Local Equity Markets remained quite range bound as bourses continued to trade on a lack luster note after opening higher as oil & gas shares weighed over subsidy sharing concerns. Oil & Gas stocks have been bleeding profusely since previous session as on reports the government would raise subsidy of upstream oil companies from 33% to 38.5% which would weigh on the profitability of these companies. Further, investors have also turned jittery over earnings growth concerns as State Bank of India (SBI) posted losses for the second consecutive day after posting 99% slump in Q4 earnings. The Index heavy weight has fallen further in today's session as leading brokerages such as that of Morgan Stanley, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs had cut their target price on the largest state owned lender. However, this time around the weak spells have been brought by broader indices which have slipped fast and deep in red. Both Midcap and Smallcap Index have edged lower by over 0.10%. Meanwhile, the barometer indices are trading near their neutral line. Mixed global leads failed to provide roadmap for the Indian equity markets. US markets fell for the third straight session on weak economic data and a negative outlook from one of America's biggest companies which heightened fears about a slowdown in the economy. However, the Asian stock benchmarks were trading mostly higher on Wednesday, as investors snapped up stocks battered in the recent selloff. Shares in Japan advanced amid some strength in banks. Shares in Hong Kong are up, led by energy and property companies. Meanwhile, the US future indices were trading mixed in the screen trade. Back home, the overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines which outnumbered advances in the ratio of 1177:972, while 102 shares remained unchanged.

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