Benchmarks reverse gears; slip into negative territory in absence of positive triggers

Reversing gears, Indian equity markets have now slipped into negative territory in absence of positive triggers which could take the markets higher and growing caution ahead of earnings of big-wigs such as HCL Technologies, TCS and IndusInd bank later in the day. In the range-bound of session of trade, both Sensex and Nifty were trading below the crucial 22,500 and 6,750 levels respectively, albeit with slender losses of less than one tenth of a percent. Sentiments were marred in early deals after Retail inflation data disappointed the street by coming higher than expected at 8.31% in March. Meanwhile, broader indices however continue to hold their fort in green, with gains in the range of 0.05%-0.30%.

On the global front, while Asian share markets made broad gains on Wednesday after China reported economic growth a touch above forecasts, a relief for investors who had feared a much weaker outcome, European stock futures too indicated a positive start.

Closer home, losses at Dalal Street were led by stocks from Information Technology, Technology and Capital Goods counters, while those from Metat, Banking and FMCG counters provided a floor to bourses’ losses. While, banking stocks were trading upbeat ahead of IndusInd Bank’s Q4 earnings, with the stocks trading with gains of over a percent, IT sector was down and out in trade ahead of results of HCL Technologies and TCS. Meanwhile, telecom stocks were ringing loud after Reliance Communication announced a hike tariffs by up to 20 per cent for all its pre-paid customers, fuelling hopes that other might soon follow suite. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1200:1078; while 127 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22474.35, down by 10.58 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 22,533.61 and 22,458.52. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.04%, while Small cap index up by 0.31%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.90%, Bankex up by 0.80%, FMCG up by 0.77%, Consumer Durables up by 0.57%, and Oil & Gas up by 0.50%. While, IT down by 1.45%, Teck down by 1.00%, Capital Goods down by 0.51%, Realty down by 0.49% and Healthcare down by 0.32% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.96%, Tata Steel up by 1.32%, ITC up by 1.30%, Hindalco Industries up by 1.12% and ICICI Bank up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.26%, TCS down by 1.62%, HDFC down by 1.39%, Wipro down by 1.32% and BHEL down by 1.13% were the top losers of the index.

Meanwhile, as per the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), India's exports are likely to grow at around 10 percent in 2014. The FIEO president Rafeeque Ahmed highlighted that India's export growth has been more than double the global trade growth adding that during the period 2005- 2013, world trade grew by 7.35 percent on an average, while India's exports jumped by 15.66 percent on an average during this period.

The World Trade Organization projects global trade to recover and grow by 4.7 percent in 2014, more than double the trade value achieved in 2013. The growth is also projected to be slightly faster at 5.3 percent in 2015, which is also the 20-year average. Basing its forecast on the WTO's projections of global trade, the domestic exports body expects a minimum of 10 percent increase in exports during 2014.

During the financial year of 2014, Indian exports recorded a modest growth of about 3.96 percent to $312.35 billion, however the exports value remained below the set export target at $325 for reported fiscal. On sector wise, the exports of gems and jewellery declined by 8.82 percent to $39.52 billion in FY14 from a year earlier amid prevailing Government’s restriction on precious metals imports. Petroleum exports, which account for about 20 percent of India's outward shipments, dipped 0.01% to $60.85 billion in FY14, while engineering exports registered growth of 8.49% respectively to $61.61 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,733.50, up by 0.40 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 6,748.65 and 6,724.65. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 2.05%, Hindalco and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.75%, Cairn up by 1.64% and Tata Steel up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.19%, BHEL down by 1.90%, BPCL down by 1.69%, TCS down by 1.63% and HDFC down by 1.12% and were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Nikkei 225 up by 3.01%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.08%, Straits Times was up by 0.28%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.27%, Shanghai Composite up by 0.07% and Hang Seng up by 0.59%. On the flip side, KLSE Composite was down by 0.22%.