Sensex, Nifty hit 16-week lows as bank stocks slide

Key benchmark indices fell for the second straight day to reach their lowest closing level in 16-weeks. Data showing selling by foreign funds over the past two days also weighed on sentiment. The 50-unit S&P CNX Nifty fell below the psychological 5,000 mark, having alternately moved above and below that level in intraday trade. The barometer index, BSE Sensex, lost 66.60 points or 0.4%, up about 60 points from the day's low and off close to 135 points from the day's high. The market breadth was weak. From a recent high of 16,912.71 on Monday, 7 May 2012, the BSE Sensex has declined 433.13 points or 2.56% in two trading sessions. The Sensex has declined 839.23 points or 4.84% in May 2012 so far (till 9 May 2012). The Sensex has surged 1024.66 points or 6.62% in calendar 2012 so far (till 9 May 2012). From a 52-week low of 15,135.86 on 20 December 2011, the Sensex has risen 1,343.72 points or 8.87%. From a 52-week high of 19,131.70 on 8 July 2011, the Sensex has lost 2,652.12 points or 13.86%. Data showing selling by foreign funds over the past two days also weighed on sentiment today, 9 May 2012. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 369.30 crore on Tuesday, 8 May 2012, compared with outflow of Rs 592.90 crore on Monday, 7 May 2012, as per data from Securities & Exchange Board of India. Power generation major NTPC dropped to 52-week low ahead of its FY 2012 results tomorrow, 10 May 2012. Pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories surged after unveiling strong Q1 March 2012 result. Cipla dropped ahead of its Q4 results tomorrow, 10 May 2012. ABB fell in choppy trade after reporting weak Q1 results. Asian Paints scaled a record high after announcing strong result after market hours on Tuesday. Bank stocks extended their recent steep slide triggered by the Reserve Bank of India's final guidelines to implement the Basel-III capital rules, issued last week, which require banks to steadily build up their capital buffers through March 2018. Capital goods pivotals saw divergent trend. India's largest private sector aluminium maker by capacity Hindalco Industries extended Tuesday's gains on strong Q4 results on sequential basis. IT stocks were mixed after Tuesday's slide triggered after information technology services company Cognizant Technology Solutions on Monday, 7 May 2012, lowering its revenue guidance for 2012, citing a slower-than-anticipated pickup in demand in the banking and healthcare verticals. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged lower on reports the firm has reduced estimates for proven gas reserves from its Indian blocks by 6.6% to 103.958 billion cubic meters due to lower-than-expected output from its east coast gas field. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) declined after the company announced during market hours today, 9 May 2012, a fire broke out today morning at one of the storage areas pertaining to manufacturing of Scorpio/Xylo TCF lines of Nasik Plant 1. Key benchmark indices cut losses in early trade triggered by weakness in Asian stocks. The barometer index, BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit S&P CNX Nifty recovered after hitting 16-week lows. The market was volatile in morning trade. Key benchmark indices reversed direction and moved into positive zone to strike intraday high in mid-morning trade. The Nifty regained the psychological 5,000 level. The market trimmed gains in early afternoon trade. The market trimmed losses after slipping into the red in afternoon trade. The Sensex moved into positive zone later. The market once again slipped into the red in mid-afternoon trade. Volatility was the order of the day as key benchmark indices trimmed losses after hitting their lowest level in 16-weeks in late trade. The BSE Sensex lost 66.60 points or 0.4% to settle at 16,479.58, its lowest closing level since 18 January 2012. The index fell 123.25 points at the day's low of 16,422.93 in late trade. The index rose 69.56 points at the day's high of 16,615.74 in mid-morning trade. The S&P CNX Nifty shed 25.15 points or 0.5% to settle at 4,974.80, its lowest closing level since 18 January 2012. The index hit low of 4,956.45 and a high of 5,016.25 in intraday trade. The BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.98% and the BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.23%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2051 crore, slightly lower than Rs 2066.68 crore clocked on Tuesday, 8 May 2012. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 1,796 shares declined and 936 shares gained. A total of 124 shares were unchanged. From the 30-share Sensex pack, 22 declined while the rest of them gained. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 1.91% to Rs 695.10 on reports the firm has cut its estimate of its total proven gas reserves by 6.6% to 103.958 billion cubic meters due to lower-than-expected output from its east coast gas field. Gas output from RIL operated D6 block, off India's east coast, is projected to decline to 20 million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) in 2014/15 from an estimated 28 mmscmd in this fiscal year, Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said on Tuesday. RIL's average daily gas production from the D6 block in Krishna Godavari basin was 42.65 million standard cubic meters a day in the financial year through March 2012, way beneath a target of 70 mmscmd. RIL holds a 60% stake in D6. BP PLC owns 30% and Niko Resources has 10%. RIL also owns 30% of the Panna-Mukta-Tapti gas fields along India's west coast. RIL after trading hours on Friday, 4 May 2012, said that the government by its letter of 2nd May 2012 has communicated to the company that it proposes to disallow certain costs for natural gas exploration and development blocks which the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) entitles RIL to recover. On 23rd November 2011, RIL had issued arbitration notice under the provisions of the PSC relating to Block KG-DWN - 98/3 to the Government of India, on the issue, amongst others, of wrongful denial of cost recovery on the ground of lower production or under utilization of facilities. RIL said it maintains that any such attempt by the government is unwarranted and violative of the PSC. RIL said it continues to maintain that a contractor is entitled to recover all of its costs under the terms of the PSC and there are no provisions that entitle the government to disallow recovery of any contract cost as defined in the PSC. The government's communication articulates the very issues which are subject matter of the notice of arbitration issued by RIL and these issues will be resolved through arbitration process stipulated under the PSC which has been initiated by RIL, the company said in a statement. RIL said after market hours today, 9 May 2012, it has signed a $2 billion equivalent loan with nine banks covered by Euler Hermes Deutschland AG. ("Euler Hermes") on 7 May 2012 at Berlin, Germany. The loan will be primarily used to finance goods and services procured from German suppliers as part of RIL's petrochemicals expansion projects at Jamnagar, Hazira, Silvassa and Dahej in India. The facility is among the largest underwriting by Euler Hermes in recent years, RIL said. Euler Hermes has for the first time accorded 'Better than Sovereign' rating to a corporate, RIL said. Despite the challenging financial markets, the deal witnessed 50% over subscription, RIL. The facility has a door-to-door maturity of 13 years. This deal help diversify RIL's funding sources and extends the maturity profile of its long term debt in a cost effective manner, RIL said. Coal India slipped 2.52%. Reportedly, the company has entered into fuel supply pacts with 13 power units while some have refused to sign it objecting the penalty clause. Last month, the government had issued a directive to the state-run coal miner to commit a minimum of 80% of fuel supply to power producers, failing which it would attract penalty. Bank stocks extended their recent steep slide triggered by the Reserve Bank of India's final guidelines to implement the Basel-III capital rules, issued last week, which require banks to steadily build up their capital buffers through March 2018. India's largest bank by branch network State Bank of India (SBI) dropped 3.64%. India's second largest private sector bank by net profit HDFC Bank declined 0.58%. India's largest private sector bank by net profit ICICI Bank slipped 1.02%. The bank has reportedly raised foreign currency deposit rates by up to 175 basis points, effective 8 May 2012. It raised rates for 1 to 2 year tenure by 75 basis points and for 3 to 5 year tenure by 175 basis points. Punjab National Bank declined 2.01% to Rs 767.95. The stock was volatile. The scrip hit a low of Rs 759 and high of Rs 797.60. During market hours today, 9 May 2012, the state-run bank said its net profit rose 18.58% to Rs 1424.06 crore on 27.60% rise in total income to Rs 10955.73 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Union Bank of India dropped 4.04% to Rs 202.90. The stock was volatile. The scrip hit a low of Rs 201.60 and high of Rs 214.80. During market hours today, 9 May 2012, the state-run bank said its net profit rose 29.38% to Rs 773.19 crore on 24.59% growth in total income to Rs 6498.79 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Among other banking stocks, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Federal Bank shed by between 0.18% to 4.58%. As per the Basel-III rules, banks will have to achieve a minimum shareholder equity ratio or common equity as a percentage of their total risk-weighted assets of 4.5% by Jan. 1, 2013 and progressively build it to 5.5% by March 31, 2018. Banks will also have to increase their Tier-I capital ratios from 6% to 7% over the same period. Throughout the transition period until 2018, banks will be required to maintain a total capital adequacy ratio of 9%. In addition to the standard capital requirements, Indian banks will have to build a capital conservation buffer equalling 2.5% of their total risk-weighted assets by March 31, 2018 to guard against losses during periods of stress. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) issued a comprehensive reform package entitled "Basel III: A global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems" in December 2010, with the objective to improve the banking sector's ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress, whatever the source, thus reducing the risk of spillover from the financial sector to the real economy. The reform package relating to capital regulation, together with the enhancements to Basel II framework and amendments to market risk framework issued by BCBS in July 2009, will amend certain provisions of the existing Basel II framework, in addition to introducing some new concepts and requirements. Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) rose 1.5%. The company after trading hours on Tuesday said its consolidation after tax jumped 21% to Rs 1554 crore in the year ended March 2012 (FY 2012) over the year ended March 2011 (FY 2011). Net Interest Income (NII) increased by 28% to Rs 2113 crore in FY 2012 over FY 2011. Non Interest Income decreased by 4% to Rs 844 crore in FY 2012 over FY 2011. The balance sheet size grew by 24% from Rs 49347 crore as at March 31, 2011 to Rs 60979 crore as at March 31, 2012. Loan book increased by 28% from Rs 38215 crore as at March 31, 2011 to Rs 48888 crore as at March 31, 2012. Cumulative Outstanding Approvals was Rs 69718 crore as on March 31, 2012, IDFC said. Net NPAs were at 0.15% of outstanding loans as on March 31, 2012, IDFC said. India's largest power equipment maker by sales Bhel was flat. The stock had tumbled 4.86% on Tuesday. India's largest engineering & construction firm by sales Larsen & Toubro rose 0.04%, with the stock recovering from Tuesday's 3.7% slide. During market hours on Tuesday, 8 May 2012, the company said its overseas joint venture Larsen & Toubro ATCO Saudia LLC has secured a large procure and construct contract from Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara), a joint venture of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and The Dow Chemical Company (Dow). The project involves procurement & construction of Solution Polyethylene and Specialty Elastomers package in Al-Jubail Industrial City II, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, where Sadara is constructing a world scale chemical complex. The project is scheduled to be completed in 35 months, L&T said in a statement. ABB shed 1.5% to Rs 746.95. The stock was volatile. The scrip hit a low of Rs 720 and high of Rs 770.50. ABB said during trading hours today its net profit fell 18.6% to Rs 48 crore on 0.44% fall in revenue to Rs 1773 crore in Q1 March 2012 over Q1 March 2011. ABB said it received orders worth Rs 1632 crore in Q1 March 2012, lower than an order intake of Rs 1695 crore in Q1 March 2011. While the businesses relating to power sector continued to grow, those dependent on systems business from the industry were impacted due to poor market sentiments primarily driven by over capacities and high cost of capital. ABB said its order backlog stood at Rs 9028 crore as at end March 2012. With this strong order backlog, the revenues of the company for the coming quarters remain secured, ABB said. "Some of our initiatives including operational excellence have helped bring significant improvements in the current tough market scenario. We continue to maintain a positive outlook as we move forward with our investment plans for new manufacturing lines, enhance existing capacities, and introduce new products and solutions through use of best in class engineering and R&D," said Bazmi Husain, Country Manager and Managing Director, ABB. India's largest power generation firm by capacity NTPC fell 2.92% to Rs 151.45 ahead of its FY 2012 results tomorrow, 10 May 2012. The stock fell to a 52-week low of Rs 150.55 in intraday trade today, 9 May 2012. Metal shares declined after LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, fell 0.81% to $3,459.80 on Tuesday, 8 May 2012. Bhushan Steel, Sterlite Industries India, Tata Steel, Sail, JSW Steel and Hindustan Zinc declined by between 0.29% to 4.19%. India's largest private sector aluminium maker by capacity Hindalco Industries rose 1.36%, with the stock extending Tuesday's 1.16% gains. During market hours on Tuesday, 8 May 2012, the company said its net profit jumped 42% to Rs 639.99 crore on 15.04% growth in revenue from operations to Rs 7647.07 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q3 December 2011. With regard to the future outlook, Hindalco said volatile commodity prices and spiraling energy costs post significant challenge for the company. Hindalco said it is confident of mitigating the cost pressure to a larger extent on the strength of integration in its operations and operational efficiencies. India's largest sponge iron steel maker by capacity Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) declined 2.9%. Reportedly the company has acquired a 9.25% stake in Australia's Apollo Minerals for AUD 1 million (about Rs 5.30 crore). India's largest cigarette maker by sales ITC surged 5.61% to Rs 240.05 after the government announced an amendment to the pricing methodology for excise duty on cigarettes announced in Union Budget 2012-13 in March 2012. The government has scrapped a proposal made in the budget to levy a 10% additional ad valorem excise duty on cigarettes longer than 65 millimeters (2.6 inches) and replaced it with a flat tax rate based on the length of the cigarette. Some fixed duties on cigarettes will still be raised. Auto stocks were mostly lower on tepid sales growth reported by most auto firms for April 2012. India's largest motorcycle maker by sales Hero MotoCorp fell 1.37%, with the stock extending recent steep losses. The company on 2 May 2012 said that its net profit rose 20.33% to Rs 603.59 crore on 12.22% growth in total income to Rs 6139.90 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. The core operating profit margin (OPM) fell by 10 basis points to 15.3% in Q4 March 2012 on account of increase in raw material costs. The company said early this month it has raised prices of most of its products by Rs 500 to Rs 1000 per unit with immediate effect, in order to partially offset rising input costs. India's largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki India declined 0.23%. Reportedly, the company has raised the prices of the new diesel variants of its sedan DZire by up to Rs 12,000 with effect from 1 May 2012, citing input costs pressure. India's largest commercial vehicle makers by sales Tata Motors lost 1.13%. Tata Motors said last week its total sales (including exports) of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles fell by 7% to 60,086 units in April 2012 over April 2011. The company's domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles for April 2012 were at 57,305 units, lower by 5% over 60,125 units sold in April last year. Bajaj Auto rose 1.19%. The company last week said its total sales rose 4% to 3.81 lakh units in April 2012 over April 2011. Exports rose 7% to a record 1.69 lakh units in April 2012 over April 2011. India's largest tractor and sports utility vehicles maker Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) fell 3.21% after the company announced during market hours today, 9 May 2012, a fire broke out today morning at one of the storage areas pertaining to manufacturing of Scorpio/Xylo TCF lines of Nasik Plant 1. The fire has been confined to this specific area and there has been no casualty. As a safety measure, the operations of the plant have been suspended in the first shift and the cause and extent of damage is being ascertained, M&M said. The production loss in the first shift is estimated to be around 250 vehicles, M&M said. The plant assets are adequately covered by insurance. The management expects to restart the Bolero and Verito lines fully and the Scorpio line partially, from the second shift onwards, the company added. Pharma major Cipla was down 0.72% ahead of its Q4 results tomorrow, 10 May 2012. Ranbaxy Laboratories surged 3.8% after consolidated net profit jumped 309.59% to Rs 1246.80 crore on 71% growth in total income from operations (net) to Rs 3786.84 crore in Q1 March 2012 over Q1 March 2011. The result was announced during market hours today, 9 May 2012. Meanwhile, a report indicated that India's main drug regulator has not been properly scrutinising some drugs before approving them, and some of its officials are colluding with drug firms and medical experts to circumvent procedure. IT stocks were mixed after Tuesday's slide triggered after information technology services company Cognizant Technology Solutions on Monday, 7 May 2012, lowering its revenue guidance for 2012, citing a slower-than-anticipated pickup in demand in the banking and healthcare verticals. India's largest software services exporter by revenues Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) gained 2.13%, with the stock recovering from Tuesday's 5.77% slump. India's third largest software services exporter by revenue, Wipro rose 0.63%. India's second largest software services exporter by revenue, Infosys declined 1.01% to Rs 2367.70. The stock extended Tuesday's 1.59% fall. Cognizant has lowered revenue growth guidance for 2012 to 20% from 23% earlier. HCL Technologies rose 1.66%. During market hours today, 9 May 2012, the company said its enterprise application services division -- HCL AXON announced the release of its iMRO solution for the rail industry. HCL AXON's iMRO, a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) solution endorsed by SAP AG, was previously available for use by organizations that maintain complex, expensive and regulated assets such as in the travel and transportation, high-tech, energy, aerospace and defence industries. iMRO for Rail, when used together with the SAP® Enterprise Asset Management (SAP EAM) solution, enhances operations for the rail industry and integrated lifecycle management for linear assets, rolling stock and road vehicles, the company said. Todd Crandall, Executive Vice President & Global Head of Asset Intensive Industries, HCL AXON, said, "We are delighted to be cooperating further with SAP to optimize global rail asset management processes. The evolving co-innovation with HCL AXON's iMRO since 2008 for aerospace and airlines and now the rail industry emphasizes the longer-term commitment from HCL AXON and SAP.” Asian Paints rose 1.28% to Rs 3699.55 after scaling a record high of Rs 3731.90 in intraday trade today, 9 May 2012. The company's consolidated net profit rose 39.5% to Rs 259.50 crore on 29.5% increase in net sales to Rs 2538.70 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. The result was announced after market hours on Tuesday. "We witnessed good demand for Decorative products across the country. Depreciation of Rupee and continued upward trend in raw material prices remain a concern area" said KBS Anand, Managing Director & CEO, Asian Paints. "The Auto business registered decent growth but other Industrial business saw some pressure due to subdued demand. In International, South Asia and Oman did well. Political events and macro economic uncertainty in some countries continue to affect international performance. Steep increase in material prices impacted profitability of industrial and international business," he added. Airline stocks fell for the second day in a row after Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Wednesday that all but two major airlines in India have defaulted on paying airport charges. Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet dropped by between 2.25% to 4.76%. IndiGo, the only profitable airline in the country, and privately-held Go Air have not defaulted on airport payments, Singh told lawmakers in a written reply. The government has initiated legal action against Kingfisher Airlines "towards dishonour of the cheques submitted" by the carrier, while Jet Airways and Spicejet have been served notices on overdues, Singh said. Realty stocks also extended recent losses after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor Subir Gokarn said on Tuesday that the central bank has relatively little room to cut interest rates now. Purchases of both residential and commercial property are largely driven by finance. DLF, Unitech, D B Realty and HDIL shed by between 2.01% to 6.61%. PSU OMCs gained after the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday hinted that there could be an increase in fuel prices. BPCL (up 1.03%), and Indian Oil Corporation (up 0.68%), edged higher. But, HPCL fell 0.17%. Increase in fuel prices will reduce under-recoveries of state-run oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) on domestic sale of diesel, LPG and kerosene at controlled prices. Petrol was deregulated or freed from government control in June 2010. Future Ventures clocked highest volume of 2.66 crore shares on BSE. Cals Refineries (1.53 crore shares), Lanco Infratech (89.49 lakh shares), Manappuram Finance (56.59 lakh shares) and HDIL (55.29 lakh shares) were the other volume toppers in that order. SBI clocked highest turnover of Rs 173.19 crore on BSE. ICICI Bank (Rs 54.07 crore), JSW Steel (Rs 45.70 crore), RIL (Rs 45.30 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 43.93 crore) were the other turnover toppers in that order. Investors are closely watching India Inc's Q4 March 2012 and year ending March 2012 (FY 2012) earnings. Focus is on the guidance provided by the management for the year ending March 2013 (FY 2013) to gauge the earnings outlook. NTPC announces FY 2012 results tomorrow, 10 May 2012. Cipla announces Q4 results on the same day. Dr Reddy's Laboratories announces FY 2012 results on 11 May 2012. L&T announces FY 2012 results on 14 May 2012. Bajaj Auto announces FY 2012 results on 17 May 2012. Tata Steel and Coal India unveil FY 2012 results on 18 May 2012. Tata Power Company announces FY 2012 results on 22 May 2012. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) unveils Q4 results on 23 May 2012. BPCL unveils FY 2012 results on 25 May 2012. Tata Motors announces FY 2012 results on 29 May 2012. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) unveils FY 2012 results on 30 May 2012. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee reiterated on Tuesday, 8 May 2012, the government's right to tax overseas transactions of companies that realize capital gains from the sale of their Indian assets. There cannot be a situation where somebody will make huge capital gains on the assets located in India and will not pay tax to either India or the country of its origin by making some arrangements through certain tax haven locations through a complicated setting up of series of subsidiaries, Mukherjee said in his closing remarks during the debate on the Finance Bill. India will not be treated as a tax haven, Mukherjee said. The Finance Bill 2012 was passed by Lok Sabha on Tuesday, 8 May 2012. The government has proposed retrospective changes that will empower the government to tax transactions that have taken place outside the country, but involve underlying assets located in India. The proposal will have the power to tax retroactively. Mukherjee had clarified early this week that the retrospective amendments do not override the provisions of double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAAs). The finance minister had also clarified that the retrospective amendments would not be used to reopen cases where assessments have been completed. Critics have slammed the proposal for a retroactive capital-gains tax as contrary to international taxation practices, and a legislative reversal of a Supreme Court decision earlier this year that said such tax on such deals wasn't allowed. Mukherjee said in parliament on Monday, 7 May 2012 that the application of General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) has been deferred by one year until 1 April 2013. The finance minister in reply to debate on Finance Bill 2012 in parliament on also said that the onus will be on the government to prove tax avoidance under GAAR. Earlier, the government had said that the onus of proof that a transaction was not undertaken to avoid tax will be on the company or investor concerned. GAAR is aimed at curbing tax avoidance by structuring a business or effecting a transaction with the objective of avoiding the tax liability instead of rational commercial considerations. This rule had created angst particularly among foreign institutional investors, who invest into India through units registered in tax-favorable countries like Mauritius, which they feared could be construed as tax avoidance. Mukherjee said that a committee has been formed to look at various provisions of the anti-avoidance rule, and the committee would ensure that the "provisions are not applied indiscriminately." He said the committee will submit a report by the end of May 2012. The Indian government is considering a review of its tax avoidance treaty with Mauritius as it looks to boost revenue, junior Finance Minister S.S. Palanimanickam said Friday, 4 May 2012. There has been unwillingness on the part of Mauritius to cooperate in addressing this problem, he said. Palanimanickam said that consistent efforts are being made by the Indian government to find mutually acceptable solutions for addressing India's concerns. The Finance Minister has reduced long term capital gains on sale of unlisted securities to 10% from 20% for non-resident investors, including private equity investors. The FM has also proposed extending the benefit of tax exemption on long term capital gains to the sale of unlisted securities in an initial public offer. Simultaneously, the FM has decided to levy Securities Transaction Tax (STT) at the rate of 0.2% cent on such sale of unlisted securities. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday raised the limits on interest rates that banks can offer on certain foreign-currency deposits of Indians living abroad, as it stepped up efforts to support the rupee, which is trading close to its all-time low against the dollar. The central bank also deregulated the interest rates that banks charge for foreign-currency credit to exporters. The measures are "aimed at augmenting foreign-currency inflows to banks which in turn would facilitate their foreign-currency loans to exporters," the central bank said. European stock markets declined in a choppy session on Wednesday. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK were down by 0.52% to 1.55%. The likelihood of a fresh ballot in Greece increased as political deadlock continued, while the leader of the leftist Syriza party called on the country's two ruling parties to rescind their support for austerity measures as he attempted to put together a coalition government. Asian markets declined on Wednesday as Greece struggled to form a government two days after elections, raising the risk that a hard-won bailout could be nullified. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down by 0.85% to 1.65%. Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow could fall 95 points at the opening bell on Wednesday, 9 May 2012. US stocks ended lower on Tuesday after political developments in Greece fanned concerns about Europe's fiscal health.