Benchmarks continue to trade in red in late morning session

Local barometer gauge, despite recovering from early low’s were trading in red, with loss of over two tenth of a percent on persistent profit-booking by funds and retail investors after three days of gains. Besides, a weakening trend on Asian bourses following overnight losses on the US market also influenced the sentiment. Furthermore, the geopolitical crises have dampened the sentiments of the market participants. However, losses remained capped on reports that the Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India increased to 8-month high at $3.6 billion in the month of May 2014 as compared to $1.63 billion in the same month of previous year.

The metal shares which gained on the back of positive Chinese GDP data in the previous session were trading in the red on profit taking. On the flip side, the Technology pack was witnessing fresh buying on the back of strong results posted by IT major TCS. In scrip specific development, Shares of Wipro rose nearly 3% after the company announced a strategic alliance with Canada's ATCO, which will result in annual revenues of $112 million for the next 10 years.

On global front, Asian stock markets were trading weak amid mounting geopolitical worries after a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet crashed in Eastern Ukraine. Though some of the markets recovered from early lows, the overall mood continues to remain cautious on concerns of impact of latest sanctions on Russia on the global economy. Back home, Clariant Chemicals (India), Crisil, Greenply Industries, Info Edge (India), Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Power, SKF India, Tata Elxsi, Zee Entertainment Enterprises will be in focus on account of June quarter earnings later in the day. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2091 stocks traded, 917 stocks advanced, while 1112 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25525.99, down by 35.17 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 25570.85 and 25441.24. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. 

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.26%, while Small cap index down by 0.21%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 1.98% and TECk up by 1.44%, while Realty down by 1.42%, PSU down by 1.33%, Power down by 1.17%, Infrastructure down by 1.07% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.71% were the top losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 3.61%, Wipro up by 2.89%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.24%, Cipla up by 1.11% and Tata Steel up by 1.09%. On the flip side, BHEL was down by 1.97%, Hindalco was down by 1.96%, Tata Power was down by 1.89%, Coal India was down by 1.88% and Bajaj Auto was down by 1.73% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India increased to 8-month high at $3.6 billion in the month of May 2014 as compared to $1.63 billion in the same month of previous year. During the April-May FY15, FDI jumped by 34 percent to $5.30 billion from $3.95 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.  

The sectors that received highest inflows during the month May include telecommunications ($1.51 billion), pharmaceuticals ($680 million), services ($574 million) and construction ($221 million). Country wise, maximum FDI during the month May was received form Mauritius with $2.28 billion followed by Singapore ($982 million), UK ($545 million), Japan ($319 million) and the US ($154 million). During FY14, FDI increased by 8 percent to $24.29 from $22.42 billion recorded in the FY13.

India would require around $1 trillion in the 12th five year plan (2012-2017) to overhaul its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth. However, to attract maximum FDI into the country, the government has been liberalizing the foreign investment policy. The government has relaxed FDI norms in around 12 sectors which include telecom, tea, pension and petroleum and natural gas. Recently, the government has raised the foreign investment limit to 49 percent in defence manufacturing and relaxed the policy in construction sector. It has also proposed to increase the FDI cap in insurance sector to 49 percent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,625.35, down by 15.10 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 7,634.60 and 7,595.50. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were TCS up by 3.53%, Wipro up by 2.98%, HCL Tech up by 2.35%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.74% and Asian Paint up by 1.17%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.04%, Hindalco down by 2.04%, Tata Power down by 2.03%, Coal India down by 2.02% and Ambuja Cements down by 2% were the major losers on the index.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Nikkei 225 tumbled by 1.17%, Hang Seng slipped 0.36%, KOSPI Index declined by 0.19%, Straits Times dropped 0.18%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased by 0.45% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.14%. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 0.37% and Shanghai Composite was up by 0.82%.