Benchmarks continue weak trade; Realty, IT drag

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters taking clues from European counterparts. The markets were trading with deep cuts but got some respite after India’s main inflation gauge, based on monthly WPI, easing to 33-month low, stood at 2.78% for the month of September as compared to 3.74% in the previous month and 7.05% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Traders were seen piling positions in Bankex, Power and Infra while selling was witnessed in Realty, IT and TECK sector stocks. In scrip specific development, DLF plunged to its new 52-week low in early trade after the stock market regulator SEBI barred the company and six of its top executives including chairman K P Singh from accessing stock markets for a period of three years. Sesa Sterlite was trading in red after the Supreme Court reiterated a prior ruling that all iron ore mined in Goa before 2007 belonged to the state. The pre-2007 iron ore has to be auctioned.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading on a mixed note while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,900 and 26,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1255:1476 while 110 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26355.86, down by 28.21 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 26212.01 and 26550.79. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.26%, while Small cap index up by 0.26%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.66%, Power up by 0.65%, Infra up by 0.58%, PSU up by 0.41%, Capital Goods up by 0.30% while, Realty down by 8.08%, IT down by 0.61%, TECK down by 0.45%, FMCG down by 0.40%, Metal down by 0.31% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 3.35%, Axis Bank up by 2.91%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.42%, SBI up by 2.08% and Hindustan Unilever up by 2.08%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.70%, HDFC down by 1.68%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.58%, ONGC down by 1.23% and Tata Motors down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic passenger car sales declined by 1.03 per cent to 1,54,882 units in September from year-ago month. After posting four months of consecutive growth, car sales declined as customers postponed purchases during the month on account of festival season beginning in October amid expectation of better purchase offers.

According to the latest data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger car sales declined to 1,54,882 units in September from 1,56,494 units in September 2013. Motorcycle sales last month climbed 19.34 per cent to 10,56,509 units from 8,85,309 units a year earlier. The total two-wheeler sales in September rose 23.81 per cent to 15,67,351 units . Commercial Vehicles sales have turned positive after 16 months of decline and rose by 8.59 per cent to 56,140 units in September as fleet owners have started buying trucks anticipating improved economic activity. Total sales of vehicles across categories registered an increase of 20.44 per cent to 19,04,007 units in reported month from 15,80,933 units in September 2013.

The SIAM Director General Vishnu Mathur has stated that car sales are expected to grow in October mainly on the back of festival season. However, the probability of interest rate increase by the Reserve Bank of India in the rest of the ongoing financial year, is a challenge for the auto industry. By adding further, V Mathur has said that rural incomes across the country could fall in the remainder of the ongoing financial year, due to poor output from kharif crop which could be the another challenge for the local automobile industry.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7869.50, down by 14.75 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 7825.45 and 7928.00. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 3.32%, Axis Bank up by 2.92%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.56%, Indusind Bank up by 2.46% and Tata Power up by 2.29%. On the flip side, DLF down by 27.09%, Cairn India down by 2.12%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.07%, BPCL down by 1.82% and ITC down by 1.74% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading on a mixed note; KOSPI Index increased 2.04 points or 0.11% to 1,929.25, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.16 points or 0.12% to 1,799.36, Jakarta Composite increased 17.42 points or 0.35% to 4,930.47 and Taiwan Weighted increased 57 points or 0.65% to 8,768.39.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 364.04 points or 2.38% to 14,936.51, Hang Seng decreased 95.41 points or 0.41% to 23,047.97, Shanghai Composite decreased 6.53 points or 0.28% to 2,359.48 and Straits Times decreased 0.72 points or 0.02% to 3,201.43.

The European market were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.24 points or 0.19% to 6,354.00, France’s CAC decreased 10.26 points or 0.25% to 4,068.44 and Germany’s DAX decreased 4.03 points or 0.05% to 8,808.40.