Benchmarks continue lackadaisical trade; Nifty holds 7250 mark

Indian equity benchmarks continue their lackluster trade in a narrow range in the late afternoon session. The lackadaisical trade continued despite industry body FICCI highlighted that low inflation and a positive business environment, as the top supportive factors for India to get back to high growth path. Traders were seen piling up positions in Realty, Consumer Durables and TECK stocks, while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, PSU and Bankex stocks. In scrip specific development, SpiceJet was trading firm on report that the airline is in advanced talks to get funding; days after the country’s fourth-biggest carrier by domestic market share reported its biggest annual loss. On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets traded on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,250 and 24,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1947:785 while 112 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24346.81, down by 16.24 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 24,587.16 and 24,299.53. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices however added ground; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.93%, while Small cap index up by 2.62%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 5.46%, Consumer Durables up by 2.09%, TECK up by 1.69%, Metal up by 1.59%, and IT up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Oil and Gas down by 2.89%, PSU down by 1.10%, Bankex down by 0.67% and Auto down by 0.26% were the only losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were SSLT up by 6.35%, BHEL up by 4.51%, Tata Steel up by 3.88%, Hindalco Industries up by 2.89% and M&M up by 2.58%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 4.50%, ONGC down by 3.69%, RIL down by 3.17%, Hero Motocorp down by 3.08% and Gail India down by 2.17% were the top losers on the index.

Meanwhile, overseas direct investments by Indian companies rose to $5.58 billion in April from $5.23 billion in the previous month. However, the investment was much lower from $15.24 billion during the same month of previous year. The investments made by domestic corporate include equity, debt and bank guarantees. 

Total foreign direct investments from India in April included $1.15 billion in equity, $268.16 million in loans and $4.16 billion were through issuance of guarantees. Telecom major Bharti Airtel, Elder Pharmaceuticals, Haldia Coke and Serum Institute were among the major companies that made high investment in foreign markets in the month.

Elder Pharmaceuticals had raised $1.3 billion in the form of loans in its wholly owned subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates. Bharti Airtel issued guarantees of $2.11 billion and $55 million in its joint venture and a wholly-owned unit in the Netherlands and Singapore respectively. Among others, Haldia Coke and Chemicals had overseas investment of $2.14 billion by way of raising loans in its wholly owned unit in the US. While Serum Institute of India raised guarantees of $71.96 million in the company's wholly owned subsidiary in the Netherlands. Furthermore, Alok Industries had garnered $247.61 million in three different tranches in a mix of loans and guarantees.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,264.70, up by 1.15 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 7,353.65 and 7,247.70. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were SSLT up by 6.32%, BHEL up by 5.08%, NMDC up by 4.52%, Tata Steel up by 4.23% and IDFC up by 3.17%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 4.29%, ONGC down by 3.73%, Hero Motocorp down by 3.56%, Reliance Industries down by 3.33% and Bank of Baroda down by 2.33% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng up by 0.57%, Straits Times up by 0.06%, Shanghai Composite added 0.02% and Nikkei 225 up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Jakarta Index plunged by 2.38% and Taiwan Weighted dropped by 0.14% were the losers among Asian pack.

The European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC 40 was down by 0.14%, Germany’s DAX dropped 0.02% while UK’s FTSE 100 lost 0.37%.