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. Investors took cautious approach ahead of the release of the government’s market borrowing calendar for April-September which weighed on the sentiment. Traders were seen piling positions in IT and TECK stocks while, selling was witnessed in Realty, Power and FMCG sector stocks. In scrip specific development, SpiceJet was trading in green after the company informed that in parallel with the court proceedings, discussions have been ongoing with the lessors for an amicable settlement. The Delhi High Court had yesterday asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to deregister six aircraft being operated by the company. Shares of sugar manufacturing companies were trading under pressure as the price of sugar fell to its lowest level in five years.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading on mixed note while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,600 and 28,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 640:1910 while 100 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28346.03, down by 123.64 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 28242.40 and 28484.36. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.83%, while Small cap index down by 1.48%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.93%, TECK up by 0.61% while, Realty down by 2.71%, Power down by 1.86%, FMCG down by 1.36%, PSU down by 1.26%, Consumer Durables down by 1.12% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.53%, Hindalco up by 1.78%, Infosys up by 1.55%, HDFC up by 0.81% and TCS up by 0.60%.

On the flip side, NTPC down by 6.48%, GAIL India down by 3.06%, BHEL down by 2.41%, ICICI Bank down by 2.38% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the possibility of the current leg of the Parliament session being extended has diminished with the two sides in the Rajya Sabha reaching an understanding to fast-track the disposal of both contentious mines and minerals and the coal mines bills. Opposition on Thursday forced deferment of consideration of the contentious Mines and Minerals Bill in Rajya Sabha till Friday, arguing that mineral-bearing states had not been consulted.

It was after hour of wrangling, the government and the Opposition both resolved to dispose of the two bills. While, opposition felt that it needed time to study the select committee reports on these bills, the government offered a choice between considering (and voting on) the bills on Thursday-Friday and sitting for one week more. However, opposition contesting the second option decided to fast-track the disposal of the two bills.

If amended by the Rajya Sabha, the two bills will have to go back to the Lok Sabha. However, parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has to complete the whole exercise before the Lok Sabha concludes its sitting. The parliament session, which began on Feb 23 and would continue uptill May 8 is scheduled to a month’s recess after Friday’s business. The government wants to rush the two bills because these are designed to replace ordinance.

Government appears to have achieved breakthrough on this on account of the support it received from regional parties like BJD, TMC and AIADMK which have come around to support the twin bills because of the lure of additional resources they can generate for their states and after government accepted some of the changes they proposed.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8588.10, down by 46.55 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 8563.00 and 8627.90. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.51%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.65%, Cairn India up by 1.55%, Infosys up by 1.50% and Hindalco up by 1.10%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 6.30%, Jindal Steel & Power down by 4.77%, BPCL down by 3.21%, BHEL down by 3.15% and GAIL India down by 3.05% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted increased 12.96 points or 0.13% to 9,749.69, Straits Times increased 25.93 points or 0.77% to 3,412.09, Shanghai Composite increased 35.05 points or 0.98% to 3,617.32 and Nikkei 225 increased 83.66 points or 0.43% to 19,560.22.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 93.65 points or 0.38% to 24,375.24, Jakarta Composite decreased 9.74 points or 0.18% to 5,444.11, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 2.79 points or 0.15% to 1,806.34 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.65 points or 0.03% to 2,037.24.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 9.06 points or 0.18% to 5,046.24, Germany’s DAX increased 57.02 points or 0.48% to 11,956.42 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 9.44 points or 0.14% to 6,971.76.