Benchmarks trade slightly in red in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks though made a positive start are trading slightly in the red in early deals on Friday, as investors opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. Some support also came with a report that the government is pushing ministries to ensure mechanism for faster clearances. The Prime Minister's Office has shot off letters to the ministries and departments concerned, asking them to expedite implementation of tasks identified as being their responsibility. However, gains remained capped on report that foreign institutional investors were net sellers in Indian equities worth Rs 2,808.27 crore on December 24, as per provisional stock exchange data.

On the global front, the US markets ended flat in last session on getting positive jobless claims data, while the Asian markets were trading mostly in the green at this point of time led by the Chinese market which has extended its biggest gains in three weeks, as the People’s Bank of China plans to temporarily waive a requirement for lenders to set aside reserves for some deposit.

Back home, on the sectoral front, power, infrastructure and capital goods witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while fast moving consumer goods, oil and gas and auto remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were trading slightly in the green, while the market breadth on the BSE was evenly divided; there were 885 shares on the gaining side against 870 shares on the losing side while 68 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27161.12, down by 47.49 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 27097.85 and 27370.63. 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 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.32%, Infrastructure up by 0.30%, Capital Goods up by 0.28%, Bankex up by 0.25% and PSU up by 0.17% while, FMCG down by 0.73%, Oil & Gas down by 0.58%, Auto down by 0.50%, Metal down by 0.43% and Realty down by 0.43% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 0.95%, SBI up by 0.78%, Coal India up by 0.58%, Infosys up by 0.55% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.31%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.53%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.22%, Wipro down by 1.06%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.99% and ITC down by 0.98% 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 8167.05, down by 7.05 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 8147.95 and 8234.55. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 1.69%, Axis Bank up by 0.89%, SBI up by 0.78%, Infosys up by 0.68% and Coal India up by 0.66%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 1.59%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.97%, Sesa Sterlite down by 0.97% and BPCL down by 0.91% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; KOSPI Index rose 4.46 points or 0.23% to 1,951.07, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 11.18 points or 0.64% to 1,760.92, Taiwan Weighted gained 22.11 points or 0.24% to 9,180.81, Nikkei 225 added 31.51 points or 0.18% to 17,840.26 and Shanghai Composite was up by 38.24 points or 1.24% to 3,110.77. On the flip side, Straits Times was down by 2.43 points or 0.07% to 3,343.48.