Markets pare early losses in afternoon session

Indian bourses continued to trade in red in the afternoon session as selling momentum in the equities persisted, however the losses were capped and strong recovery from day's low levels was seen as buying appeared in metal and banking stocks. Though, most of the sectoral indices were trading in red with consumer durables and realty were the top losing indices. Market was entangled by global uncertainties due to fall in crude oil prices and Russian currency turmoil. Furthermore, concern over sluggish macro-economic data such as IIP and CAD and continued FII outflows also put pressure on the domestic sentiments. Foreign Portfolio Investors sold shares worth a net Rs 1,247.24 crore in the previous session. Investors were also selling stocks of IT and healthcare companies. Moreover, sell off also continued in broader indices with both mid cap and small cap indices were trading down by over 0.95%.

Shares in Hydro S&S Industries has dipped 10% to Rs 194, extending its previous day’s 6% fall, after the company said it has fixed the floor price for the offer-for-sale (OFS) issue at Rs 180 a share, through which promoter diluted almost 7.8% stake. On the other hand, Jagran Prakashan has rallied around 5% to Rs 147 following acquisition of Music Broadcast , which operates the popular Radio City FM stations.

On global front, Asian markets were trading mixed with Nikkei 225 up by 0.33% and Taiwan Weighted down 1.37%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 8,100 and 27,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2,434 stocks traded, 600 stocks advanced, while 1,767 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26655.99, down by 125.45 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 26469.42 and 26834.43. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.95%, while Small cap index down by 1.61%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.81%. On the other hand, Consumer Durables down by 1.88%, Realty down by 1.53%, Auto down by 1.49%, FMCG down by 1.39% and Power down by 0.77% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.12%, Sesa Sterlite up by 2.58%, SBI up by 1.10%, Axis Bank up by 0.89% and GAIL India up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.86%, ITC down by 2.64%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.98%, Tata Power down by 1.75% and Tata Motors down by 1.59% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid rising concern over six-fold rise in gold imports in November, Commerce Ministry has stated that the government will adopt a wait and watch stand and take a call at appropriate time. Last month, the government abolished 80:20 rule that required importers to export one-fifth of the imported gold.

Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher has asserted that big rise in gold imports is a matter of concern however the government will consider next month trade data before examining the impact of detached 80:20 rule. Gold imports shot up by 571 per cent to $5.6 billion in November from $0.83 billion a year earlier.

Merchandise imports also grew at a faster clip in November due to a sudden spike in the import of gold. India’s imports during November rose by 26.79% y-o-y to $42.82 billion. Owing to high imports, trade deficit during November widened to around double on annual bias. India’s trade deficit widened to 18-month high of $16.86 billion in month of November, as compared to $9.57 in the same month previous year and $13.36 billion in the previous month October. Rising trade deficit over the past two month has been exerting pressure on country’s external sector as well as domestic currency. The Indian rupee slumped to a 13-month low of 63.53 per dollar on December 16.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8020.70, down by 46.90 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 7961.35 and 8080.65. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.18%, NMDC up by 2.83%, Sesa Sterlite up by 2.51%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.39% and GAIL India up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.96%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.96%, ITC down by 2.56%, Asian Paints down by 2.50% and Cairn India down by 2.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Jakarta Composite up by 4.02 points or 0.08% to 5,030.05, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI up by 11.34 points or 0.68% to 1,685.28, Shanghai Composite up by 17.5 points or 0.58% to 3,039.02 and Nikkei 225 up by 54.59 points or 0.33% to 16,809.91. While, Taiwan Weighted down 122.55 points or 1.37% to 8,828.36, Hang Seng down 60.62 points or 0.27% to 22,609.88, Straits Times down 4.44 points or 0.14% to 3,210.65 and KOSPI Index down 3.97 points or 0.21% to 1,900.16.