Benchmarks add losses; PSU, Power drag

Indian equity benchmarks added some losses to continue their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in front line counters. Investors took cautious approach after new Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that the ministry has to be watchful of the Current Account Deficit (CAD) as well as the rupee because global markets are still volatile. The sentiments were also distrustful after rupee lost against the dollar in early trade, extending weakness for the third day, on the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to month-end demand of the US currency from importers. Traders were seen piling up positions in HealthCare stocks, while selling was witnessed in PSU, Power and Oil & Gas sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Jubilant Life Sciences was trading firm after company reported earnings which saw a spectacular growth in March quarter.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, while the European markets traded on an optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 7,350 and 24,600 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1017:1780 while 100 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24516.41 down by 200.47 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 24,777.31 and 24,422.33. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.03%, while Small cap index down by 1.20%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE was HealthCare up by 0.24% while, PSU down by 2.45%, Power down by 2.35%, Oil & Gas down by 2.01%, Auto down by 1.27% and Consumer Durables down by 1.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 1.83%, Tata Steel up by 1.45%, L&T up by 1.22%, Infosys up by 1.10% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Gail India down by 7.34%, BHEL down by 5.71%, M&M down by 3.68%, Tata Power down by 2.27% and Coal India down by 2.18%.

Meanwhile, according to Petroleum Ministry, under-recoveries on sensitive petroleum products are likely to fall 20 percent from Rs 1,39,869 crore during FY14 to Rs 1,11,000 crore in FY15. The oil ministry highlighted that in the financial year 2015, the oil subsidy burden for new government will be the lowest since 2011-12. The loss on diesel, kerosene and cooking gas (LPG) is expected to be Rs 35,000 crore, Rs 29,000 crore and Rs 47,000 crore in FY15 mainly due to decline in the diesel subsidy and increase in prices owing to the diesel decontrol measures (Rs 9.06 a litre) since January 2013.  

The Petroleum Ministry further highlighted that the appreciation in rupee’s value has also helped bring the figure down. The Ministry’s calculations are based on the crude oil prices at $105-108 a barrel and the rupee at about 58/dollar. Presently, public sector companies Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation are incurring a daily loss of Rs 318 crore on the sale of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.

An appreciation in rupee value against the dollar cut Rs 10,000 crore on the under-recovery front. Over the past couple of months, Indian rupee has appreciated and if the current trend continues coupled with new government's move to keep increasing the diesel prices monthly by 50 paise a litre, the under-recovery on high-speed diesel will be wiped out in six months. Overall under-recoveries will further decline if the new government implements the suggestions of the Kirit Parikh committee, which recommended a Rs 5/litre increase in diesel prices, Rs 250-a-cylinder rise in LPG prices and a Rs 4/litre rise in kerosene prices. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,302.80 down by 56.25 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 7,372.95 and 7,274.75. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Jindal Steel up by 2.83%, Hindalco Industries up by 1.67%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.28%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.13% and Infosys up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Gail India down by 7.53%, BHEL down by 5.94%, M&M down by 3.59%, Coal India down by 2.49% and PNB down by 2.36% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading mostly lower; Shanghai Composite down by 0.34%, Hang Seng down by 0.08%, Kospi down by 0.63% and Straits Times down by 0.24% while Nikkei 225 up by 0.23%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.21% and KLSE Composite up by 0.13%.

Jakarta Stock Exchange was closed today on account of ‘Isra Mi'raj of the prophet Muhammad SAW’ holiday.

The European markets were trading mostly in green while France’s CAC 40 was down by 0.17%, Germany’s DAX added 0.05% and UK’s FTSE 100 gain 0.34%.