Andrew L Dcunha

Mumbai, Aug 16: BSE Sensex ends near days low  after touching a high of 17,035 during todays trade.  Sensex dropped 361 points from there to a low of 16,763.  The index finally ended at 16,731 - down 108 points. The Nifty was down 37 points at 5,035. 
Broader markets underperformed with the BSE Midcap and BSE Small cap indices took a heavy beating today, closing lower 1.7%  and  2% respectively.

Asian markets reversed early gains. The Hang Seng  dropped 0.2% to 20,212. Shanghai Composite was down 0.7%. However,  South Korean stocks surged 5% in trades - its biggest gain in over two  years and Japanese stocks edged higher after an extended rebound on Wall Street encouraged buyers, with mobile-handset makers getting a lift from Google Inc.’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.

European markets dropped sharply Tuesday, led by losses in Germany as growth in the euro zone’s top economy slowed to a crawl.  Germany’s DAX 30 index  was the worst performer among Europe’s main markets  after data showed the country’s seasonally adjusted gross domestic product grew just 0.1% during the second quarter

Gold  & Silver striking up the sky

Both the precious metals, gold and silver gained today. While, gold gained Rs 150 to Rs 26,250 per 10 gram, silver added Rs 1,100 to Rs 60,200 per kg.
Oil Price Eased

Oil price eased towards USD 87 a barrel on Tuesday as a recovery in the dollar and weak U.S. economic data offset hopes for a resolution to Europe`s debt crisis.  U.S. light, sweet crude for September eased 58 cents to USD 87.30 a barrel, after gaining USD 2.50 on Monday. London Brent crude fell 51 cents to USD 109.40 a barrel, a day after settling up nearly USD 2.

Inflation - marginally down

Annual inflation in India eased to 9.22 percent for the month of July. According to official figures, inflation dipped marginally to eight month low of 9.22 per cent in July against 9.44 per cent in June. Inflation in overall primary articles, which have a share of over 20 per cent in the WPI basket, stood at 11.30 per cent in July, down from 12.22 per cent in June.  Prices of manufactured products, which have a weight of around 65 per cent in the WPI basket, went up marginally. Inflation in manufactured products has been steadily rising since February this year, when it crossed the 6 per cent mark. It was 7.43 per cent in June and rose marginally to 7.49 per cent in July.

Andrew L D Cunha, Managing Director, WinWin Fin  Advisory Pvt. Ltd. Mangalore. Email:  finadvisoryltd@yahoo.com