Benchmarks trim losses; Auto, Power drag

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 were also cautious ahead of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the coal block allocations case, due on September 9. The apex court had ruled on August 25 that all coal block allocations between 1993 and 2010 are illegal. Traders were seen piling up positions in Realty, Capital Goods and IT while selling was witnessed in Auto, Power and Infra sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Jaiprakash Associates continued its yesterday’s fall plunging by nearly 30% in 4 trading session after its promoter entity Jaypee Infra Ventures sold 3.53 crore shares of the company. Info Edge India was trading in green after its board approved raising money through qualified institutional placement to expand its real estate classifieds business, 99acres.

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 positive in the ratio of 1569:1259 while 98 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27027.05, down by 58.88 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 26953.16 and 27178.80. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.50%, while Small cap index up by 1.05%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.79%, Capital Goods up by 0.69%, IT up by 0.46%, Metal up by 0.43%, Oil & Gas up by 0.43% while, Auto down by 0.63%, Power down by 0.49%, INFRA down by 0.34%, Bankex down by 0.33%, FMCG down by 0.21% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.29%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.28%, ONGC up by 1.27%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.22% and GAIL India up by 0.69%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.20%, Coal India down by 1.97%, BHEL down by 1.78%, ICICI Bank down by 1.38% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a move to avoid any shutdown of coal based power plants in the country, Coal India (CIL) has asked its subsidiaries to rush additional stocks to feed the power utilities reeling under acute fuel crunch. Coal is dominant fuel used for power production in the country and acute coal shortage in the country has become primary reason for power deficit in the country as coal-fired plants account for around 59% of India's total installed electricity capacity. 

As per Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 29 out of 100 thermal power plants across the country as on September 1 have been left with coal stock of less than four days. Coal India has about over 30 million tonnes (MT) of stocks lying at different places and is using rail transport mode to supply coal to power companies on priority basis. Coal India has also urged the power units to use trucks to transport coal from remote mines.

Meanwhile, the government is also taking measures to enhance the domestic coal production and has recently asked coal India to prepare an action plan soon to liquidate 39 MT of stock. Coal India (CIL), the only producer of coal in the country, is struggling to meet domestic coal requirements amid concerns like shutdown of mining activities in Talcher Coalfields in Odisha. CIL production fell 4.21 percent short of its production target to 462.53 MT in FY14. The government has set coal production target at 507 MT for CIL for FY15.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8084.10, down by 11.85 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 8057.05 and 8122.70. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NMDC up by 4.02%, DLF up by 3.58%, Asian Paints up by 2.21%, Jindal Steel & Power up by 2.14% and ONGC up by 1.49%. On the flip side, United Spirits down by 3.12%, Coal India down by 2.33%, HDFC down by 2.29%, BHEL down by 2.09% and BPCL down by 1.63% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 57.77 points or 0.23% to 25,240.15, Taiwan Weighted decreased 20.95 points or 0.22% to 9,407.94, Nikkei 225 decreased 7.5 points or 0.05% to 15,668.68, KOSPI Index decreased 6.85 points or 0.33% to 2,049.41, Straits Times decreased 6.74 points or 0.2% to 3,339.60, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.23 points or 0.07% to 1,867.98 and Jakarta Composite decreased 0.34 points or 0.01% to 5,204.98.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite increased 19.57 points or 0.85% to 2,326.43.

The European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.43 points or 0.18% to 6,865.54 and France’s CAC decreased 5.26 points or 0.12% to 4,489.68 while, Germany’s DAX increased 17.58 points or 0.18% to 9,741.84.