Lull after the storm; Sensex, Nifty end flat

After sharp falls in the past two trading sessions, the Indian indices ended on a flat note on Tuesday. For a brief while the NSE Nifty surged past the 5930 levels. However, the gains were short-lived as selling pressure was witnessed at higher levels. From there on, benchmark indices were stuck in a narrow trading range throughout the day with the NSE Nifty hovering around the 200 day moving average of 5900.

The capital goods, auto, power, consumer durables, healthcare and FMCG were among the top gainers. On the other hand, metals, PSU, telecom and oil and gas stocks were among the top laggards.

The banking stocks, which were at the receiving end since the repo rate hike on Friday settled down in a tight zone. Commenting on the same, Amar Ambani, Head of Research at IIFL said, “Private Banks are well-capitalized to absorb shocks from external environment. Banks with robust or improving retail banking franchise are unlikely to see a significant deterioration in RoA delivery over FY13-15. Recent steep price correction has also made valuation reasonable vis-à-vis perceived risks for banks such as HDFC Bank, IndusInd and Axis.”

Finally, BSE Sensex closed at 19920 up 19 points, while NSE Nifty closed at 5,892 up 3 points over the previous close.

Bajaj Auto, Tata Power, NTPC, LT, Cipla, M&M, BHEL, HDFC, NMDC, Tata Motors, GAIL and Maruti were among the major gainers in the Nifty.

On the other hand, Hindalco, BPCL, Coal India, Jindal Steel, ACC, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, Bank of Baroda and IDFC were among the major laggards.

The advance-decline ratio was marginally in favour of the bears. On the BSE, 1168 stocks declined against 1148 advancing stocks, while 152 remained unchanged.

The INDIA VIX was down 1.1% at 26.72. It hit a day’s high of 28.49 and low of 26.27.

Stock News

Shares of Kingfisher Airlines shot up by 10% to close at Rs5 after reports stated that it was in talks with a foreign investor for a potential stake sale.

SBI was down 0.7% after rating agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded public sector bank's senior unsecured debt and local currency deposit ratings to 'Baa3'.

Shares of ONGC edged lower by 0.5% to close at Rs274. ONGC Videsh Ltd and its partners are mulling raising stake in Venezuela's US$20bn Carabobo-I oil project even as India looks at raising crude oil imports from the Latin American country.

Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals were up 1.5% after receiving final approval from the US health regulator for its generic Desoximetasone Ointment.

Edible oils prices steady at wholesale centers

During the week prices of Groundnut oil remained steady at all reporting centers and decreased at two centers Jammu and Puducherry.

As per data monitored by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food, prices of Edible Oils during the week ending on September 19th, 2013 remained steady across the country. Price Monitoring cell of the Ministry regular monitors prices of twenty two essential commodities at 55 market centers across the country.
During the week prices of Groundnut oil remained steady at all reporting centers and decreased at two centers Jammu and Puducherry.

Prices of Mustard Oil also remained steady at most of the centers infact decreased at four centers which are Mumbai, Bhagalpur, Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur.
Similarly, prices of Vanaspati remained steady at all the reporting centers and declined at three centers which are Dehradun, Mumbai and Bhubaneswar.

Prices of twenty two essential commodities are regularly monitored by Department of Consumer Affairs for taking suitable action to keep the prices under check. These commodities include Rice, Wheat, Atta, Gram Dal, Tur (Arhar ) Dal, Urad Dal , Moong Dal, Masur Dal, Sugar, Gur, Groundnut Oil, Mustard Oil, Vanaspati, Sunflower Oil, Soya Oil, Palm Oil, Tea, Milk, Potato, Onion and Salt . Price datas are supplied on daily basis by the State Civil Supplies Departments of the respective State Governments. 

Market remains choppy; IT and Metals under pressure

Market has largely remained rangebound with IT, Metals shares coming under pressure

Benchmark share indices continue to remain volatile in a narrow range in afternoon trades as gains in HDFC and L&T helped offset losses in Bharti Airtel and IT shares. Overall breath of the market remains negative. Out of total 2110 stocks traded, 937 advanced while 1019 declined while 154 remained unchanged on the BSE.  

At 12:50am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was up 68 points or 0.3 per cent higher trading at 19,969 levels while 50-share NSE Nifty was up 21 points or 0.4 per cent at 5,910 levels. Broader markets reversed earlier gains and are now trading flat; the BSE Mid-cap and small-cap indices are up 0.1 and 0.05 per cent respectively

On the sectoral front, Capital goods, Auto and Consumer durables are up 1% followed by power, healthcare, FMCG, Oil & Gas, banks and PSU which are the major gainers while Metal, IT, TECk and Realty are the laggards on the BSE.

Meanwhile, the global ratings agency Fitch on Monday took negative ratings actions against three public sector undertakings (PSU) banks, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Indian Bank, downgrading long term and viability ratings by one notch each.

Revenue growth was slowing due to lower loan growth and the margins were squeezed due to high funding costs; this had led to pressure on internal capital generation, Fitch said.

Most of the state-owned banks such as Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and State Bank of India are trading lower by 2-4% on NSE.

Rupee

The rupee weakened further in early trade today due to persistent month-end dollar demand from importers. Weakness in Asian currencies also affected rupee.

The weakening bias is expected to continue during this week.

At 12:55am, the rupee was trading at Rs 62.55 compared with previous close of Rs 62.60 per dollar.

Citibank said it's time to buy Asian currencies as outflows from the region ebb and the US Federal Reserve's decision to maintain its record stimulus helps reverse a four-month slide.

According to currency dealers, foreign banks are selling dollars which is helping the rupee, else the Indian currency would have breached the Rs 63 per dollar mark.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield opened down 8 basis points at 8.77%.

Global markets

Taking its cue from a softer Wall Street, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.4%. Returning from holiday, Tokyo's Nikkei dipped 0.3% in very light volumes.

Lacking an obvious culprit, dealers tended to blame uncertainty about when the Federal Reserve will start trimming its asset buying following last week's shock decision to maintain the program at $85 billion a month.

Top BSE gainers at this hour are: Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Power Co. Among the laggards are Jindal Steel, St Bk of India, Sun Pharma Inds., Sesa Goa and HDFC Bank.

JP Associates, Unitech, Yes Bank, Ashok Leyland are among the volume buzzers on the NSE.

Overall breath of the market remains negative. Out of total 2110 stocks traded, 937 advanced while 1019 declined while 154 remained unchanged on the BSE.


Smart moves

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is locked in upper circuit of 10% at Rs 15.32 on BSE with no sellers on the counter on reports of signing pact with BSNL to utilise each other’s network for providing pan-India mobile services. The stock opened at Rs 14.15 and has seen a combined 3.09 million shares changing hands on the counter so far. There are pending buy orders for 8.04 million shares on BSE and NSE at 1045 hours.

The promoters of Videocon Industries are selling 1.8 million shares of the company through the offer for sale (OFS) route to comply with the minimum public shareholding (MPS) requirement.The company has fixed floor price of Rs 177 per share for the transaction.  Floor price is the minimum price at which bids can be made.

In the first hour of the OFS, the company had received only 10 bids after its secondary market price dropped below the floor price.

Shares of Videocon were last trading at Rs 174.75, down Rs 2.25, or 1.27%.

Lupin is trading higher by 2% at Rs 868 on BSE after the pharmaceutical company announced that it has signed an agreement with US-based Onset Dermatologics under which it will market the latter's skin disease treatment medicine Locoid Lotion in the American market.

Locoid is the most highly prescribed mid-potency steroid brand in the US. The medicine is a corticosteroid indicated for the topical treatment of mild to moderate Atopic Dermatitis in patients 3 months of age and older, Lupin said in a regulatory filing.

The stock opened at Rs 854 and has seen a combined 160,000 shares changing hands on the counter in early morning deals on BSE and NSE.

State Bank of India slumped in morning session trade after it was downgraded by global ratings agency Moody's a day earlier post market hours. Rating agency Moody’s has downgraded its rating for State Bank of India’s (SBI) senior unsecured debt and local currency deposit from Baa2 to Baa3 due to  increasing pressures on credit from the economic slowdown.

Silver futures decline to Rs 50,004 per kg

Silver prices fell 0.93 per cent to trade at Rs 50,004 per kg at the futures trade today as participants engaged in reducing their positions amid a weak trend in the global market.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver for delivery in far-month March was down by Rs 471 or 0.93 per cent to Rs 50,004 per kg in a business turnover of 22 lots.

In a similar fashion, the white metal for delivery in December traded lower by Rs 384 or 0.78 per cent at Rs 49,009 per kg in 3,133 lots.

Market analysts said offloading of positions by speculators following a weak trend overseas after a Federal Reserve official said policy makers may start reducing the US fiscal stimulus as early as next month, weighed on silver futures prices here.

Meanwhile, the white metal fell 0.25 per cent to $21.59 an ounce in Singapore today.

NSEL investors want assets of Shah, directors attached

To file a writ demanding court-supervised investigation; fear further delay as govt mulls SFIO probe

National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) investors are planning to move court for the recovery of their investments through the attachment of the personal assets of the exchange’s vice-chairman Jignesh Shah, its directors, members and their clients.

The move is gathering momentum amid expectations the government may refer the matter to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO); the agency is likely to take 30-45 days to submit a report on the issue.

About Rs 5,600 crore of investments of some 13,000 investors are stuck in NSEL. Despite reports from several internal committees of regulators and investigative agencies pointing to fraudulent activities, there hasn’t been any substantial enforcement action against the exchange or the officials. Therefore, the exchange’s investors are now losing patience.

When the crisis broke out at the exchange, NSEL’s board comprised Shankarlal Guru, Joseph Massey, B D Pawar, Shrikant Javalgekar, Anjani Sinha and R Devarajan, apart from Shah.

While Shah, along with other NSEL officials, has maintained the members have defaulted on payments, several members have blamed the exchange for not delivering goods; they have also alleged the exchange owes them money.

The investors’ writ petition is also likely to demand a court-supervised investigation of the operations of the exchange, which is said to have violated several laws. “We will be moving a writ in the next few days. Our demands will be two-fold: First, attachment of properties of the perpetrators and second, a court-supervised investigation,” said a large investor aware of the proceedings.

Though Shah has tried to distance himself from the activities of the exchange, claiming the management headed by ex-chief Anjani Sinha was responsible for its functioning, investors allege his role was direct and pivotal.

In a recent complaint to the Economic Offences Wing, NSEL investors said Jignesh Shah was the brain, trust and alter ego of NSEL, adding he was primarily responsible for the affairs and the fiasco at NSEL and that he had abused his position to create a false impression in the minds of investors regarding the legitimacy of NSEL operations.

NSEL is fast becoming party to a plethora of litigation, some filed by it and several against it. The Bombay High Court has already sent notices to the exchange, the government and regulators in a public interest litigation filed by an organisation floated by Kirit Somaiya, a former member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Some investors have moved court to halt e-series deliveries. The exchange has filed recovery suits against some of its members such as NK Proteins and Tavishi Enterprises. The court has declined to give any interim relief to NSEL in the matter.

In their individual capacities, investors have lodged several complaints with the local police in various cities against the exchange and its employees.

Kharif rice output estimated to drop to 92.32 million tonnes: Govt

Country’s rice production is projected to drop to 92.32 million tonnes in the Kharif season this year due to deficient rains in some states, but the overall foodgrain output is estimated to rise marginally to 129.32 million tonnes in the same period.

The rice production stood at 92.76 million tonnes in the kharif (summer) season of the 2012-13 crop year (June-July), while total foodgrain output was estimated at 128.20 million tonnes.

“As per the first advance estimate for kharif season of 2013-14, rice production is estimated at 92.32 million tonnes in the kharif season of this year,” Agriculture Commissioner J.S. Sandhu said at the national conference on rabi (winter) crops).

The estimate for rice output is kept lower as deficient rains in Bihar, Jharkhand and North East have affected the kharif crops, he said.

Also, the flood situations in Assam, Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have an impact on the kharif crops, he added.

Sandhu said, however, maize production is projected to increase to 17.78 million tonnes in the kharif season of this year, against 16.04 million tonnes in the year-ago period.

Pulses production is also estimated to rise to 6.01 million tonnes from 5.91 million tonnes in the review period.

Whereas millet production is forecast at 13.21 million tonnes in the kharif season of this year, he said.

Sowing of kharif crops begin with the onset of southwest monsoon from June, while harvesting starts from October.

According to Indian Meteorological Department, the 53 per cent of the country received normal monsoon. One-third of the country received excess rains.

Monsoon has withdrawn from western and northern regions of the country. Early withdrawal of monsoon has created heat stress in central parts of the country, Sandhu added.

The Agriculture Ministry releases production estimates at different stages of crop.

Tata Motors Jamshedpur plant to take five-day block closure

Slump in demand may prompt country’s leading automobile company Tata Motors to take a five-day block closure at its plant here from September 26, sources said.

This will be the third block closure for the company within less than a month time as the company had observed three-day block closure from August 29-31 and then again two-day block closure last week.

“Keeping in view the prevailing economic scenario, we have taken appropriate action from time to time to match production with demand,” company sources said.

The closure will be observed from September 26 to October 1 (not counting September 29 which is a Sunday).

Work will resume on October 3, after another holiday on October 2, sources said.

The five-day block closure is aimed at preventing unnecessary build up of inventory in the company as well as at dealers end, sources said.

A circular in this regard was issued in the company yesterday, sources added.

General Secretary of Telco Workers Union (TWU), Chandrabhan Singh said the economic slowdown and slump in demand of heavy commercial vehicle was the reason behind the company’s decision.

“We had produced around 3,200 units of heavy commercial vehicles till day this month,” Singh said.

MTNL touches the roof on plan of inking pact with BSNL for offering pan-India mobile services

The promoters holding in the company stood at 56.25% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 22.67% and 16.61% respectively. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), the state owned telecom firm which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, is likely to sign a pact with another state-run unlisted telecom services provider BSNL to utilise each others network for providing pan-India mobile services.

As per the agreement, the company would use the network of BSNL only for national roaming service for its subscribers except in Delhi and Mumbai, while BSNL will only use MTNL network for roaming services to its customers in Delhi and Mumbai. 

MTNL was set up by the Government of India to upgrade the quality of telecom services, expand the telecom network, and introduce new services and to raise revenue for telecom development needs of India's key metros -- Delhi and Mumbai.

Unitech gains on signing Rs 800-crore leasing deal with Aon Hewitt

Unitech has inked Rs 800-crore leasing deal with MNC human resource firm Aon Hewitt in order to lease space at one of its IT SEZs in Gurgaon. The HR firm has leased over eight lakh square feet of space at Unitech’s Gurgaon Infospace Tikri SEZ for a period of over 15 years.

The 25-acre Infospace Tikri SEZ is located next to a 150-acre residential township being developed by Unitech (Uniworld resorts) about half a km from NH8 and in close proximity to Sohna Road. The total leasable area on completion of this SEZ project is 3.32 million square feet.

Unitech, being one of the leading real estate companies, has several business segments relating to residential, commercial, Information Technology (IT) parks, retail, amusement parks, etc, with over four decades of achievement and continues to be a prominent player with high degree of quality and affordable real estate in the Indian market space.

Crude oil prices down in Asian trade

Oil prices fell further in Asian trade today on easing concerns about supplies from West Asia, but upbeat economic data from Europe and China capped the losses, analysts said.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in November was down 19 cents at $103.40 in mid-morning trade, while Brent North Sea crude for November eased 13 cents to $108.03.

WTI dipped $1.16 in New York yesterday, while Brent fell $1.06 in London trade.

“Oil prices edged lower... due to higher output of crude from Iraq and a potential improvement in US-Iran relations, easing supply concerns,” Teoh Say Hwa, head of investment at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said in a note.

Production in Iraq

Officials from Iraq, the second largest producer in oil cartel OPEC, were yesterday quoted as saying that the country has restored normal output after completing repair work on a pipeline leak.

The European Union had yesterday announced that Iran’s foreign minister would meet major powers this week on Tehran’s nuclear programme in what could be a historic top-level contact with the United States.

Tehran's nuclear programme

Sanctions imposed on Iran by Western powers for its alleged efforts to build a nuclear bomb have caused its oil exports to fall by more than half, to below one million barrels per day. Tehran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.

Teoh said the dip in oil prices were capped by positive manufacturing data from the Euro Zone and China.

China PMI

HSBC had yesterday said that its preliminary purchasing managers’ index of Chinese manufacturing in September hit a six-month high of 51.2, while a PMI of business activity in the 17-nation Euro Zone hit a 27-month high of 52.1.

A reading above 50 indicates growth, while anything below signals contraction.

Dabur India launches Oral Health web portal

Dabur, India's largest Natural Oral Care products maker has launched a first-of-its-kind standalone oral health portal. The portal will be a one-stop shop for all the oral hygiene needs, right from providing natural solutions for a variety of dental problems like toothaches, cavities, bad breath, Gingivitis etc, to providing information about natural kitchen ingredients for dental care.

The blogs from leading dentists will address specific issues and offer information that’s much sought after by and are highly useful for people across age groups. The first blog on the portal, for instance, speaks about the importance of baby teeth and proper dental care tips.

Dabur India is one of the largest FMCG Company in India. Building on a legacy of quality and experience of over 125 years, Dabur operates in key consumer products categories like Hair Care, Oral Care, Health Care, Skin Care, Home Care & Foods.

Lupin surges on inking Strategic Agreement with US based Onset Dermatologics, LLC

Pharmaceutical Major, Lupin's US subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. has signed a strategic co-promotion agreement with US based Onset Dermatologics, LLC (Onset) that grants Lupin exclusive rights to promote Onset's Locoid Lotion (hydrocortisone butyrate 0.1%) to Pediatricians in the US. Locoid is the most highly prescribed mid-potency steroid brand in the U.S.

Locoid Lotion is a corticosteroid indicated for the topical treatment of mild to moderate Atopic Dermatitis in patients 3 months of age and older. Atopic Dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common skin disorders in young children and has a prevalence of 10% to 20% in the first decade of life.

The addition of Locoid Lotion will enable Lupin to strengthen its US Brand business and expand its product portfolio for the US Pediatrics segment. Lupin's current pediatric portfolio consists of Suprax and Alinia for Oral Suspension and such the Company is well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity. Onset has had minimal promotion of Locoid Lotion to pediatricians. Lupin's 160+ strong specialty sales force will promote Locoid Lotion with Onset providing strategic marketing support thus creating an opportunity for incremental revenues with minimal additional sales or marketing expenses.

Indian Bank employees to participate in one day strike

Indian Bank will be participating in one day strike call given by All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) to be held on September 25, 2013. AIBEA and BEFI have given a call for observance of one day nationwide strike in banks in support of their demands.

If the strike materializes, a section of the bank’s employees may take part in the proposed strike on the said date, in which case, the normal functioning of the branches / offices of the bank may get affected.

Government keeps the borrowing estimates of second half in limit

The government, standing firm on its fiscal commitment and sending a strong signal that it is determined to meet the fiscal deficit target for the full year, has said that it will not borrow more than Rs 2.35 lakh crore in the second half of the current fiscal, as originally planned in the budget. The borrowings were Rs 3.44 lakh crore in the first six months of the current fiscal, keeping the government’s gross borrowing programme for 2013-14 intact at Rs.5.79 lakh crore.

The Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the government, has issued an indicative calendar for issuance of Government dated securities (G-Secs) for the second half of the fiscal year 2013-14 totalling Rs 2,35,000 crore. The H2 FY14 borrowing programme will close in the first week of February. While 45 percent G-Sec to be sold will be of 10-14 years tenor, 25 percent will be of 5-9 years tenor, and 20 percent will be of 15-19 years tenor. Month of November will see the maximum auction of securities worth Rs 60,000 crore, followed by December, January and October.

Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said any shortfall in revenues will be met by cutting non-essential expenditure and further said that “We are going to finance oil subsidies through budgetary resources.”

The government’s commitment to keep the borrowing in the limit has came as a respite amid concern of fiscal slippage with subsidy bill rising because of the depreciation in the value of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar and rise in global crude prices.

BSE Sensex, Nifty flat; Jindal Steel,SBI major losers

Indian rupee fell 19 paise in early trade Tuesday to 62.79 per dollar as against previous day's closing of 62.60 per dollar. The market has opened a flat note after the aggressive selling in the last two sessions. The Sensex is down 33.46 points or 0.17 percent at 19867.50, and the Nifty down 10.70 points or 0.18 percent at 5879.05.


The market has opened a flat note after the aggressive selling in the last two sessions. The Sensex is down 33.46 points or 0.17 percent at 19867.50, and the Nifty down 10.70 points or 0.18 percent at 5879.05. About 291 shares have advanced, 238 shares declined, and 40 shares are unchanged. Indian rupee fell 19 paise in early trade Tuesday to 62.79 per dollar as against previous day's closing of 62.60 per dollar.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank says that the rupee has been trading in a very narrow range with a weakish bias. "Profit booking in equity markets, clubbed with demand from importers has put mild pressure on the currency," he adds. According to Raina, the rupee is expected to trade in a range of 60-64/USD for the week. "The range for the day is seen between 62.50-63.30/USD." Asian markets fell after steep losses on Wall Street overnight. Nikkei saw cuts of almost a percent, which resumed trade after holiday extended weekend. In commodities, oil prices dropped by more than 1 dollar per barrel while gold edged higher following three days of losses.

IDBI Bank on bad loan recovery drive

IDBI Bank wants its managers — at the zonal, regional and branch levels — to focus their energies on making recoveries from the top 20 bad loan accounts in their jurisdiction.

What this means is that the bank does not want its officials to spread themselves too thin by seeking to make recovery from all bad loan accounts at the same time.

To clean up its books, the public sector bank has launched a special ‘Own Your NPA’ (non-performing asset) campaign so that officials give it all they’ve got for faster resolution of bad debts.

According to IDBI Bank Chairman and Managing Director M.S. Raghavan, as part of the campaign, each zonal, regional and branch manager will personally go and meet the customers.

“Hitherto, the focus (recovery) was missing. So, now the focus has returned. It is not 200 accounts but the top 20 (bad loan) accounts that are getting attacked time and again,” he said.

The total number of cases identified under the campaign, which was launched on August 1 and runs up to December 31, is 1522, involving an aggregate principal outstanding of Rs 5,805 crore.

Through the campaign, the bank is trying to settle some 73 per cent of its total NPAs of Rs 7,959 crore as on June-end 2013.

Raghavan said the managers have been told that their achievements on the recovery front under the campaign will be an important factor in their overall performance appraisal.

“We said that ideally these accounts should be closed. However, we all know this is not possible. In any case, there should be substantial progress on the recovery front,” said the IDBI Bank chief.

Year-on-year, IDBI Bank has seen a 45 per cent increase in NPAs, from Rs 5,496 crore as at June-end 2012 to Rs 7,959 crore as at June-end 2013.

Raghavan observed that in any bank’s loan portfolio, about 1 per cent is the normal stress that is built up due to various reasons, including business failure.

But what is more important is the stress arising from external factors, such as slowdown in the economy.

So, the stress from external factors is one major factor that has affected the asset quality of all major banks. This will get minimised only if the economy makes a turnaround.

Pre-Market: Shares seen opening lower, Asia muted

At 08:30AM , the indicator, SGX Nifty was down 40 points at 5,888.

Markets are likely to see a soft start on account of weak global cues on fears that the Fed could still begin scaling back its stimulus later this year. At  08:30AM , the indicator, SGX Nifty was down 40 points at 5,888.

Overnight, U.S. stocks declined for a third straight session. William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said in a speech the timeline that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke articulated in June for scaling back the central bank's stimulus measures is "still very much intact," as long as the economy keeps improving.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.32 percent, at 15,401. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.47 percent, at 1,702. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.25 percent, at 3,765.

Asian share markets got off to a soggy start while currencies dithered in recent ranges as a dearth of major economic news left investors to chew on the outlook for monetary policy in the United states and Europe.

Taking its cue from a softer Wall Street, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.4 percent. Returning from holiday, Tokyo's Nikkei dipped 0.3 percent in very light volumes.

Stocks to Watch

Indian Overseas Bank is likely too see some moves as the Public sector bank has requested the Ministry of Finance to infuse a capital fund to the extent of Rs 2,100 crore to the bank to meet tier I capital requirement under Basel III norms, for the fiscal year.

MTNL may add on some gains on reports that BSNL and MTNL are likely to sign a pact tomorrow that would allow the state-run companies to utilise each others network for providing pan-India mobile services.

Fortis Healthcare will be in limelight as the firm will fully redeem privately placed debt securities of the company totalling Rs 150 crore on the redemption date today.

SBI may remain under pressure after Moody’s downgraded its rating for SBI's senior unsecured debt and local currency deposit from Baa2 to Baa3 due to  increasing pressures on credit from the economic slowdown.