Markets continue to trade in red amid profit booking

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade in negative territory in the afternoon session due to profit-taking by funds and retail investors after the recent rally. Sentiments got hit as indirect tax collections grew by 4.0 y-o-y percent to Rs 1.54 lakh crore during April-July period of current fiscal which is far less than 25 percent annual increase envisaged in the Budget for the full 2014-15 fiscal. Further, Asian Development Bank's (ADB) statement that global failure to respond to climate changes could result in about 8.7 percent economic loss in India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2100 also added to the pessimistic sentiments. However, market losses remained capped supported by gains in healthcare, IT and metal stocks as continual FPIs capital inflow and firms Asian cues provided some strength to domestic equity benchmarks. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs. 559.39 crore in the previous session. Broader indices outperformed the major indices as both mid cap and small cap indices were trading in positive territory. Stock specific Lumax Industries, extending its 17% rally in past three trading sessions, has zoomed around 16% to Rs 441 after reporting robust earnings for the quarter ended June 2014 (Q1FY15). Further, shares of Karur Vysya Bank have gained over 2% at Rs 480 after the bank's latest QIP Committee authorized opening of the qualified institutional placement issue.

On global front, Straits Times up 0.34% and Nikkei 225 up by 0.16%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 7,850 and 26,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,580 stocks traded, 1,414 stocks advanced, while 1,068 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26372.56, down by 48.11 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 26332.25 and 26504.52. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.11%, while Small cap index up by 0.87%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.31%, IT up by 0.27%, TECK up by 0.23%, Power up by 0.15% and INFRA up by 0.10%. On the flip side, FMCG down by 0.72%, Realty down by 0.58%, Oil & Gas down by 0.57%, PSU down by 0.54%, Capital Goods down by 0.49% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.87%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.72%, Cipla up by 1.50%, Wipro up by 1.21% and Tata Steel up by 1.13%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.93%, ITC down by 1.05%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.99%, SBI down by 0.96% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its latest report, highlighted that global failure to respond to climate changes could result in about 8.7 percent economic loss in India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2100. Manila based multi-lateral funding agency in its report titled 'Assessing the Costs of Climate Change and Adaptation in South Asia' predicted that as the country’s economy depends upon the agriculture sector, India is likely to get impacted adversely by global climate change and would see economic losses equivalent to 1.8 percent of annual GDP by 2050 widening to 8.7 percent by the end of the century.

The report further highlighted that agriculture provides employment and livelihood opportunities to most of India's rural population and changes in temperature and rainfall and an increase in floods and droughts linked to climate change would have a devastating impact on people's food security incomes, and lives. The report added that India has 8,000 km of coastline and nearly half the country's 28 states could face serious consequences from a rise in the sea level. Prolonged droughts and higher temperatures will put immense strain on limited water resources and increase competition between agriculture and energy sectors in the country.

Regarding south Asian countries, the ADB stated that climate change will cut South Asia's growth almost 9 per cent by the end of the century. However,  if countries act together to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2.5 degree Celsius, the cost of shielding the region from the climate change impacts would be nearly halved to around $40.6 billion, or 0.48 percent of GDP by 2100. South Asia will need to spend at least $73 billion or an average of 0.86 percent of its GDP, every year between now and 2100 on adaptation measures.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7883.75, down by 13.75 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 7872.05 and 7922.70. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.80%, Cipla up by 1.53%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.51%, Tata Steel up by 1.26% and Wipro up by 1.02%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.90%, PNB down by 1.29%, SBI down by 1.09%, IDFC down by 1.08% and Bank of Baroda down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite up by0.89 points or 0.04% to 2,246.22, KOSPI Index up by1.64 points or 0.08% to 2,072.78, Jakarta Composite up by9.21 points or 0.18% to 5,174.38, Straits Times up by11.43 points or 0.34% to 3,327.86, Nikkei 225 up by25.15 points or 0.16% to 15,474.94, Hang Seng up by37.06 points or 0.15% to 25,160.01 and Taiwan Weighted up by44.27 points or 0.48% to 9,288.05