Markets continue to trade listless in afternoon deals

Local equity markets, stuck in a tight range, continued to trade listless, largely weighed down by losses in blue chip stocks like Infosys, ONGC, RIL, Tata Motors and L&T among others. However, losses were limited on account of release of positive macro-economic data I.e. November IIP and December CPI released after market hours on Monday. The index for IIP for the month of November hit a five month high of 3.8% at 169.8, higher than street’s expectation of figure of over 2%, while, India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI), snapping four consecutive months easing trend, edged higher to 5% in December as compared 4.38% in November. At day’s low, While Sensex was trading lower with losses of around two tenths of a percent, below psychologically crucial 27,550 level, Nifty managing to hold its fort in green was trading above 8,350 mark. Meanwhile, broader indices outperforming larger counterparts were trading with gains in the range of 0.40%.

On the global front, Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday, as traders weighed a better-than-expected trade report from the mainland and the continued fall in global oil markets. U.S. stocks lost ground on Monday, extending a two-week decline, as worries about falling oil prices took hold before the start of quarterly earnings.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading into positive territory, stocks from Realty, Oil & Gas and Teck counters were the only losers of the session. On the flip side, much of demand was witnessed by stocks belonging from Consumer Durables counter, followed by FMCG and Capital Goods counters. Meanwhile, Shares of three public sector oil marketing companies advanced following a slump in crude oil prices. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1145:861; while 31 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27535.23, down by 50.04 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 27528.55 and 27670.19. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.46%, while Small cap index up by 0.42%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.97%, FMCG up by 0.69%, Capital Goods up by 0.47%, Auto up by 0.22% and Metal up by 0.16% while, Realty down by 1.26%, Oil & Gas down by 0.97%, IT down by 0.28%, PSU down by 0.25% and INFRA down by 0.23% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.42%, Cipla up by 1.36%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.00%, Hindalco up by 0.99% and Wipro up by 0.97%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.56%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.24%, Infosys down by 1.17%, GAIL India down by 0.96% and ICICI Bank down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to boost domestic economic growth, Finance Minister Arun Jailtley stated that the Government intended to invest more funds on improving infrastructure and would encourage investments in the manufacturing sector that could spur growth and generate employment. The government would stick to a non-adversarial tax regime as it tries to attract investors who were scared away by provisions of retrospective taxation, the Minister added.

On the issue of declining investments in highways sector, Finance Minister stressed that an extraordinary step was taken to fund the highways sector by hiking the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre. The government is taking steps to clear the mess in coal and power sector. Highlighting the need to attract more private investments, Jaitley said that the government is trying to consolidate investor sentiments after taking a slew of measure over the last seven months. FDI in construction has been liberalised, 100% foreign investment has been allowed in railways and defence and insurance sectors have been opened for FDI up to 49%.

Indian economic growth had slowed down to below 5% over the last two financial years amid concerns like high interest rate and stubborn inflation, low investments and slow execution of infrastructure projects. However, the domestic economy has shown signs recovery and expanded at 5.5% during first half of this fiscal as compared to 4.9% in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8334.45, up by 11.45 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 8321.85 and 8356.30. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 4.54%, Asian Paints up by 3.83%, BHEL up by 2.76%, Grasim Industries up by 2.57% and ACC up by 2.16%. On the flip side, DLF down by 2.45%, ONGC down by 2.42%, Infosys down by 1.20%, Cairn India down by 1.19% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.18% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; with Shanghai Composite trading higher by 0.6 points or 0.02% to 3,229.92; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI trading higher by 10.97 points or 0.63% to 1,746.05; Jakarta Composite trading higher by 13.9 points or 0.27% to 5,201.84; Taiwan Weighted trading higher by 53.5 points or 0.58% to 9,231.80; Hang Seng trading higher by 181.88 points or 0.76% to 24,208.34;. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 trading lower by 110.02 points or 0.64% to 17,087.71; Straits Times trading lower by 6.33 points or 0.19% to 3,338.56 and KOSPI Index trading lower by 3.81 points or 0.2% to 1,917.14.