Markets slip in red in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks, pairing its early gains, entered into red terrain in early noon deals as investors turned cautious ahead of the winter session of parliament which begins next week and RBI’s policy review due on December 2, 2014. Sentiments also remained dampened after Indian rupee slumped to its lowest level in nine months on Thursday, tracking the dollar’s strength against major currencies and other Asian peers. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 62.1850/1900 after falling to as low as 62.22 per dollar, its lowest since February 20.

Global cues too remained subdued with Asian markets were trading mostly in the red at this point of time as concerns about Chinese economic growth brought in focus by the fall in HSBC/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) to a six-month low of 50 in November from 50.4 in October have dragged Chinese shares. However, Japanese shares were able to hold steady, boosted by further weakening of the yen.

Back home, losses remained capped on reports that foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 71.80 crore on November 19, 2014, as per provisional stock exchange data. On the sectoral front, healthcare, software and technology witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while consumer durables, capital goods and power remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in red in noon deals, while the market breadth on the BSE was negative; there were 1125 shares on the gaining side against 1477 shares on the losing side while 101 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27977.76, down by 55.09 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 27954.57 and 28118.53. 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 0.14%, while Small cap index down by 0.29%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.65%, IT up by 0.51%, TECK up by 0.24%, FMCG up by 0.21% and Bankex up by 0.10%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.46%, Capital Goods down by 1.07%, Power down by 0.93%, Realty down by 0.71% and INFRA down by 0.68% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.88%, Cipla up by 1.74%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 0.90%, Hindalco up by 0.87% and Infosys up by 0.67%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.75%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.33%, Axis Bank down by 1.25%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.16% and Tata Motors down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Telecom (DoT) proposal to conduct spectrum auctions in two phases, between February and May next year, has started getting resentment from the telecom operators, who are saying that phased auction will only create uncertainty.

Earlier, as per a DoT presentation after a closed door meeting with the Minister of IT & Communications, it showed its keenness on holding one round of auctions on February 25, before the end of this fiscal year, and another on May 30, when additional frequency bands are expected to be vacated by the Defence forces. The auctions in February will adhere to the earlier schedule with spectrum in the 900 MHz, 800 MHz and the 1800 MHz bands, while the one in May is for airwaves in the 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands.

However, the telcos are disappointed with this proposal as they wanted these frequencies to be sold in a simultaneous auction, reasoning that if all the bands had been clubbed together in a single auction, there would have been more supply of airwaves and companies would possibly have to pay less.

Telecom operators have argued that the 2100 MHz band is not a substitute for existing GSM players, hence selling spectrum in the 2100 MHz and 2500 MHz bands is not a fallback option for an existing player but bringing these additional frequencies will ease the demand for 900 MHz by players who do not have 3G spectrum. The Cellular Operators Association of India has further stated that the Telecom Ministry should quickly get the Defence Ministry to vacate spectrum early and put all bands on sale in February or extend the licence tenure of incumbent players and hold a single auctions in May.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8370.95, down by 11.35 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 8364.60 and 8410.10. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 6.25%, SBI up by 1.87%, Cipla up by 1.44%, Sun Pharma up by 0.84% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.84%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.71%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.14%, Bank Of Baroda down by 1.64%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.58% and Sesa Sterlite down by 1.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Jakarta Composite declined 54.02 points or 1.05% to 5,073.91, KOSPI Index slipped 8.83 points or 0.45% to 1,958.04, Straits Times dipped 6.99 points or 0.21% to 3,327.57, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.38 points or 0.19% to 1,821.01 and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.23 points or 0.01% to 2,450.76

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 rose 12.11 points or 0.07% to 17,300.86, Hang Seng increased 27.53 points or 0.12% to 23,400.84 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 115.63 points or 1.29% to 9,078.87.