Indian Stocks Fall on Monsoon, China Concerns; Mahindra Drops - Bloomberg... http://bit.ly/elvNo

Entire central India is under active monsoon showers,.. central Bay is also having lots of activities.. http://ping.fm/wc3cC

Chennai - Amazingly today's max. temperature was .. 32.5°C (10:05am)

chennai - Amazingly today's max temperature was (10:05am)

RT @Eco_Hive: India's environmental situation alarming: PM http://bit.ly/46oQJ

Chennai - A mild day to end ... At around 12pm it was threatening to be a thundery afternoon, but aftr that everything vanished.

Poor monsoon may put pressure on inflation: RBI

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty said today the weak southwest monsoon could put upward pressure on inflation.

“The expectation is there (of upward pressure on inflation). The erratic monsoon may put pressure on inflation,” Chakrabarty said on the sidelines of a meeting of regional rural banks. India is facing a severe drought situation as the southwest monsoon has been way below normal. As on August 12, the overall rainfall in the country was 29 per cent below normal.

RBI has projected the headline inflation rate based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) to rise to around 5 per cent by March. India’s headline inflation rate is currently at an over three-decade low of (-)1.74 per cent. The RBI deputy governor said the impact of weak monsoon on the economy could be offset, to some extent, by adequate steps.

“Everybody needs to take precaution. It depends on how we utilise the existing irrigation potential and bring the short-duration crops,” he said.

Sensex regains 15,000-level as monsoon concerns ease

Easing concerns about the monsoon had an impact on the market On Tuesday as benchmark indices rebounded despite mixed cues from overseas.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to be net sellers. After selling shares worth Rs 1,226.49 crore yesterday, they sold stocks of Rs 721.84 crore On Tuesday, according to the provisional data from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Domestic institutional investors (DIIs), however, were net buyers of Rs 467.44 crore.

The BSE Sensex gained 250.34 points (1.69 per cent) to 15,035.26 as rain in some parts of the country helped market sentiments pick up. The S&P CNX Nifty also recovered some of yesterday’s losses and ended the day 71 points (1.62 per cent) up at 4,458.90.

“On Tuesday’s recovery was mainly due to technical short-covering. Markets could consolidate around this level for the time being,” said Sarabjeet Kaur Nangra, head (research), Angel Broking.

The market breadth was fairly positive with 2,648 stocks advancing and 1,238 declining out of a total of 4,007 stocks traded.

All sectoral indices were in the green On Tuesday. The consumer goods index rallied 3.64 per cent, followed by realty (2.39 per cent), metal (2.30 per cent) and power (2.11 per cent).

Hindalco, which lost over 7 per cent in yesterday’s trading, rallied 6 per cent On Tuesday. Jaiprakash Associates and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) surged 4.73 per cent and 4.66 per cent, respectively.

Hindustan Unilever added 3.45 per cent, followed by Tata Steel (3.14 per cent), HDFC (3.06 per cent) and DLF (2.95 per cent).

Mid-cap and small-cap indices outperformed the broader market. While the former added 2.06 per cent, the latter gained 2.09 per cent.

“There cannot be any reversal of trends until the Nifty crosses the 4,500-level. On Tuesday it was unable to do so. Further, there are no triggers for a reversal right now,” said D D Sharma, senior vice president, Anand Rathi.

Other Asian indices, which had fallen sharply, also recovered On Tuesday. The Shanghai Composite gained 1.40 per cent and the Nikkei-225 went marginally up by 0.16 per cent. The Taiwan Taiex and Jakarta Composite lost over 2 per cent each.

Earlier, US markets suffered their worst fall in seven weeks as Japan’s disappointing gross domestic product (GDP) number led to concerns that the country’s (US’) economy recovery might be stifled. The Nasdaq dropped 2.43 per cent. The S&P 500 fell 2.43 per cent to end below the 1,000-level.