Benchmarks make somber start on feeble global cues

Pressurized by feeble global cues, Indian equity benchmarks have made a sluggish start and are trading lower in early deals on Monday. The US markets made a mixed closing in last session, although the leading economic index rose in August. The Asian markets were trading in the red terrain at this point of time with Group of 20 finance chiefs and central bankers after highlighting euro zone concerns said low interest rates could lead to a potential increase in financial-market risk.

Back home, sentiments remains dampened on report that overseas investors sold Indian shares worth Rs 65.30 crore September 19, 2014. Investors also remained on sidelines ahead of the September F&O expiry on Thursday. Meanwhile, stocks related to textile sector remained under pressure, as the Prime Minister’s Office has rejected the Textile Ministry’s request for linking the entire textile sector to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), however, could be linked to specific sectors within the textile industry such as handicraft and handloom. Pharma stocks too were reeling under pressure with the government capping the prices of another 36 drugs, including those used to treat infections and diabetes, in its latest move to make essential medicines more affordable.

On the sectoral front, auto, consumer durables and realty witnessed the maximum gains in trade, while metal, software and technology remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices, however, were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1210 shares on the gaining side against 869 shares on the losing side while 54 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 27008.12; around 82 points lower as compared to its previous closing of 27090.42, and has touched a high and a low of 27010.22 and 26918.93 respectively. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26994.03, down by 96.39 points or 0.36%. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The overall market breadth remained in the favour of advances with 56.73% stocks advancing against 40.74% declines. The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.29%, while Small cap index up by 0.53%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.55%, Consumer Durables up by 0.53%, Realty up by 0.46%, Oil & Gas up by 0.14% and PSU up by 0.14% while, Healthcare down by 1.04%, Metal down by 0.84%, IT down by 0.79%, TECK down by 0.79% and Infrastructure down by 0.59% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.69%, Tata Motors up by 1.67%, ONGC up by 0.72%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.38% and Coal India up by 0.30%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.02%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.85%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.53%, BHEL down by 1.48% and Sun Pharma down by 1.47% were the top losers.

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 opened at 8,084.45; around 37 points lower as compared to its previous closing of 8,121.45, and has touched a high and a low of 8,088.50 and 8,064.80 respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8,087.70, down by 33.75 points or 0.42%. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.70%, Tata Motors up by 1.61%, PNB up by 1.29%, BPCL up by 1.21% and ONGC up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.35%, Cipla down by 2.09%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 2.05%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.69% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.63% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in the red; Nikkei 225 dropped 126.97 points or 0.78% to 16,194.20, Hang Seng declined by 322.34 points or 1.33% to 23,983.82, KOSPI Index tumbled by 20.16 points or 0.98% to 2,033.66, Straits Times dipped 5.43 points or 0.16% to 3,299.62, Jakarta Composite contracted by 0.53 points or 0.01% to 5,227.06, Shanghai Composite decreased by 34.54 points or 1.48% to 2,294.91, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 3.55 points or 0.19% to 1,845.94 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 106.18 points or 1.15% to 9,134.27.