down 38 cents to $106.56.

Asian markets are weak on fears that the US Federal Reserve would start scaling back its stimulus as soon as next month.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index was trading 1.5% lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.58%. South Korea's Kospi index has shed almost a percent while China's Shanghai index is down over half a percent.

The National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) has constituted an independent  committee of eminent persons for the purpose of advising and monitoring the progress of financial closeout  plan.
Reports state that seven more pharmaceutical companies including Novartis India Limited moved the Delhi High Court to challenge government's new drug pricing order that asked them to slash prices of 348 medicines.

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