Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets were trading in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Traders were seen piling positions in Consumer Durables, Power and Capital Goods stocks while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Metal and Auto sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Jindal Stainless was trading in green after the company decided to demerge three of its subsidiaries into separate legal entities. The restructuring will help the company to pare debt and unlock value for shareholders. Jindal Photo and Jindal Poly Films were trading in red after the company deferred proposal of merger. On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,250 and 27,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1318:1339 while 135 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27354.11, down by 41.62 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 27312.29 and 27478.30. There were 16 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.38%, while Small cap index up by 0.15%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.25%, Power up by 0.79%, Capital Goods up by 0.75%, INFRA up by 0.45%, Bankex up by 0.36% while, Oil & Gas down by 1.34%, Metal down by 1.08%, Auto down by 0.35%, FMCG down by 0.18%, Realty down by 0.14% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.18%, BHEL up by 1.08%, NTPC up by 0.96%, SBI up by 0.65% and Axis Bank up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.03%, Tata Steel down by 1.77%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.73%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.39% and ONGC down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to boost domestic manufacturing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to change laws and style of government functioning to create jobs and bring the derailed economy back on track. After launching the 'Make in India' campaign three months ago, Prime Minister has recently heard industry leaders and government officials on impediments hindering the manufacturing sector and promised collective and transparent decision-making.

Unveiling his vision for making India a manufacturing hub, Prime Minister stressed that government is adding a new paradigm to the public private partnership (PPP) model by involving all stakeholders in key decision-making processes. Further, he added that the government is taking measures to change ABCD culture of government – ‘avoid, bypass, confuse and delay’ to ROAD which stands for ‘responsibility, ownership, accountability, discipline’.

By adding further, Narendra Modi emphasized that growth should be balanced across India and special efforts should be made to ensure that the east, which is rich in natural resources, should be as developed as the western part of the country. Prime Minister also called for making a globally recognized 'Brand India' famous for ‘zero defect, zero effect’ manufacturing -- free from defects and with no adverse impact on the environment.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8237.05, down by 9.25 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 8220.55 and 8268.25. There were 27 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 1.30%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.19%, Bank of Baroda up by 0.95%, NMDC up by 0.91% and NTPC up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.02%, Cairn India down by 1.82%, Tata Steel down by 1.71%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.51% and Asian Paints down by 1.36% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 279.07 points or 1.57% to 17,450.77, Hang Seng decreased 272.08 points or 1.14% to 23,501.10, Taiwan Weighted decreased 17.85 points or 0.19% to 9,268.43, KOSPI Index decreased 12.27 points or 0.64% to 1,915.59, Straits Times decreased 5.24 points or 0.16% to 3,362.45, Shanghai Composite decreased 2.2 points or 0.07% to 3,165.81 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.74 points or 0.1% to 1,766.67.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite increased 21.03 points or 0.41% to 5,199.41.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 50.23 points or 0.51% to 9,876.90, France’s CAC decreased 26.93 points or 0.62% to 4,291.00 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 30.78 points or 0.46% to 6,602.73.