Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Traders were seen piling positions in Realty, Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, PSU and TECK sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Oriental Bank of Commerce was trading under pressure after reporting its quarterly profit which plunged as provisions for bad loans rose sharply and also due to a one-off adjustment. Coal India was trading in red on concerns that the government stake sale, would be at a discount to the stock’s current market price. The markets may remain volatile today as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. January 2015 series to next month i.e. February 2015 series. The near month January 2015 derivatives contracts expire today i.e. January 29, 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in red while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,900 and 29,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1313:1422 while 119 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29480.03, down by 79.15 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 29378.30 and 29547.18. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green and red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.25%, while Small cap index up by 0.12%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.09%, Oil & Gas up by 1.44%, Consumer Durables up by 0.61%, FMCG up by 0.24% while, Metal down by 1.17%, PSU down by 0.97%, TECK down by 0.66%, Infra down by 0.58%, IT down by 0.55% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.44%, HDFC Bank up by 2.12%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.31%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.76% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.11%, HDFC down by 2.61%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.22%, SBI down by 2.05% and Cipla down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a proposal for financial support to Jute Corporation of India, the government has approved mandatory packaging of sugar and food-grains in jute material to minimum extent of up to 90% of production, with certain exemptions. The government has approved this proposal to offset the losses suffered by Jute Corporation of India on account of Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations.

For sugar, minimum packaging requirement has been fixed at 20% of production for jute year 2014-15. Both the decisions are aimed at protecting the interests of jute growers through procurement of raw jute under the MSP fixed by the government and also to stabilize the raw jute market for the benefit of 40 lakh farm families and the jute economy as a whole.

Further, the financial assistance to Jute Corporation of India (JCI) will be provided in the form of subsidy. The quantum of subsidy will include the difference between the purchase and sale price of MSP Raw Jute. The quantum of subsidy will also include fixed overhead costs incurred by JCI in maintaining its infrastructure for Minimum Support Price (MSP) operation.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8884.15, down by 30.15 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 8861.25 and 8907.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 2.83%, DLF up by 2.48%, Reliance Industries up by 2.35%, BPCL up by 2.14% and HDFC Bank up by 2.11%. On the flip side, PNB down by 3.34%, Asian Paints down by 3.32%, Coal India down by 3.17%, HCL Tech down by 2.96% and Bank of Baroda down by 2.71% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red;  Hang Seng decreased 265.96 points or 1.07% to 24,595.85, Nikkei 225 decreased 189.51 points or 1.06% to 17,606.22, Taiwan Weighted decreased 84.02 points or 0.88% to 9,426.90, Shanghai Composite decreased 43.43 points or 1.31% to 3,262.31, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 13.95 points or 0.78% to 1,781.93, KOSPI Index decreased 10.56 points or 0.54% to 1,951.02, Jakarta Composite decreased 7.51 points or 0.14% to 5,261.34 and Straits Times decreased 1.55 points or 0.05% to 3,417.60.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 46.71 points or 0.68% to 6,779.23, Germany’s DAX decreased 32.29 points or 0.3% to 10,678.68 and France’s CAC decreased 22.3 points or 0.48% to 4,588.64.