Europe up, Asia mixed, India down

The Indian markets lost further ground during the final hour of trade as persistent selling activity led the market sentiments weaken further. The overall decline to advance ratio at the time of closing stood at 2 to 1 on the BSE. The BSE-Sensex closed with losses of around 340 points, while the NSE-Nifty closed lower by about 115 points. Stocks from the mid-cap and small-cap space ended the day on a weak note as well. Except for stocks from the FMCG space, selling activity was witnessed in stocks across sectors led by realty, metal and capital goods.
Other Asian markets ended the day on a mixed note. The European indices are currently trading firm. Rupee was trading at 49.69 against the US dollar at the time of writing.
Inflation, as measured by the WPI, declined to 0.18% for the week ended April 4. The figure is lower by nearly 0.08% from the number recorded in the week ending March 28. As per a leading business daily, the decline is mainly on account of a higher base effect and falling prices of some manufactured products. Infact, inflation was at 7.71% during the corresponding week of the previous year. It may be noted that during the week, the prices of food items such as pulses, cereals and vegetables along with fuel items increased.
Engineering stocks ended the day on a weak note led by Suzlon Energy, Praj Industries and Areva T&D. Suzlon Energy is believed to be facing problems relating to WTG blades once again. The company had recently won from its subsidiary REpower a contract to supply blades for 75 turbines for a project in China. However, it is believed that REpower has rejected Suzlon’s prototype for the initial blades for not meeting its quality standards. In fact, REpower obtained them from other suppliers and in the process lost about €6 m as it shipped stand-in blades from Europe. However, the management of Suzlon has mentioned that any penalty as such would not material for Suzlon. It may be noted that the company has faced problems relating to the quality of its blades supplied to the US in the past too.
As per a leading business daily, steel behemoth, ArcelorMittal is likely to delay its plan of setting up steel plants in India by at least two years. The company had originally planned to set up two steel plants, one in Jharkhand and the other in Orissa, with each having a capacity of 12 m tonnes per annum. It is believed that these are now likely to go on stream only after FY11. As per the company, the delay in the projects has been on account of the global economic slowdown and land acquisition related issues. The company is yet to acquire mines and land for these projects. On account of the above-mentioned reasons, ArcelorMittal is planning to halve its investment in the first phase. However, the company remains committed to its total investment in the country.