Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets trimmed losses but continued to trade in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Traders were seen piling positions in Realty, Metal and Bankex stocks while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, IT and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Opto Circuits, Poly Medicure and BPL were trading firm after the Cabinet approved 100 percent foreign direct investment in medical devices. The markets may remain volatile today as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from near month i.e. December 2014 series to next month i.e. January 2015 series. The near month December 2014 derivatives contracts will expire today i.e. December 24, 20014. The stock market will remain close tomorrow on Thursday i.e. December 25, 2014, on account of Christmas holiday.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on mixed note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,250 and 27,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1277:1348 while 126 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27405.96, down by 100.50 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 27329.66 and 27571.25. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48%, while Small cap index up by 0.34%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.73%, Metal up by 0.28%, Bankex up by 0.25%, Auto up by 0.18% while, Oil & Gas down by 0.76%, IT down by 0.64%, PSU down by 0.60%, INFRA down by 0.55%, Power down by 0.51% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sesa Sterlite up by 1.54%, Tata Steel up by 0.85%, ICICI Bank up by 0.64%, SBI up by 0.64% and Tata Motors up by 0.35%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.14%, NTPC down by 1.93%, HDFC down by 1.69%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.65% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government by the end of this month is likely to take a decision on base price for spectrum, which is expected to be auctioned by February next year. The decision would put an end to impending spectrum pricing brawl as Inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission, early this month, recommended a base price of Rs 3,693 crore per megahertz for the premium 900 MHz frequency band, 23% higher than the price recommended by telecom regulator, TRAI for the spectrum auction in February.

The commission finalized a base price of Rs 3,646 crore per Mhz for CDMA band, nearly 17% higher than the price suggested by TRAI. Telecom regulator had recommended that base price for 900 Mhz band price be kept at Rs 3,004 crore per Mhz, for 1800 Mhz at Rs 2,138 crore and for CDMA spectrum at Rs 3,104 crore.

Soon after the prices are approved by the Cabinet, that Department of Telecom (DoT) expects to issue auction details through 'Notice Inviting Application' (NIA). According to a presentation by DoT to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on November 13, the department expects to issue NIA by December 26-27 and start bidding for spectrum by February 23.

Separately, DoT is also mulling to auction 3G spectrum along with these three bands for which telecom regulator TRAI is expected to give its recommendations on price and other conditions in the first week of January.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8246.45, down by 20.55 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 8218.05 and 8286.40. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 4.46%, Sesa Sterlite up by 1.59%, ACC up by 1.33%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.10% and Tata Steel up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.48%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.36%, NTPC down by 1.96%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.68% and BHEL down by 1.66% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 7.59 points or 0.39% to 1,946.61, Straits Times increased 13.4 points or 0.4% to 3,345.91, Hang Seng increased 15.65 points or 0.07% to 23,349.34, Jakarta Composite increased 25.35 points or 0.49% to 5,164.41, Taiwan Weighted increased 88.47 points or 0.97% to 9,186.18 and Nikkei 225 increased 219.09 points or 1.24% to 17,854.23.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 60.08 points or 1.98% to 2,972.53 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.53 points or 0.03% to 1,748.52.

The European markets were trading mixed; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 14.4 points or 0.22% to 6,612.58 while France’s CAC decreased 6.49 points or 0.15% to 4,308.48. Germany’s DAX was closed today on account of ‘Christmas Eve’ holiday.