Markets continue to trade weak in absence of positive trigger

Local equity markets after slipping into negative territory were trading lower with losses of around four tenths of a percent, which dragged both Sensex and Nifty below psychologically crucial 29,500 and 8,900 levels respectively. Incremental profit-booking activities after five straight session of record close amidst daunting global set-up mainly dragged frontline equity indices lower. Meanwhile, broader indices also succumbing to selling pressure were trading with losses in the range of 0.05%-0.75%.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading lower tailing massive losses in US shares on Wall Street. US shares were depressed by some disappointing company results, with big companies like Microsoft and DuPont being hit by the stronger dollar. Meanwhile, European shares despite receiving a negative handover from Asian shares, got off to a positive start ahead of U.S. Fed meeting outcome due later in the day.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were mostly reeling under pressure, nevertheless stocks from Capital Goods, Metal and Auto counters were the prominent losers of the session. On the flip side, stocks from Consumer Durable, Realty and Information Technology counters, topping the gainers list, were restricting further slide of the bourses. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 1801:975; while 112 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29449.23, down by 121.81 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 29445.76 and 29786.32. 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 0.05%, while Small cap index down by 0.71%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.66%, Realty up by 1.34%, IT up by 0.67%, Oil & Gas up by 0.50%, PSU up by 0.14% while, Capital Goods down by 1.89%, Metal down by 1.61%, Auto down by 1.00%, Power down by 0.76%, Bankex down by 0.44% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.23%, SBI up by 0.91%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.83%, TCS up by 0.83% and Reliance Industries up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.79%, Sesa Sterlite down by 3.41%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.84%, BHEL down by 2.75% and Tata Motors down by 2.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, spectrum auction in 800, 900, 2100 and 1800 MHz band, originally slated to start from February 25 has been deferred by a week to March 4 by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The mock auction will now start on March 2-3, instead of February 23-24.

While the government has finalised the base rates for the 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz and 800 MHz bands, it has not yet decided the price for the 2,100-MHz band and the Cabinet is expected to take a final call on the reserve price for the same in its meeting scheduled on Wednesday. The Telecom Commission has recommended a base price of Rs 3,705 crore per MHz for airwaves under this band.

The government has fixed a reserve price of Rs 3,646 crore pan-India per MHz in 800 MHz; Rs 3,980 crore for 900 MHz band pan-India, excluding Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Jammu & Kashmir; and Rs 2,191 crore pan-India (excluding Maharashtra and West Bengal) in the 1800 MHz band. The government plans to sell 380.75 MHz in three bands and expects to earn between Rs 80,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh-crore from the auction.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8891.45, down by 19.05 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 8880.25 and 8985.05. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 2.64% and DLF up by 2.60% and HDFC up by 2.21% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.05% and Asian Paints up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.95%, Sesa Sterlite down by 3.71%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.92%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.70% and BHEL down by 2.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI Index trading higher by 9.18 points or 0.47% to 1,961.58; Nikkei 225 trading higher by 27.43 points or 0.15% to 17,795.73 and Hang Seng trading higher by 54.53 points or 0.22% to 24,861.81. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite trading lower by 47.22 points or 1.41% to 3,305.74; Taiwan Weighted trading lower 10.67 points or 0.11% to 9,510.92; Jakarta Composite trading lower 10.18 points or 0.19% to 5,266.97; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI trading lower 7.29 points or 0.4% to 1,795.88 and Straits Times trading lower 2.1 points or 0.06% to 3,410.10

European shares were trading mostly higher; with France’s CAC trading higher by 12.38 points or 0.27% to 4,636.59; UK’s FTSE 100 trading higher by 17.76 points or 0.26% to 6,829.37 and Germany’s DAX was trading higher by 43.28 points or 0.41% to 10,671.86