Benchmarks trim losses; trade continues in red

Indian equity markets trimmed losses but continued trading in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Investors remained cautious ahead of IIP and retail inflation data scheduled to be released later in the day. Traders were seen piling position in Realty, Power and Auto stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Oil & Gas and FMCG stocks. In scrip specific development, Bank of India was trading in red on reporting a drop in Q3 profit. The bank’s third quarter net profit fell 70.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 173.4 crore. Higher provisions & employee expenses, slow growth in net interest income and lower other income & operating profit impacted the profitability during the quarter. Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering was trading firm on reports that Mahindra & Mahindra is planning to buy around 25-30 percent stake in the company for an aggregate amount of Rs 3,000 crore in a three phase.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mixed, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,650 and 28,600 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1477:1173 while 138 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28504.91, down by 29.06 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 28406.25 and 28685.88. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.80%, while Small cap index up by 1.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.15%, Power up by 0.98%, Auto up by 0.96%, IT up by 0.69%, Capital Goods up by 0.62% while, Metal down by 0.97%, Oil & Gas down by 0.64%, FMCG down by 0.59%, Bankex down by 0.43%, PSU down by 0.30% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 3.43%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.40%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.28%, GAIL India up by 1.40% and Hindalco up by 1.40%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.08%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.63%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.37%, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.34% and ITC down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a MasterCard Index of Consumer Confidence survey has stated that India is the second most optimistic nation among the Asia Pacific Region after Myanmar. India scored 91.6 in the index which is calculated with zero as the most pessimistic and 100 as the most optimistic, while Myanmar's score was 97.2. The Index is based on a survey conducted between October-November last year and covered 8,235 respondents aged 18 - 64 in 16 countries across Asia Pacific.

The survey tracks five major indicators - employment, economy, regular income, stock market and quality of life. Among these parameters, India rated the highest in its outlook toward employment prospects with a score of 93.5 points in the second half compared to 88.5 points recorded in the first half of the calendar year 2014. Overall, in the first half of 2014, India figured in the very optimistic range with a total score of 89.1.

Citywise Bengaluru topped the list as India's most optimistic city with a score of 98.1 followed by Delhi with 97.3 points and Mumbai with 87.2. Further, the study noted that the women of the country have a more confident stance on the economic outlook with a score of 91.9, 0.6 points ahead of men.

The overall sentiment in Asia witnessed a drop with the consumer confidence index score at 65.5 points down from 68.3 Index points in the first half of 2014. Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong saw a steep decline in consumer confidence at 33.8, 34.2 and 40.9 respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8638.20, up by 10.80 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 8599.25 and 8681.40. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 4.43%, Cipla up by 3.62%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.81%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.56% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.99%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel & Power down by 2.55%, Tata Steel down by 1.70%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.70%, Asian Paints down by 1.64% and Sesa Sterlite down by 1.20% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite increased 15.71 points or 0.5% to 3,173.42, Taiwan Weighted increased 34.09 points or 0.36% to 9,496.31, Hang Seng increased 107.13 points or 0.44% to 24,422.15 and Nikkei 225 increased 327.04 points or 1.85% to 17,979.72.

On the other hand, Straits Times decreased 31.24 points or 0.91% to 3,413.33, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 12.19 points or 0.68% to 1,786.76, Jakarta Composite decreased 4.14 points or 0.08% to 5,332.38 and KOSPI Index decreased 4.07 points or 0.21% to 1,941.63.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 5.52 points or 0.12% to 4,684.90, Germany’s DAX increased 20.88 points or 0.19% to 10,772.99 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.42 points or 0.15% to 6,828.59.