Benchmarks continue weak trade; IT, TECK drag

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on pessimistic mood despite World Bank in its twice-a-year South Asia Economic Focus report has stated that Indian economy, which accounts for 80 percent of South Asia’s output, is set to grow by 6.4 percent in 2015-16 as against 5.6 percent in 2014-15. Traders were seen piling positions in Oil & Gas, Capital Goods and PSU while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and Infra sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Infosys was trading in red after foreign brokerage firm downgraded the stock to neutral from buy.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red while the European markets were too trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,850 and 26,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1222:1506 while 114 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26200.70, down by 71.27 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 26173.80 and 26334.35. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.41%, while Small cap index down by 0.19%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.41%, Capital Goods up by 1.18%, PSU up by 1.16%, Realty up by 0.78%, Power up by 0.67% while, IT down by 3.35%, TECK down by 2.81%, Infra down by 0.26%, Consumer Durables down by 0.23% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.32%, NTPC up by 1.88%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.75%, ONGC up by 1.66% and BHEL up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 4.65%, Infosys down by 4.50%, Wipro down by 3.52%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 3.39% and Cipla down by 2.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s engineering exports grew by 24 percent to $28.9 billion in the April-August FY15 mainly driven by increased shipments to three neighboring countries include Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

In South Asia region, India’s exports grew by 60 percent for the period under review with Nepal registering an annualised growth of 49 percent at $596 million and Bangladesh 25 percent at $616 million. Exports to Sri Lanka grew by 96.80 percent to $1.5 billion in the first five months of FY15.

The chairman of Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) Anupam Shah has asserted that South Asian countries, with the exception of Pakistan, are emerging as important markets for Indian exports, giving us volume as well as scale in valuation despite being small economies. By adding further Anupam Shah said that if the physical infrastructure at the borders was improved, commercial engagements with the neighbours could increase not only in engineering products but also in other areas.

Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are included in the top 25 destinations for India’s engineering exports, with Sri Lanka standing at No. 3 position after the US and the UAE. The top 25 destinations account for 74 per cent of the total engineering exports, which were $62 billion in 2013-14 and are expected to reach $70 billion in the current fiscal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7828.35, down by 24.05 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 7824.20 and 7869.90. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.22%, DLF up by 3.11%, Indusind Bank up by 2.74%, Tata Steel up by 2.35% and ONGC up by 1.83%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 4.94%, Infosys down by 4.67%, Sun Pharma down by 4.64%, Wipro down by 3.76% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 3.73% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 187.85 points or 1.19% to 15,595.98, Hang Seng decreased 159.19 points or 0.68% to 23,263.33, Taiwan Weighted decreased 85.63 points or 0.95% to 8,955.18, Jakarta Composite decreased 49.96 points or 0.99% to 4,982.88, Straits Times decreased 15.45 points or 0.48% to 3,228.54, KOSPI Index decreased 7.66 points or 0.39% to 1,965.25 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.49 points or 0.3% to 1,828.05.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 18.92 points or 0.8% to 2,382.79.

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 46.84 points or 0.52% to 9,039.37, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 18.97 points or 0.29% to 6,476.61 while, France’s CAC increased 0.53 points or 0.01% to 4,209.67.