Benchmarks pare losses; trade continues in red

Indian equity markets pared losses, however continued to trade weak in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiment were also dented after Japan’s economy unexpectedly slipped into recession in the third quarter, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling at an annualized 1.6% pace in July-September, after plunging to 7.3% in the second quarter following a rise in the national sales tax, which clobbered consumer spending. Traders were seen piling positions in Infra, Consumer Durables and Auto sector while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT and Capital Goods sector stocks. In scrip specific development, SpiceJet was trading in red after it posted dismal numbers in the September quarter. The low cost airline reported a net loss of Rs 310 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 versus Rs 559 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last financial year. There were also reports that some 40-odd SpiceJet pilots including commanders have quit the airline during the past six months due to uncertain future for the company.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red while the European markets were too trading mostly on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,400 and 28,050 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1434:1451 while 93 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28030.14, down by 16.52 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 27921.34 and 28052.27. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.58%, while Small cap index up by 0.87%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Infra up by 1.45%, Consumer Durables up by 1.20%, Auto up by 1.15%, Power up by 0.84%, PSU up by 0.77% while, Metal down by 0.74%, IT down by 0.33%, Capital Goods down by 0.31%, Bankex down by 0.29%, Realty down by 0.26% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 3.86%, Tata Motors up by 3.59%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.20%, NTPC up by 1.43% and Reliance Industries up by 1.07%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.82%, ICICI Bank down by 1.70%, HDFC Bank down by 1.41%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.38% and Coal India down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, industry chamber Assocham has suggested that government must utilize the opportunity to integrate proposed Foreign Trade Policy with the 'Make in India' programme, which would help in realizing its greater objective of making India a low cost global manufacturing hub.

The apex trade association has suggested the country to prioritize its manufacturing focus on key sectors where India already has existing strengths like Auto, Textiles, Pharma, bio-tech etc and deepen its capabilities in creating strong global market share and mind share. It also insisted India to mandatorily provide incentives for Domestic Value Addition (DVA), which is the proportion of exports truly produced in India.

While, lauding Textile Industry’s efforts in nearly doubling its DVA component from 8% in 1994-95 to 18% as of 2013-14, it pointed that electrical components and machinery exports were the industries which require adequate support  so as to dovetail these sectors strongly into the 'Make in India' theme.

It noted that electronics was another key segment where India has a good talent base, domestic demand or consumption and necessary environment to create a strong manufacturing base.

On GST front, the trade apex industry body opined that the government should adopt a dual model of GST one for the Centre (CGST) and one for the state (SGST) to grant autonomy to both states and the Centre, thereby creating a harmonious model acceptable to states and centre.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8376.55, down by 13.35 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 8349.10 and 8382.60. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 3.95% and Tata Motors up by 3.59% and Asian Paints up by 2.83% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.33% and IDFC up by 2.04%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.69%, DLF down by 2.67%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.52%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.20% and Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.02% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 517.03 points or 2.96% to 16,973.80, Hang Seng decreased 290.3 points or 1.21% to 23,797.08, Taiwan Weighted decreased 98.49 points or 1.1% to 8,884.39, Straits Times decreased 21.29 points or 0.64% to 3,294.38, Shanghai Composite decreased 4.82 points or 0.19% to 2,474.01, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.25 points or 0.18% to 1,810.54 and KOSPI Index decreased 1.51 points or 0.08% to 1,943.63.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite increased 18.33 points or 0.36% to 5,067.82.

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 24.92 points or 0.27% to 9,228.02, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 14.17 points or 0.21% to 6,640.20 while, France’s CAC increased 0.62 points or 0.01% to 4,203.08.