Bourses continue to trade in negative territory in afternoon session

Indian bourses continued to trade in red in the afternoon session as selling momentum in select equities persisted, however the losses were capped and marginal recovery from day's low levels was seen on account of buying in metal, power and consumer durables stocks. Though, most of sectoral indices were trading in green, selling pressure witnessed in banking, oil & gas and FMCG gripped the major indices in negative terriotory. There was some cautiouness as global investors are awaiting the outcome of the European Central Bank on policy rates later today. Meanwhile, in a positive development, Prime Minister Narandera Modi met the Secretaries of all government departments and asked them to outline the future agenda for economic revival. Metal stocks were on the buyer's radar for the third consecutive day amid hopes that China economy’s growth is reviving. Metal is the top gainer on BSE up by around 2.89% followed by power and consumer durables indices trading up by over 0.90%. The broader markets were outperforming the benchmarks with both mid and small cap indices were trading up over 1%.

Suzlon Energy has gained around 4.39% to Rs 29.70 after the company said it has been awarded a 100.8 MW order by ReNew Wind Power, India's leading IPP in the wind energy sector. Trent, extended its gains for the second consecutive day, has surged around 5% to Rs 1104 after Tesco Plc, British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer, announced a joint venture with Tata Group's Trent.

On global front, Asian equity indices were trading mixed with Nikkei 225 up by 0.11% and Hang Seng down by 0.29% to 23,084.97. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 7,400 and 24,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,644 stocks traded, 1,765 stocks advanced, while 784 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24,738.04 down by 67.79 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 24,831.79 and 24,644.88. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading up; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.05%, while Small cap index up by 1.24%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.89%, Power up by 0.98%, Consumer Durables up by 0.94%, Infrastructure index up by 0.86% and Capital Goods up by 0.47%. While, Bankex down by 0.68%, Auto down by 0.38%, FMCG down by 0.32% and IT down by 0.01% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were SSLT up by 6.47%, Hindalco Inds up by 4.02%, Tata Steel up by 2.51%, Wipro up by 1.69% and HUL up by 1.26%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.82%, ICICI Bank down by 1.48%, M&M down by 1.16%, ITC down by 1.15% and NTPC down by 1.12% were the top losers on the BSE.

Meanwhile, in order to remove practical difficulties, ambiguities and anomalies arising out of the partial and hurried implementation of the new Companies Act of 2013, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) urged the new government to review the new Companies Act and the norms issued under it. CII President Ajay Shriram has said that the rush to notify the new company law has introduced disruptive features, making it harder for corporates to ensure compliance.

CII President said that many new concepts have introduced in the legislation for the first time which could be implemented over the period of time. Meanwhile, final set of company act norms, which was released in the last week of March, required implementation from April 1. By adding further, he said that India already ranks very low in terms of ease of doing business and the new company law will further add to the cost and complications of doing business. An unclear and cumbersome Companies Act would further impede business sentiment in the country, which is looking to improve its image after a series of setbacks like retrospective changes to tax laws, poor economic conditions.

Further, Ajay Shriram has asserted that owing to the absence of any unambiguous clarifications on norms from government front, companies are resorting to different interpretations of the provisions. Furthermore, there is no uniform interpretation of even items of ordinary business such as appointment of Independent Directors.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,393.45 down by 8.80 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 7,414.95 and 7,360.50. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were SSLT up by 6.52%, Hindalco Inds up by 3.98%, BPCL up by 3.87%, Jindal Steel up by 3.56% and Cairn India up by 3.06%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 1.91%, ITC down by 1.47%, ICICI Bank down by 1.46%, M&M down by 1.42% and Cipla down by 1.28% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted up by 0.23% to 9,140.72, Shanghai Composite up by 0.30% to 2,030.34 and Nikkei 225 up by 0.11% to 15,084.96. While, Hang Seng down by 0.29% to 23,084.97, Jakarta Stock Index down by 0.35% to 4,915.20 and Straits Times down by 0.14% to 3,275.35