Sensex closes below 21000, down 252 points; banks, FMCG drag

02 Jan 2014

After consolidating for the past seven sessions, the market has seen sharp breakout on the lower side on Thursday with the equity benchmarks sliding more than a percent in last hour of trade.

However, it was up nearly a percent in morning session. The Sensex closed below the 21000 level for the first time in last nine sessions, falling 252.15 points or 1.19 percent to 20,888.33. The index lost nearly 450 points from day's high. The Nifty fell 80.50 points or 1.28 percent to 6,221.15.

The broader markets too took a knock after gaining momentum since last week. The BSE Midcap declined 1.77 percent and Smallcap slipped 2 percent. Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1551 to 1025 on the BSE.

Unwinding of long positions and build-up of shorts in major sectors like banks, capital goods, oil & gas and FMCG ahead of earnings season may have caused selling pressure, feel experts.

03:42pm Market Closing:
After pulling through a strong session till afternoon, the market got hammered down in the last few hours of tarding. The Sensex closed down 252.15 points or 1.19 percent at 20888.33, and the Nifty fell 80.50 points or 1.28 percent to 6221.15.

03:30 pm Interview:
Commenting on the company receiving letter of acceptance for a project worth Rs 596 crore from Tamil Nadu Distribution Company, Satish Parakh, MD, Ashoka Buildcon said the work will start from Q4 of the current year and expects net margins to be around 6 to 7 percent.

The power ministry's decision to integrate the Southern grid with the rest of the national gird shows government's keenness to strengthen the power distribution network, so every state will now focus on distribution, he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

The company will now try for distribution in Bihar, Punjab, Odisha and other states and are in the process of bidding in Odisha and Bihar.

On equity requirement for completion of under development projects, he said the company would require Rs 400 crore; Rs 150 crore will be from internal accruals and rest from a tie up with Macquarie.

03:20 pm Update:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has expressed its disappointment over the lower-than-expected spread of mobile banking in the country saying the awareness levels of this tool has been wanting.

"Though mobile banking channel has the potential to be one of the key tools for achieving financial inclusion, the growth and acceptance of mobile banking as a channel of accessing banking service has been below expectation," the apex bank said in its half-yearly financial stability report released earlier this week.

The report listed a slew of reasons for the poor show such as low levels of awareness and acceptance, inability of banks to seed the mobile number with the account number, incompatible handsets, absence of collaboration and revenue sharing models between banks and mobile operators, and absence of dollar channels for mobile banking among others.

3:10 pm Mutual Fund review:
The assets managed by mutual funds jumped by nearly Rs. 85,000 crore or about 11 percent to Rs. 8.78 lakh crore in 2013, with HDFC MF retaining its top position.

The country's 44 fund houses together had an average AUM (Asset Under Management) of Rs. 7,93,331 crore at the end of 2012, which increased to Rs. 8,77,973 crore in 2013, as per latest data available with industry body AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India).

The total AUM includes about Rs. 5,777 crore managed through domestic funds.

02:54pm Asian Markets Update
Asian share markets endured mixed fortunes today in the wake of disappointing data on Chinese manufacturing, while investors showed renewed appetite for commodities as the new year got underway.

Gold grabbed the limelight with a 1.5 percent jump to USD 1,223.46 an ounce, recouping just a little of the losses that made last year its worst in three decades.

The buying spilled over into silver and copper, with dealers talking of Chinese demand for commodities in general.

The other action was in the yen, which resumed its long decline as investors used it to fund purchases of higher-yielding assets abroad.

The drop in the yen has been viewed as positive for Japanese exports and corporate earnings, and a major reason its share markets outperformed all others last year.

Japan's Nikkei was closed on Thursday but ended 2013 with an annual gain of 57 percent. Many analysts look for a further advance this year as the Bank of Japan remains committed to its massive stimulus campaign, reports Reuters.

02:44pm Market extends slide
The Sensex plunged 265.98 points or 1.26 percent to 20874.50, and the Nifty dropped 85.50 points or 1.36 percent to 6,216.15. Declining shares outpaced advancing ones by a ratio of 1469 to 1018 on the BSE.

BHEL , and Larsen and Toubro topped the selling list, falling 3.7 percent each. Tata Power and Bharti Airtel shares fell more than 3 percent.

ITC , ICICI Bank , Reliance Industries , Sesa Sterlite and NTPC slipped 2 percent each.

02:34pm Delta Corp talks to CNBC-TV18
Shares in Delta Corp reached a three-year high amid news the company is in the process of starting a five-star hotel in Daman that will also play host to a casino.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Hardik Dhebar, CFO, Delta Corp, said earnings in the current year have grown about 60 percent and that for the full year, numbers would be better than estimates.

Delta, which owns three offshore casinos in Goa, logged a half-yearly operating profit of Rs 107 crore on sales of Rs 409 crore in FY14.

02:27pm Arvind slides 4%
More than 77.7 lakh shares or 3 percent equity exchanged hands on NSE and BSE at Rs 146.55-150 apiece via block deals.

The stock fell 4.29 percent to Rs 144.65 after hitting a 52-week high of Rs 150 on the BSE.

02:17pm The market erased all its gains in afternoon trade with the Sensex breaking the 21000 level and Nifty 6250 level, dented by weakness in banks, oil and gas, and FMCG stocks.

The Sensex lost 178.39 points to 20,962.09, and the Nifty fell 57.40 points to 6,244.25. Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 1297 to 1185 on the BSE.

Dilip Bhat, Joint MD at Prabhudas Lilladher feels Nifty may see 6500-6600 maximum on the upper side, but maybe it would remain vulnerable to below 6000 at any given point of time in the run up to the elections. American bond yields at around 3 percent is not a comfortable level, he says.

Banks, which were gainers in morning trade, are in bear grip. Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank dropped 2 percent followed by HDFC Bank and Axis Bank with a 0.6 percent loss.

FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever lost 1.6 percent each while state-run oil & gas major ONGC and petrochemical company Reliance Industries slipped nearly 1.5 percent.

Shares of Bharti Airtel, BHEL, Coal India and Tata Power declined 2-2.5 percent.

However, HDFC, TCS , Infosys , Maruti, Sun Pharma , Tata Steel and Hindalco gained 0.3-1.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the rupee slipped 15 paise to 62.05 against the US dollar.

2:10 pm Market check: The market is under selling pressure. The Sensex is down 164.36 points at 20976.12, and the Nifty is down 53.60 points at 6248.05. About 1136 shares have advanced, 1269 shares declined, and 738 shares are unchanged.

2:00 pm Current Affairs A day after the state government steeply hiked property prices in major cities in spite of falling sales, realtors association has flayed the decision saying the move will harm the industry in particular and the state in general.

"I think the government has taken an upfront decision. There is no synchronisation in the decision-making. The decision should have been taken by the chief minister and the cabinet and not by the revenue department alone," Credai chairman Lalitkumar Jain told PTI today.

The state yesterday increased the ready reckoner (RR) rates for residential and commercial properties in Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Navi Mumbai municipal areas to the tune of 5-30 percent with the average hike being 20 percent. The rates came into effect today.

1:50 pm Global market: European stocks edged up in the first session of 2014, hitting fresh peaks following a stellar 2013, but gains were likely to be capped by weak Chinese data and by the absence of many players still on holiday.

Historically, equities have enjoyed gains in early January as investors put on bets for the year ahead, and this time sentiment has been further cheered by the strong gains enjoyed over 2013.

Such flows outweighed the news that China's factory activity slowed in December, which raised concern about the strength of demand in the world's second biggest economy.

1:40 pm Exclusive: The new MCX Board, comprising different bank representatives will take a decision on who will be the managing director and CEO of MCX today. While around seven candidates have been interviewed, sources say three have been shortlisted: Dilip Bhatia, CEO of Ace Commodities, Narendra Gupta, former chief strategist NCDEXM and Anil Mishra, managing director and CEO of National Multi Commodity Exchange.

Sources say Anil Mishra is likely to be the front-runner for the post. The interview was conducted after Shreekant Javalgekar resigned as MD and CEO in October after the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) ordered the exchange to appoint a new MD within a month.

1:30 pm Interview: Slamming the Maharashtra Government's decision to hike ready reckoner rates by 20 percent with effect from January 1, 2014, Sujay Kalele, chief executive officer, Kolte-Patil , expects property prices to rise by 2-3 percent. Speaking to CNBC-TV18 a day after the Government announced the rate hike, Kalele says developers will have to pay higher stamp duties and premiums now, thereby causing the property rates to hike.

As a developer we have to pay to various municipal bodies but more so because in some areas now, the ready reckoner rate is way above the market rate specifically in commercial asset classes," he adds. Ready reckoner rates are calculated using the built-up area of a property and are used to determine its market value. Before 2008, it used to be calculated using the carpet area.

The market is firm in afternoon trade. The Sensex is up 129.25 points at 21269.73, and the Nifty up 36.70 points at 6338.35. About 1468 shares have advanced, 819 shares declined, and 775 shares are unchanged.

Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel , Sesa Sterlite, SBI and HDFC are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the top losers are Coal India , NTPC , Tata Power , Bharti Airtel and BHEL .

Stocks like Tata Steel, SAIL and JSPL are in focus today. The cabinet is expected to take up the Shah Commission report on illegal mining in Odisha today. Also the cabinet committee on economic affairs is expected to take up the power ministry's proposal to amend the mega power policy.

In a major relief to the south, the southern Power Grid is now connected to the national grid. The raichur-Solapur 765 KV single circuit transmission line has been interconnected with the national grid thereby achieving the one nation-one grid-one frequency system.

2:10 pm Market check: The market is under selling pressure. The Sensex is down 164.36 points at 20976.12, and the Nifty is down 53.60 points at 6248.05. About 1136 shares have advanced, 1269 shares declined, and 738 shares are unchanged.

Historically, equities have enjoyed gains in early January as investors put on bets for the year ahead, and this time sentiment has been further cheered by the strong gains enjoyed over 2013.

Such flows outweighed the news that China's factory activity slowed in December, which raised concern about the strength of demand in the world's second biggest economy.

Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel , Sesa Sterlite, SBI and HDFC are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the top losers are Coal India , NTPC , Tata Power , Bharti Airtel and BHEL .

After consolidating for the past seven sessions, the market has seen sharp breakout on the lower side on Thursday with the equity benchmarks sliding more than a percent in last hour of trade. However, it was up nearly a percent in morning session.

The Sensex closed below the 21000 level for the first time in last nine sessions, falling 252.15 points or 1.19 percent to 20,888.33. The index lost nearly 450 points from day's high. The Nifty fell 80.50 points or 1.28 percent to 6,221.15.

Unwinding of long positions and build-up of shorts in major sectors like banks, capital goods, oil & gas and FMCG ahead of earnings season may have caused selling pressure, feel experts.

12:55pm Kirloskar Brothers surges 4%
Kirloskar Brothers Europe BV has now become 100 percent subsidiary of Kirloskar Brothers International BV.

Kirloskar Brothers International BV Netherlands, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kirloskar Brothers, has acquired balance 40 percent shareholding in Kirloskar Brothers Europe BV Netherlands on December 31, 2013.

12:50pm Kolte-Patil talks to CNBC-TV18
Slamming the Maharashtra Government's decision to hike ready reckoner rates by 20 percent with effect from January 1, 2014, Sujay Kalele, chief executive officer, Kolte-Patil, expects property prices to rise by 2-3 percent.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 a day after the Government announced the rate hike, Kalele says developers will have to pay higher stamp duties and premiums now, thereby causing the property rates to hike.

Ready reckoner rates are calculated using the built-up area of a property and are used to determine its market value. Before 2008, it used to be calculated using the carpet area.

On how the sales trajectory has been for the company, Kalele says the sales in December in Pune were far better than November as properties below Rs 1 crore still have robust demand.

12:40pm Railway stocks on buyers' radar
Investors are once again buying railway stocks on Thursday on expectations of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector. Shares of Kalindee Rail , Titagarh Wagons, Texmaco Rail and Hind Rectifiers rallied 5-12 percent today.

The government is likely to allow foreign direct investment in high-speed trains and other projects including development of rail lines between project sites and existing network.

12:30pm Power Grid gains ground
Shares of Power Grid Corporation of India are on buyers' radar on Thursday after the state-run power transmission said Southern grid has been connected to national grid. The stock gained more than 2 percent.

"Power Grid Corporation has commissioned Raichur-Solapur transmission line, last night, interconnecting the Southern grid synchronously with rest of the National Power Grid facilitating bulk transfer of power across regional boundaries, " an official statement said.

The company also said an integrated national grid will stabilise in few months.

Meanwhile, brokerage firm Nomura reiterated buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 129 apiece after this event.

12:20pm Sandur Manganese and Iron Ores under pressure

Sandur Manganese and Iron Ores shares fell as much as 5 percent intraday on Thursday after the Bangalore-based company suspended mining operations with effect from January 1, 2014.

The flagship company of Sandur group had mining leases for a period of 20 years effective from January 01, 1994 and the same period has expired on December 31, 2013.

Sandur Manganese said it had applied for its renewal more than 12 months prior to its expiry and accordingly it is entitled to continue its operations under the deemed renewal provisions prescribed under Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.

However, the company has suspended all activities in its mining leases despite deemed renewal, due to forest department directive.

12:10pm Nomura does not see tapering creating much panic in market

It was the word that spooked global markets in 2013, but according to Michael Kurtz, Chief Asia Equity Strategist at Nomura "taper" no longer holds the same dread it once did. Although, he agrees that taper talk will dominate investor sentiment in the near-term, he feels the markets are better prepared for Fed cutting down on its bond-buying programme.

"We do not see tapering creating much panic in the market," he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

Meanwhile, a narrowing current account deficit (CAD) has allowed the rupee to withstand the start of reduced bond purchases by the Federal Reserve, analysts say confidence is still low in an Indian economy suffering from low growth and high inflation.

Nomura is overweight on India on anticipating reform-friendly politics and commodity price relief. Kurtz says India, which has historically traded at higher multiples, has the potential to grow in the range of 15.5-16.5 times.

Analyst also warns India is still too dependant on foreign flows, and needs structural reforms beyond measures such as curbs on gold imports to have a more sustained impact on the current account.

Indian equities feature among the worst-performing markets in the world this calendar year despite receiving the third-highest inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Kurtz says it will be difficult for the economy to get the same quantum of flows as 2013.

"We may see flows increasing to China if further reform steps are taken," he says.

12:00pm Equity benchmarks maintained upmove in noon trade with Sensex gaining more than 100 points supported largely by banks.

The Sensex advanced 118.44 points to 21,258.92, and the Nifty rose 37.80 points to 6,339.45. About 1391 shares have advanced, 705 shares declined, and 826 shares are unchanged.

Banking is the leading sector today with the BSE Bankex gaining 1.5 percent. Bank of Baroda surged 3.5 percent and Punjab National Bank rose 2.7 percent.

Country's largest lenders State Bank of India , ICICI Bank , HDFC Bank and Axis Bank rallied between 1-2 percent while housing finance company HDFC jumped 1.7 percent.

Technology majors TCS and Infosys climbed over 0.5 percent. Maruti Suzuki is the top gainer in the Sensex, rising 2.5 percent while Ranbaxy Labs gained 3 percent.

However, shares of NTPC , Coal India and Bharti Airtel fell 1 percent each. Capital goods majors Larsen and Toubro and BHEL declined 0.5 percent each.

11:50 am Stock in news: Shares of Power Grid Corporation of India are on buyers' radar on Thursday after the state-run power transmission said Southern grid has been connected to national grid.

Meanwhile, brokerage firm Nomura reiterated buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 129 apiece after this event.

11:40 am Outlook: Brokerage house CLSA expects the Sensex to touch 23,500 by the end of this calendar, and expects investors to make money in cyclical stocks like power utilities and midcap realty firms. Stocks which CLSA is bullish on include Axis Bank , ICICI Bank , Maruti, UltraTech, ITC , Lupin and Zee. The brokerage sees earnings being flat in this financial year, but growing around 15 percent in FY15.

11:30 am Buzzing: Coal India and NMDC trade subdued on reports that the government may push state run-firms to buy stakes in each other, in order to revive its floundering disinvestment programme. Additionally, NMDC is under pressure as the coal ministry has issued show cause notices to NMDC for two coal blocks.

The market is holding firm. The Sensex is up 151.19 points at 21291.67, and the Nifty is up 43.75 points at 6345.40. About 1319 shares have advanced, 515 shares declined, and 869 shares are unchanged.

Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma , HDFC and ICICI Bank are top gainers in the Sensex while on the losing side are Bharti Airtel , NTPC , Coal India and Bajaj Auto .

The rupee is marginally higher against the dollar tracking a firm euro and strength in most other Asian currencies. The euro has maintained its strength against the dollar with the ECB President Mario Draghi saying last week there was no urgency to cut rates. The yen remained weak against the dollar.

Bonds are steady ahead of Rs 15,000 auction tomorrow. Also, the absence of negative cues and likely buying interest at auction limits fall in prices.

Gold is steady but still hovering near six month lows. Brent crude rose marginally by 20 cents from Tuesday's levels.

Asian markets are trading mixed today. China is weak after manufacturing activity weakened in December. PMI came in at 50.5 for December vs 50.9 in November.

10:54am Midcaps and smallcaps
Among midcaps, TVS Motor , Allahabad Bank , Syndicate Bank , Standard Chartered and Sun Pharma Advanced Research gained 4-6 percent while Sadbhav Engineering , DB Realty , Godrej Properties , Jindal Saw and Alstom T&D slipped 2-4 percent.

In the smallcap space, Orbit Corporation shot up 16 percent followed by Welspun India , UB Holdings , ESS DEE Aluminium and S Mobility with a 7-9 percent upmove.

However, Surana Industries , V-Mart Retail, Sagar Cement , Sandur Manganes and Gati lost 3.5-5 percent.

10:44am Factory PMI in December falters
India's factories lost momentum last month as softness in new domestic orders prompted firms to lower production growth, but demand from abroad picked up, a survey showed on Thursday.

The HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, fell to 50.7 in December from 51.3 in the previous month.

The index, which gauges business activity in Indian factories but not its utilities, spent three months below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction before rising above it in November, reports Reuters.

"Manufacturing activity decelerated slightly in December as a slowdown in domestic order flows led to slower output growth," said Leif Eskesen, a chief economist at HSBC.

10:34am Nomura reiterates buy rating on Power Grid

Power Grid Corporation has commissioned the crucial Raichur-Solapur line well ahead of its committed schedule, once again underlining its execution prowess.

"Power Grid remains a solid defensive growth story and our top pick in the sector. We reiterate our buy rating," Nomura said in its report.

10:24am FII View
Brokerage house CLSA expects the Sensex to touch 23,500 by the end of this calendar, and expects investors to make money in cyclical stocks like power utilities and midcap realty firms.

Stocks which CLSA is bullish on include Axis Bank , ICICI Bank , Maruti, UltraTech, ITC , Lupin and Zee.

The brokerage sees earnings being flat in this financial year, but growing around 15 percent in FY15.

CLSA feels that GDP growth has bottomed out and things will only improve from hereon.

"Economic recovery will gradually unfold over CY14-15 towards a 6 percent growth mark," says the CLSA note.

"The outcome of the elections can significantly impact market sentiment either ways and will alter the pace of the recovery process but recovery in itself should not be doubted," the note says.

10:14am BBA eyes stake in MCX
After news that a group led by Universal Commodity Exchange (UCX) was keen to pick up stake in Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), it has emerged that the Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) will also be part of the consortium.

Ketan Sheth, Chairman of UCX said that the chairman of the BBA had approached UCX requesting to be part of the consortium and that he was open to the idea. It is, however, not clear whether an association that trades on an exchange could be allowed to own stake in it.

UCX, the sixth player in the commodity futures market, has approached the FMC proposing to buy the 26 percent stake of Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL) in MCX, and said it would merge the two exchanges.

MCX is the largest commodity exchange in the country while UCX is relatively a small player.

10:04am Equity benchmarks gained smartly after seeing consolidation for earlier three sessions. The Sensex rose 155.65 points to 21,296.13, and the Nifty climbed 44.85 points to 6,346.50.

The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gaining 0.8 percent. Advancing shares outpaced declining ones by a ratio of 1009 to 254 on the BSE.

Axis Bank is the top gainer in the Sensex, rising more than 2 percent followed by ICICI Bank and HDFC with a 1.7 percent upmove. HDFC Bank rose over 1 percent while its rival State Bank of India too gained 1 percent.

FMCG stocks like ITC and Hindustan Unilever , oil and gas stocks like Reliance Industries and ONGC , and technology counters like TCS and Infosys advanced over 0.4 percent.

However, shares of Coal India and Bharti Airtel lost over 0.5 percent. NTPC and Tata Power are flat with a negative bias.

10:00 am Telecom update: The Department of Telecom (DoT) is likely to place before inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission six different scenarios based on probable revenue impact for the exchequer that are linked to changes in annual fee to be paid by companies on spectrum usage.

The DoT committee, which examined TRAI's recommendations, stated that after "deliberating on the matter (uniform spectrum usage charge) in totality, a revenue neutral SUC rate may be determined," sources said. Levied annually by the government as a percentage of revenue earned by mobile operators from telecom services, SUC varies from 3-8 per cent.

9:50 am Big stake: After news that a group led by Universal Commodity Exchange (UCX) was keen to pick up stake in Multi-Commodity Exchange ( MCX ), it has emerged that the Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) will also be part of the consortium.

9:40 am FII view: Mahesh Nandurkar of CLSA believes that falling trend in GDP, investment and corporate earnings growth will reverse in 2014. "The improvement may be visible in H2CY14/FY15 but investors will position much in advance," he says.

He recommends select cyclicals like Axis Bank , ICICI Bank , Maruti, Ultratech Cement, power utilities and midcap property. Other structural buy ideas are ITC , Lupin and Zee Entertainment. He is underweight on staples, retail financials.

9:30 am Bad state: India, in its crusade against illegal mining, has choked its iron ore output and exports so hard that many companies are giving up on the sector.

The mining and export bans in the key states of Goa and Karnataka have brought miners and other businesses to their knees, forced steelmakers to buy iron ore abroad and seen hundreds of thousands laid off.

After a dull trading day on Wednesday, the market gained strength on Thursday with the Sensex rising over 100 points and the Nifty racing towards 6350 level.

The Sensex rose 117.74 points to 21,258.22, and the Nifty climbed 33.75 points to 6,335.40. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices too gained 0.6 percent each.

About 793 shares advanced while 171 shares declined on the BSE.

HDFC topped the gainers list in the Sensex, rising 1.6 percent followed by ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank , ONGC and Axis Bank with a 1 percent upmove.

Shares of ITC, Reliance Industries , TCS , Larsen and Toubro and State Bank of India gained more than 0.7 percent.

However, Coal India and Bharti Airtel are under pressure.

Meanwhile, the rupee was unchanged at 61.90 per dollar in opening trade on Thursday as compared previous day's closing value.

Ashutosh Raina of HDFC Bank believes the rupee is moving sideways and is expected to continue this trajectory for some more time, till more data cues come in.

He expects rupee to trade in the range of 61.50-62.50/dollar for some more time.

After being the best performing currency of 2013, the euro trades flat this morning at 1.37/dollar, while the dollar index holds above 80 levels and the yen is elevated at 105/dollar.

Asian equity markets were mixed on the first trading day of the year while liquidity levels were low due to the holiday period in other equity markets.

In the currency space, after being the best performing currency of 2013, the euro trades flat this morning at 1.37 per dollar while the dollar index holds above 80 levels and the yen is elevated at 105 against the green back.

In commodities, Brent prices see minor gains to trade sub- USD 11 per barrel while Nymex gains over quarter of a percent above USD 98 per barrel.

And from precious metals space, gold prices inch higher in early trade. It is above USD 1200 per ounce while silver is a tad soft in early trade.