Benchmarks continue weak trade before F&O expiry

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The Make in India campaign launched by PM Narendra Modi failed to cheer the market with benchmark indices continued trading in red. The sentiments were also cautious after Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan stated that the country suffered from persistent inflation, adding India had to act, while also noting the need for more data across important economic indicators such as employment and producer prices. Traders were seen piling positions in IT and TECK while selling was witnessed in Metal, Oil & Gas and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Jaiprakash Power Ventures (JPVL) was trading in red after Reliance Power and JPVL stated that they called off talks over sale of JPVL's hydro-power assets. The markets may remain volatile In last hour of trade as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. September 2014 series to next month i.e. October 2014 series. The near-month September 2014 F&O contracts will expire today i.e. September 25, 2014.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading on mixed note while the European markets traded on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,950 and 26,600 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 669:2145 while 78 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26542.21, down by 202.48 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 26515.38 and 26814.20. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.66%, while Small cap index down by 2.40%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.13% and TECK up by 0.93% while, Metal down by 2.81%, Oil & Gas down by 2.65%, PSU down by 2.38%, Power down by 2.24% and Realty down by 1.90% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.52%, Cipla up by 2.18%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.92%, GAIL India up by 1.87% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.03%.

On the flip side, Hindalco down by 5.63%, BHEL down by 4.48%, ONGC down by 4.29%, Axis Bank down by 3.58% and Tata Steel down by 3.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, just a day before embarking upon on the high profile US visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the ambitious 'Make in India' campaign, wherein he rolled -out red carpet to attract industrialists and investors into the country to make India into a global manufacturing hub, create more jobs and boost the country's economy. The event is expected to witness participation of leading industrialists of the country including RIL’s chief Mukesh Ambani, Essar Group Chairman’s Shashi Ruia, Tata Grou’s chairman Cyrus Mistry; Mahindra Group CMD Anand Mahindra; Biocon CMD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and ITC Chairman Y C Deveshvar among others.

The government, through this campaign, plans to eliminate road-bumps for ensuring a smooth ride for investors, which would be by the way of setting up a dedicated cell to answer queries of business entities within 72 hours and also closely monitor all regulatory processes for making them simple.

Through this campaign, the government plans to chart out a new path, wherein entities are welcomed in a spirit of active cooperation. It has identified 25 key sectors in which country has the potential of becoming a world leader and brochures of these sectors will be separately released by the Prime Minister along with a general brochure. The brochures covering sectors like automobiles, chemicals, IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ports, aviation, leather, tourism and hospitality, wellness, railways among others will provide details of growth drivers, investment opportunities, sector specific FDI and other policies and related agencies.

Further, the campaign, launched at national as well as state level and in Missions abroad, will target top companies across sectors in identified countries, also aims to identify select domestic companies having leadership in innovation and new technology for turning them into global champions.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7949.05, down by 53.35 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 7938.40 and 8019.30. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 2.63%, Cipla up by 2.48%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.15%, GAIL India up by 2.04% and Lupin up by 1.55%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 8.44%, Hindalco down by 4.36%, ONGC down by 4.30%, PNB down by 4.22% and BHEL down by 4.18% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading on a mixed note;  Shanghai Composite increased 1.53 points or 0.07% to 2,345.10, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.13 points or 0.12% to 1,842.21, Jakarta Composite increased 26.73 points or 0.52% to 5,200.74 and Nikkei 225 increased 206.69 points or 1.28% to 16,374.14.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 153.48 points or 0.64% to 23,768.13, Taiwan Weighted decreased 86.9 points or 0.96% to 9,011.59, KOSPI Index decreased 1.53 points or 0.08% to 2,034.11 and Straits Times decreased 1.3 points or 0.04% to 3,291.51.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.55 points or 0.04% to 6,708.82, France’s CAC increased 11.98 points or 0.27% to 4,425.70 and Germany’s DAX increased 36.43 points or 0.38% to 9,698.40.