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Nik's Diary The Indian market opened in the red mirroring negative opening trades in the SGX Nifty and most of the Asian markets as $85 billion of US spending cuts are set to begin. Also, a decade-low Indian GDP of 4.5% in 3QFY2013, reported after market hours yesterday, is expected to put pressure on Indian markets today. The US market showed a relatively lackluster performance over the course of the trading day on Thursday, as traders seemed somewhat reluctant to make any significant moves. The choppy trading on Wall Street came on the heels of the release of a mixed batch of US economic data, with traders weighing weaker-than expected GDP data at 0.1% against upbeat reports on jobless claims which dropped to 344,000 (against 366,000 last week) in the week ended February 23, 2013; and Chicago-area business barometer rising to 56.8 in Feb’13 from 55.6 in Jan’13. The European markets ended in positive territory on Thursday, on the back of better than expected economic data f...

The Union finance minister today presented the  Budget  for the year 2013-14. Some of the key points that were highlighted by Chidambaram in the Budget are: - No change in slabs and rate for personal income tax. - Tax credit of Rs 2000 to be provided to every person to having income of up to Rs 5 lakh, this will benefit 1.8 crore people. - 5 to 10 per cent surcharge on domestic companies whose taxable income exceeds Rs 10 crore. - Commodities transaction tax levied on non-agriculture commodities futures contracts at 0.01 per cent. - Modified GAAR norms to be introduced from April 1, 2016. - No change in peak rate of customs duty for non-agriculture products. - Direct Taxes Code (DTC) bill to be introduced in current Parliament session. - No change in basic customs duty rate of ten per cent and service tax rate of 12 per cent. - Import duty on rice bran oilcake withdrawn. - Series of concessions granted to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO)...

The Railway Budget 2013-14 has focused on fiscal discipline with no major capex related increases. Passenger fares have not been hiked in the budget as increase in this segment has been effected just recently (in January 2013), which is to garner `6,600cr for the railways in FY2014. Freight tariffs have been effectively hiked in the Budget by about 5.0% to adjust for the rise in fuel cost. The fuel bill is estimated to increase by `5,100cr in FY2014 due to upward revision in HSD oil prices and electricity tariffs. The Railway Minister has proposed to segregate the fuel component in tariffs such that the fuel adjustment component (FAC) adjusts to changes in fuel costs, and has proposed to implement this revision in freight tariff from April 1, 2013. Since the FAC is applicable only on freight rates and no additional hike in passenger fares has been proposed, the railways would absorb the impact of the expected burden of `850cr, on this account. Moreover, the railways have propose...

Nik's Diary The Indian market opened in the green today mirroring positive opening trades in the SGX Nifty and most of the Asian markets. Asian markets are trading higher, as better-than-estimated US economic data has bolstered confidence in the global recovery. Moreover, the Indian markets will closely watch out for the Union Budget today. The US market, after moving mostly higher over the course of the previous session, saw considerable further upside during the trading session on Wednesday. The substantial strength that emerged on Wall Street was partly due to a positive reaction to a pair of reports on durable goods orders and pending home sales. Traders also kept a close eye on Capitol Hill, where Bernanke, appearing before the House Financial Services Committee, reaffirmed his support for maintaining the Fed’s highly accommodative monetary policy. Most of the European bourses finished in the green on Wednesday, rebounding from the weakness of the previous trading sessi...

Nik's Diary The Indian market opened flat tracking similar opening in SGX Nifty and most other Asian markets. The US market moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Tuesday after seeing some volatility in morning trading. This volatility came as Federal Reserve Chairman testified before the Senate Banking Committee. The positive sentiment was on the back of upbeat reports on new home sales and consumer confidence. The US new home sales surged up by 15.6% in January 2013. With this increase, sales rose to their highest rate since July 2008. Also, consumer confidence index jumped to 69.6 in February 2013 from a revised 58.4 in January 2013. The European markets also showed significant moves to the downside on the day due to the uncertainty created by the results of the Italian elections. After two days of voting in crucial elections, Italy appears headed for political gridlock, sparking fears of eventual comeback of European financial crisis Meanwhil...

Nik's Diary The Indian market opened in the red following the negative opening in SGX Nifty and most other Asian markets after signs of an inconclusive general election in Italy sparked worries that another chapter in Europe’s debt crisis could be opening. The US market showed a substantial downturn on Monday on the back of uncertainty about the outcome of elections in Italy. Moreover, uncertainty about whether lawmakers in Washington will be able to reach an agreement to avoid the automatic government spending cuts, due to go into effect at the end of the month, also weighed on the markets. European stocks also gained ground as investors awaited Italian poll results. Meanwhile, Indian shares ended a volatile session largely unchanged on Monday despite firm global cues. The underlying sentiment remained cautious as investors await the upcoming Railway Budget and Union Budget this week for directional cues. Ranbaxy restarts generic Lipitor production for US market  Phar...

Nik's Diary The Indian market opened flat today tracking marginally positive opening trades in the SGX Nifty and most of the Asian indices. Asian markets are trading slightly higher on speculation that  the  next  Bank  of  Japan  governor  will deploy aggressive monetary easing. The US market showed a strong move back to the upside during the trading session on Friday. The markets saw a notable rebound as some traders used the recent pullback as an opportunity to pick up stocks at somewhat reduced levels. Positive sentiment was also generated by easing concerns about the Federal Reserve paring back its monetary stimulus following comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. Most of the European markets finished in positive territory on Friday, on account of the continued  strength in the German IFO business confidence data. The optimism generated by the number overshadowed the announcement that European banks will make a smaller than...