Market lackluster, WPI data eyed

At 9:15 AM, the Sensex was trading at 19747, up 55 points, while the Nifty was quoting at 5,980, down 126 points. The BSE Small-Cap and Mid- Cap indices was trading at 0.21% and 0.16%, respectively. Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Gail India, Infosys, Cipla, ONGC, Tata Consultancy Services, NTPC, Wipro are the gainers in today's session. Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco Industries are trading with a negative bias. Among sectoral indices, the gainers include IT, FMCG, healthcare, oil and gas, realty, power, autos, and banking while capital goods, metals, and consumer durables are seeing some weakness. Dealers expect bargain hunting in select counters post lunch unless wholesale inflation data for April disappoints. The street is expecting Wholesale Price Index for April to come in around 5.4%. On the global front, the cues are not too favourable for equity markets. Reports suggest officials at the US Federal Reserve are considering an exit strategy from its aggressive stimulus measures, which have been fueling the economy since late 2008, are weighing on sentiment. In Monday's trade, the Dow ended weak while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq managed a positive close. US retail sales data for April were positive, an indication that the US economy is turning around. Retail sales rose 0.1% in April against a 0.5% drop in March Asian markets too are quiet. The Nikkei, Kospi and Hang Seng index are trading a tad higher while China's Shanghai index is showing some weakness. After Pakistani democracy consolidated its position with Nawaz Sharif winning the elections, Indian democracy was forced to reaffirm its own after reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may not complete his term after the recent Coalgate and Bansalgate imbroglio. However, the Congress top brass re-affirmed their faith in the octogenarian Indian Prime Minister saying there is no rift in between Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi. Dismissing reports that Singh may be replaced by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, the high command said Singh will continue to be the Prime Minister till the end of his term in 2014. Media reports suggest that the Reserve Bank of India’s forensic study into Cobrapost’s money laundering expose by banks and insurers has indicted three banks for wrongdoing on various counts. Ranbaxy Laboratories has pleaded guilty to felony charges relating to drug safety. It has agreed to pay $500mn in civil and criminal fines under a settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice. The stock is currently trading flat. Punj Llyod is up 1% after the company said it bagged a Rs. 730 crore contract from ONGC. Tata Steel is down close to 2% on non-cash write down of goodwill and assets of around $1.6bn due to poor macroeconomic condition in Europe, among others.