Benchmarks trim losses; trade continues in red

Indian equity benchmarks pared losses but continued to trade in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Investors preferred booking profits snapping the benchmarks' nine-day rally. Traders were seen piling up positions in FMCG while selling was witnessed in Realty, Capital Goods and Metal sector stocks. Hectic activity was witnessed in banking stocks after RBI permitted ECB lenders for extending loans in Indian Rupees to domestic businesses, a move which would add to the competition for local banks. In scrip specific development, DLF was trading under pressure after the Punjab and Haryana High Court cancelled a 350-acre plot of land that DLF had acquired from Haryana. Jaiprakash Associates slumped on the bourses after promoter entity Jaypee Infra Ventures sold 1.3 crore shares in the company.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, while the European markets traded mostly on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 8,100 and 27,100 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 980:1813 while 102 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27020.26, down by 119.68 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 26973.64 and 27169.12. 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 0.09%, while Small cap index down by 0.67%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.01% while, Realty down by 4.47%, Capital Goods down by 1.27%, Metal down by 1.19%, Oil & Gas down by 0.81%, INFRA down by 0.76% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 1.65%, NTPC up by 1.54%, HDFC up by 1.49%, Coal India up by 1.17% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.84%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 4.40%, Hindalco down by 3.43%, Tata Steel down by 2.55%, Tata Motors down by 2.08% and ICICI Bank down by 1.47% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has cleared 22 FDI proposals worth Rs 3,249 crore, including investment proposals of KSK Energy Ventures, Telenor Mobile, InterGlobe Aviation among 19 others. These proposals have been cleared following recommendations of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

KSK Energy Ventures’ proposal, with 74.94% foreign equity and entailing investment of Rs 1,050 crore, has been given permission to issue and allot warrants to foreign promoters. Additionally, Norway-based Telenor, through Telenor South Asia Investment Pte (Singapore), has got government's nod to increase its shareholding in Telewings Communication (Uninor) to 100% from the existing 74%. The proposal is worth Rs 78 crore.

Besides, FIPB has also cleared the proposal of IndiGo’s holding company, InterGlobe Aviation, which would clear the way for fresh Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in air carrier IndiGo and make roads for the company to hit the primary market. In a cashless transaction, InterGlobe Aviation will issue 147,000 equity shares having face value of Rs 1,000 to NRI owners of Caelum in proportion to the voting units held by them.

Further, government also has given green signal to Credit Investment trust’ proposal seeking foreign investment of up to Rs 500 crore by Religare India Credit Assets Fund, Netherlands in the Class A units of Religare Credit Opportunities Fund Scheme I, an AIF Category II Fund. Meanwhile, other proposals which have been cleared include that of Gurgaon-based Baxter (India) (pharma firm), ARKRAY Healthcare (pharma), Verdant Telemetry & Antenna Systems (defence), Genpact India (IT) and Innisfree Cosmetics India (trading).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8075.70, down by 38.90 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 8060.90 and 8114.80. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 1.83%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.59%, HDFC up by 1.45%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.08% and Coal India up by 1.04%. On the flip side, DLF down by 8.15%, BHEL down by 4.12%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 3.84%, Hindalco down by 3.34% and Tata Steel down by 2.57% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 52.17 points or 0.33% to 15,676.18, Taiwan Weighted decreased 21.46 points or 0.23% to 9,428.89, Hang Seng decreased 20.03 points or 0.08% to 25,297.92, Jakarta Composite decreased 8.75 points or 0.17% to 5,215.38, Straits Times decreased 8.32 points or 0.25% to 3,340.45 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.16 points or 0.01% to 1,864.71.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased 5.06 points or 0.25% to 2,056.26 and Shanghai Composite increased 18.24 points or 0.8% to 2,306.86.

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 59.06 points or 0.61% to 9,567.43, France’s CAC decreased 16.15 points or 0.37% to 4,405.72 while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.2 points or 0.15% to 6,883.78.