Markets reverse early gains; slip into negative territory

Erasing all the early gains, local equity markets succumbing to selling pressure have now slipped into negative territory, albeit with slender losses, which is keeping Sensex and Nifty below psychologically crucial 28,200 and 8,550 levels respectively. Reversing early gains, markets are now trading in red on account of incremental profit-booking activities by market-participants on the penultimate session of F&O expiry amidst mixed trend of regional counterparts. Meanwhile, the session turned out to be daunting for broader indices, which were trading lower with losses in the range of 0.25-0.50%.

On the global front, most of Asian pacific shares though were trading higher, Shares in Tokyo eased by the break on Wednesday in a light regional data day. Japan's Nikkei share average edged down in choppy trade as U.S. shares languished, but losses were limited by investor appetite for stocks before they go ex-dividend later this week.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were reeling under pressure, nevertheless stocks from Capital Goods, Metal and PSU shares were the prominent losers of the session. On the flip side, massive buying was witnessed by stocks from FMCG, Consumer Durables and Auto counters which were the top gainers of the session. Meanwhile, healthcare index also was trading higher as Investors continued to buy shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Ranbaxy Laboratories on Wednesday after the merger of Ranbaxy with itself has been consummated by Sun following receipt of requisite approvals. Both stocks gained more than 2 percent intraday. The overall market market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 1192:815; while 24 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28149.42, down by 12.30 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 28130.31 and 28249.60. 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 0.24%, while Small cap index down by 0.52%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.08%, Consumer Durables up by 0.04% and Auto up by 0.02% while, Capital Goods down by 1.34%, Metal down by 1.22%, PSU down by 1.08%, Power down by 0.96%, Oil & Gas down by 0.62% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.62%, ICICI Bank up by 1.23%, HDFC up by 1.06%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.96% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.60%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.69%, GAIL India down by 2.49%, Coal India down by 2.12%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.80% and BHEL down by 1.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government received commitments of Rs 109,000 crore from telecom operators at the end of 110th round of bidding on Tuesday, which was the 18th day of radio frequency spectrum e-auctions. This is higher compared to commitments worth Rs 105,000 crore received on the 17th day of the auction. With this, over 89% of spectrum has been provisionally allocated to bidders. The auction will continue as about some amount of spectrum is yet to be sold.

Robust bidding was witnessed in 900 MHz and 800 MHz band, with majority of service areas being sold at a premium over reserve price. However, DoT has barred from publishing final results without Supreme Court’s consent. A hearing in the apex court in this regard is scheduled for March 26.

In the 800 MHz, telecom players bid for Uttar Pradesh (West) circle, which was lying idle since the beginning of the auctions. The intensity was most in the Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and North East circles. In the 900 MHz, the intensity was seen most in Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, North East, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (both East and West). Meanwhile, in the 1800 MHz, the intensity was most for Kolkata circle. However, still no bidding was witnessed for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu circles for the 800 MHz.

The biggest ever auction of spectrum in the 800, 900, 1,800, and 2,100 MHz bands had started on March 4. In the current round of auction, the government is selling a total of 380.75 MHz of spectrum in the premium, 900 MHz band, 800 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands, and 5 MHz in the 2,100-MHz band across 17 of the 22 telecom areas of the circles in the country. The government had initially estimated to earn between Rs 80,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh crore from the sale of radio waves. However, this seems to be way above estimates, with the counting still continuing. From the last spectrum auction held in February 2014, the government had raked in Rs 62,162 crore.

Notably, these commitments come over and above the Rs 200,000 crore that India Inc has already bid under the two phases of auctions for award of coal blocks. But the proceeds from this auction will go to the respective state governments over 30 years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8533.10, down by 9.85 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 8530.80 and 8573.75. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.72%, ICICI Bank up by 1.35%, HCL Tech. up by 1.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.25% and HDFC up by 1.06%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 2.79%, NTPC down by 2.69%, GAIL India down by 2.55%, Ambuja Cement down by 2.13% and Coal India down by 2.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; with KOSPI Index trading higher by 1.44 points or 0.07% to 2,042.81; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.82 points or 0.27% to 1,818.86; Straits Times increased 6.96 points or 0.2% to 3,420.22; Nikkei 225 increased 32.75 points or 0.17% to 19,746.20; Hang Seng increased 115.02 points or 0.47% to 24,514.62.

On the flip sideTaiwan Weighted edged lower by 63.83 points or 0.66% to 9,667.83; Jakarta Composite declined by 36.33 points or 0.67% to 5,411.32 and Shanghai Composite slid by 21.75 points or 0.59% to 3,669.66.