Benchmarks continue lackluster trade in red

Indian equity benchmarks continued its lackluster trade in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters and taking cues from global counterparts. Investors preferred to be on sidelines as somber global set-up like deepening crisis in Iraq weighs on the sentiment. Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram statement that Modi government’s maiden budget will be growth-oriented with some major changes in policies to lift the economy to a higher growth orbit from the less than 5% expansion seen in the last two years failed to lift the sentiments. Traders were seen piling up positions in Consumer Durables, Realty and HealthCare while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Capital Goods and FMCG sector stocks. Hectic activity was witnessed in non-banking finance companies like SKS Microfinance, Muthoot Finance, Manappuram Finance and Magma Fincorp after the Reserve Bank of India permitted NBFCs to act as business correspondents of banks. In scrip specific development, DLF was trading in red on the back of fair trade regulator CCI ordering a fresh probe against the company. The Indian markets may remain volatile in the near future as traders roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. June 2014 series to next month i.e. July 2014 series. The near-month June 2014 F&O contract expire on Thursday i.e. June 26, 2014.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, while the European markets too traded on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 7,600 and 25,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1576:1302 while 121 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25335.54, down by 33.36 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 25427.80 and 25306.42. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.   

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.   

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.29%, Realty up by 1.09%, HealthCare up by 0.79%, Auto up by 0.61% and PSU up by 0.48% while, Oil & Gas down by 0.61%, Capital Goods down by 0.58%, FMCG down by 0.40% and Bankex down by 0.14% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 2.27%, Coal India up by 1.79%, Gail India up by 1.76%, SBI up by 1.52% and Sun Pharma up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.61%, ONGC down by 1.37%, ITC down by 1.37, L&T down by 1.05% and ICICI Bank down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to boost sagging sentiments in steel and mining sectors, the government would set up a single-window mechanism to fast-track clearances for various projects to boost steel, coal and power production in the country. The decision was taken in an inter-ministerial coordination meeting attended by Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal and environment minister Prakash Javadekar.

Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal has stated that environment ministry would come out with a draft on coal mines located in areas designated as ‘inviolate’ by August this year. At present, 44 coal projects, both opencast and underground, and at least six steel projects are awaiting environmental and forest clearances.

By adding further, Piyush Goyal stated that some coal blocks can be auctioned specifically for the steel companies, while steel PSUs can continue to enjoy allocations through the government dispensation route. It is estimated that over Rs 4.4 lakh crore of investments are in the pipeline in the steel sector in Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh and single-window mechanism is likely to translate these investments on the ground. The ministries also highlighted that, like special economic zones (SEZs), certain big mineral bearing areas can be demarcated as special mining zones exclusively for meeting the demands of the iron-ore starved plants.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7573.35, down by 6.85 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 7589.25 and 7564.05. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.   

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj-Auto up by 2.33%, Coal India up by 1.86%, GAIL up by 1.85%, IndusInd Bank up by 1.50% and SBI up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.75%, ITC down by 1.47%, ONGC down by 1.21%, ICICI Bank down by 1.12% and L&T down by 0.92% were the top losers. 

Asian equity indices were trading mostly in red; while, Nikkei 225 down by 0.71%, Hang Seng lost 0.06%, Jakarta Stock Index down by 0.39%, Shanghai Composite down by 0.41% and Taiwan Weighted down by 0.04% were the top losers on the index while, Straits Times up by 0.04% was the only gainers.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX lost 0.35%, France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.55% while UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 0.55%.