Benchmarks end flat on profit booking

Indian equity benchmarks ended the session flat as investors opted to book profit off the table ahead of the September F&O expiry week. In extremely volatile session, frontline gauges traded in a tight range with Sensex and Nifty swinging between negative and positive zone throughout the session to end flat. Sentiments in early deals remained up-beat with Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram’s statement that India is following economic growth inducing policies and is confident that the GDP will rebound to over 7 percent in 2-3 years. Meanwhile, overseas investors bought index futures worth $106.22 million on September 18, as per NSE data. Foreign banks bought debt worth of 18.93 billion rupees ($311.7 million), as per CCIL data.

On the global front, British markets rallied and the rest of Europe followed suit on Friday as Scotland’s decision to stay in the United Kingdom eased investors past the latest in a recent run of global political obstacles. The Asian markets shut shop in the green on signs of US economic strengthening. The Japanese market has once took the lead and ended higher by over one and a half percent after the yen dropped sharply after Scottish voters rejected a bid for independence and averted a break-up of the United Kingdom.

Back home, the rupee was trading at 60.84, unchanged from its 60.83/84 close after paring early gains on dollar strength globally after a fall in US jobless claims. Select stocks from textile remained on buyers’ radar as the Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar has approved setting up of 13 textile parks, entailing minimum investment of Rs 100 crore each. Additionally, shares of Tata Group companies barring Tata Motors edged higher after global rating agency Moody’s upgraded the debt ratings for many group firms including Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

On the flip side, select stocks from pharma space edged lower with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority bringing prices of 43 essential medicines to treat diseases like tuberculosis or heart ailments under a control regime. Moreover, stocks related to oil & gas sector failed to draw any solace from report that Supreme Court asked the new government to make its stand clear on fixation of the price for gas from Krishna-Godavri basin as to whether it sticks to the previous government’s dispensation’s policy or making any departure from it.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index -- Nifty -- rose by six points to above the psychological 8,100 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex -- declined by over twenty points to finish below the psychological 27,100 mark. However, broader markets traded with traction and ended the session in the green. The market breadth remained in the favour off decliners, as there were 1450 shares on the gaining side against 1,600 shares on the losing side while 105 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 21.79 points or 0.08%, to 27090.42, while the CNX Nifty gained 6.70 points or 0.08% to 8,121.45.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 27247.17 and 27047.68, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.04%, while the Small cap index gained 0.63%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.71%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.29%, Cipla up by 1.22%, HDFC up by 1.08% and Wipro up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.51%, ONGC down by 2.26%, SBI down by 1.92%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.73% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.57% were the top losers in the index.

On the BSE Sectoral front IT up by 1.39%, TECK up by 1.13%, Healthcare up by 0.33% and Consumer Durables up by 0.07% were the only gainers, while Capital Goods down by 1.89%, Oil & Gas down by 1.22%, PSU down by 0.97%, Realty down by 0.81% and Auto down by 0.70% were top losers in the space.

Meanwhile, in a move that would generate employment for thousands, Textile Minister Santosh Gangwar has approved setting up thirteen textile parks, entailing minimum investment of Rs 100 crore each. Additionally, Gangwar underscored that the subsidy amount of Rs 40 crore each will be provided by the Ministry. Further, the minister also highlighted that opening up of these textile parks would provide jobs to at-least 25,000 to 30,000 people since the industry is the second largest employment generator after agriculture.

Besides, Gangwar also called for a meeting of the state Textile Ministers on September 24, to seek their inputs on the new Textile policy and other related matters since the government aims to formulate a new improved Textile Policy to address concerns of adequate skilled work force, labour reforms, attract investments in the textile sector and provide a future road map for the textile and clothing industry.

Keeping in view the need for a road map for the textile & apparel industry, Textiles Ministry had initiated the process of reviewing the National Textile Policy, 2000. The key objectives of the new National Textiles Policy include developing a vision statement of the textile sector for the next decade to treble market share from the current 4% in the next decade.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 8,160.90 and 8,105.35 respectively.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Zee Entertainment Enterprises up by 2.40%, TCS up by 2.18%, HCL Technologies up by 1.96%, Grasim Industries up by 1.93% and Lupin up by 1.85%. On the other hand, Jindal Steel & Power down by 4.96%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.30%, State Bank of India down by 2.15% and DLF down by 2.00% and PNB down by 1.75% were the top losers.European markets were trading in green, France's CAC 40 was up by 0.31%, Germany’s DAX was up by 0.73% and United Kingdom's FTSE 100 was up by 0.73%.

Asian markets ended in green on Friday, with Japanese Nikkei 225 closing at its highest level since November 2007, as exporters advanced after the yen weakened past 109 per dollar for the first time since 2008. Asian currencies dropped for a third week, the longest run of losses since January, as the prospect of higher US interest rates dims the appeal of emerging-market assets. Indonesia’s rupiah and Malaysia’s ringgit led the declines. Japan’s government cut its overall economic assessment for the first time in five months as private consumption is struggling to recover from the slump caused by April’s sales tax hike, clouding the outlook for a sustained recovery. The government cut its view on private consumption, which accounts for about 60 percent of the economy, saying that consumer spending is seen pausing although a pick-up trend remains intact. Japan’s All Industries Activity Index fell to a seasonally adjusted -0.2%.