Benchmarks continue weak trade; Bankex, Realty drag

Indian equity markets trim losses but continued trading in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments turned pessimistic after central bank kept policy rates unchanged, while some weak corporate earnings also dampened sentiment. Traders were seen piling positions in Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and FMCG stocks while selling was witnessed in Bankex, Realty and Power sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Delta Corp was trading firm on reports that institutional investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, has hiked its stake in the company. On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,800 and 29,100 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1294:1417 while 118 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29045.03, down by 77.24 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 28900.41 and 29253.06. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.09%, while Small cap index down by 0.03%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.12%, Oil & Gas up by 1.75%, FMCG up by 1.09%, Metal up by 0.52%, TECK up by 0.42% while, Bankex down by 2.25%, Realty down by 1.28%, Power down by 0.60%, Infra down by 0.48%, PSU down by 0.32% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sesa Sterlite up by 4.67%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.53%, Reliance Industries up by 2.65%, Tata Motors up by 2.65% and ONGC up by 2.63%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.96%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.57%, Tata Power down by 3.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.56% and HDFC down by 2.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a government memorandum has notified that a panel to determine technical eligibility of bidders for coal mines in the upcoming auction will soon be constituted. The six-member panel will be headed by State Vigilance Commissioner, West Bengal, K S Ramasubban. It will have members from Central Electricity Authority, Power Ministry and National Institute of Secondary Steel Technology, Steel Ministry, among others. Five members include Punjab National Bank chairman and managing director SS Kohli. The committee also comprises Major Singh, member planning in the Central Electricity  Authority, and RK Bagchi, director in the steel ministry. Other members are Mohan Chuttani,  economic advisor in the department of industrial policy and promotion and RK  Chopra, director in Coal India's technical arm Center Mine Planning and Design Institute.

As many as 200 companies have registered themselves for the coal block bidding process and the panel will help joint secretary in the coal ministry Vivek Bhardwaj, who is the nominated authority for coal block auction, in evaluating technical qualification of bidders for the auction.

The government has decided to auction 46 coal blocks to private companies in auctions scheduled between February 14-22. Under the schedule II (producing mines) category, 23 blocks will be put on offer, the bids will be evaluated and the selected qualified bidders will participate in the e-auction for the 23 operational mines beginning February 14, while another set of 23 mines will be auctioned between February 25 and March 5 under the Schedule III (ready to produce mines) category. The Coal Ministry has already started the process for allocation of 36 mines to PSUs, of which 35 will go to power PSUs, while the remaining one has been earmarked for a steel PSU.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8777.85, down by 19.55 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 8726.65 and 8837.30. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sesa Sterlite up by 4.77%, Cairn India up by 3.27%, Reliance Industries up by 2.75%, ONGC up by 2.70% and Bharti Airtel up by 2.67%. On the flip side, PNB down by 6.96%, Axis Bank down by 3.84%, Tata Power down by 3.57%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.43% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.64% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 10.36 points or 0.2% to 5,286.59, Taiwan Weighted increased 61.74 points or 0.66% to 9,448.73, Hang Seng increased 70.04 points or 0.29% to 24,554.78 and Shanghai Composite increased 76.61 points or 2.45% to 3,204.91.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 222.19 points or 1.27% to 17,335.85, Straits Times decreased 20.33 points or 0.59% to 3,403.02 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.72 points or 0.04% to 1,951.96. Malaysia Stock Exchange was closed on account of ‘Thaipusam’ holiday

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 40.09 points or 0.87% to 4,667.76, Germany’s DAX increased 101.13 points or 0.93% to 10,929.14 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 62.89 points or 0.93% to 6,845.44.