Benchmarks reverse all the early gains; slip into negative territory

Reversing all the early gains, benchmarks equity indices have slipped into negative territory, however the losses remain limited on account of positive global set-up after America's top central banker said the world's largest economy remained on the mend but still required substantial monetary accommodation from Washington policymakers. Nevertheless, prevailing cautiousness ahead of the outcome of the national elections next week, weighing on the sentiment chiefly dragged markets at day’s low. Amidst accentuated selling pressure, while Sensex was trading below the crucial 22350 level, Nifty briefly breached the crucial 6,650 mark. However, broader indices, surrendering early gains were trading mixed at this point of time.

On the global front, post receiving positive handover from Asian counterparts, European shares mostly got off to a positive start, except UK’s FTSE 100 index trading flat with negative bias,  on the back of dovish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and better-than-expected Chinese trade figures. However, gains could be limited ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate decision and news conference, due later in the day. The ECB is expected to take heart from signs of life in the euro zone economy and keep interest rates unchanged, resisting pressure to act in the face of a stronger euro currency and persistently low inflation.

Closer home, majority of the sectoral indices on BSE surrendered to selling pressure and were languishing in negative territory. Top losers among them were stocks from Realty, Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Consumer Durable counters, while those from Banking, Auto and Public Sector undertaking counters were witnessing maximum buying interest. Meanwhile, Metal and mining stocks rose after latest data showed China's exports and imports unexpectedly rose in April. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 1225:1137; while 130 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 22315.56, down by 8.34 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 22,443.13 and 22304.99. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed at this point of time; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.05%, while Small cap index up by 0.34%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were banking up by 0.63%, Auto and PSU up by 0.33%, Consumer Durables up by 0.20% and Oil and Gas up by 0.10%. While, Realty down by 0.82%, FMCG down by 0.81%, Capital Goods down by 0.32, Teck down by 0.21% and  IT down by 0.18% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 1.50%, Wipro up by 1.34%, SBI up by 1.14%, Tata Motors up by 1.06% and ONGC up by 0.91%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.46%, Gail India down by 1.10%, Sun Pharma down by 0.78%, Hero Motocorp down by 0.74% and Tata Power down by 0.72% were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, India is planning to join a group of 41 countries having good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards for drugs in order to help domestic pharmaceutical exporters, to meet frequent inspection and manufacturing requirements being put in place by importing countries. The Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil) is of the view that problems in terms of meeting different GMP and inspection procedures in different countries will be sorted out if India joins the Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PICS).

The PICS, which include members like Australia, Canada, European and African countries and the US, is an informal co-operative arrangement between regulatory authorities in the field of GMP of medicinal products.  The Pharmexcil added that in case India does not join the group, domestic exporters should make sure that they follow the practices and regulations specified by the group. Meanwhile, India has invited regulators from 25 countries to participate in the global pharma exhibition to build familiarity between domestic drug regulators and their counterparts in other countries.

At present, market size of Indian pharma industry stands at around Rs 1,30,000 crore of which about 50% of revenue comes from industry’s exports. The US is major importer of Indian pharma products followed by Russia, Germany and Austria. The growth in pharmaceuticals exports remained low at 1.2% to $14.84 billion in FY14, as some big Indian pharmaceuticals companies such as Ranbaxy and Wockhardt were facing exports ban in the US due to quality issues raised by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). Further, domestic exporters are also facing restrictions in countries such as Brazil and Russia which recently placed their own plant audits for exporters.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,653.15, down by 0.60 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 6,688.40 and 6,647.10. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Cipla up by 1.32%, Wipro up by 1.19%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.07%, SBI up by 1.06% and Tata Motors up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Gail down by 1.69%, ITC down by 1.49%, BPCL down by 1.13%, Jindal Steel down by 1.11% and  Ambuja Cement down by 0.85% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng up by 0.30%, Nikkei 225 advanced 0.93%, Straits Times added 0.27%, Shanghai Composite added 0.48% and Taiwan Weighted gained 0.42%. While, Jakarta Composite down by 0.25% were the top losers on the index.

European market got off to a mostly positive start; with France’s CAC’s 40 index gaining by 0.41%, Germany’s DAX rising by 0.57%, however France’s FTSE 100 index was trading lower by 0.03%.