Benchmarks continue to trade in red in late morning session

Indian bourses continued to trade in red in late morning session on absence of positive triggers which could take the markets higher and profit booking in frontline line blue-chip stocks ahead of the start of earnings season. Sentiments remained dampened as India slipped six places to rank 89th on a global Networked Readiness Index, showing a 'widespread' weakness in its potential to leverage information and communications technologies for social and economic gains. At present, Sensex and Nifty were trading below the crucial 28,750 and 8,750 levels respectively, with loss of over 0.25%. The midcap and smallcap indices were also having a bad session of trade in line with the overall markets. However, losses remained capped as some comfort came with India's services sector, which contributes about 60 percent to country's gross domestic product (GDP), witnessed an exports growth of 7.1 percent to $14.1 billion in February 2015 over services exports of $13.16 billion the same month a year ago. Some support also came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last leg of 3-nation tour in Canada saying that there is an atmosphere of trust in India and there is one solution to all the problems and that is development.

On global front, Asian stocks mostly rose, with the regional benchmark rebounding to its highest since May 2008, as materials companies and energy producers led gains. Moreover, major US share indices ended higher led by energy shares amid a rebound in crude oil prices while hopes that earnings would not be weak as earlier expected also boosted sentiment. Back home, Indian rupee edged higher by one paisa at 62.35 against the dollar in early trade on increased selling of the American currency by exporters.

Back on street, stocks from Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and Auto counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Realty, information technology (IT) and Capital Goods counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. Meanwhile, the oil exploration companies were witnessing buying in trades after the crude oil jumped six per cent overnight. In scrip specific development, Shares of Eicher Motors surged after the Reserve Bank of India approved hike in investment limit by overseas investors. Furthermore, Gammon India rose after the company secured two new projects worth Rs 840.45 crore.

The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2306 stocks traded, 811 stocks advanced, while 1413 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28719.40, down by 80.29 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 28658.62 and 28876.23. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.51%, while Small cap index down by 0.51%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.35%, Consumer Durables up by 0.33%, Auto up by 0.29% and Infrastructure up by 0.22% while, Realty down by 1.30%, IT down by 1.05%, Capital Goods down by 0.86%, Bankex down by 0.67% and TECK down by 0.65% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.78%, ONGC up by 1.58%, Tata Motors up by 1.39%, Hindalco up by 1.36% and Reliance Industries up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Sesa Sterlite down by 1.67%, Wipro down by 1.60%, Cipla down by 1.47%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.24% and TCS down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid the hue and cry of aviation players’ financial crunch, the aviation regulator, the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) is planning to conduct a financial audit of Indian carriers to check if their poor fiscal health is not affecting safety of passengers.

The aviation regulator in past too has conducted these audits, where the Indian carriers are asked to submit their financial details and answer a list of questions like if they are buying spares or cannibalizing planes and if they are paying salaries in time. An airline with 'substantial findings', read which is proven to be in financial distress, has two options - either operate a smaller fleet with full safety or shut down. Airlines have collectively lost $1.7 billion in FY14, a figure that will be lower for FY 2015 due to fall in fuel price.

The DGCA has also initiated the process of recertifying all airlines in the country to ensure full compliance with international norms. The airlines will have to submit all manuals required to the regulator and have to conduct validation flights to prove that they have all systems in place.

Earlier DGCA was planning to make it mandatory for pilots to undergo psychiatric test before takeoff as any failure to clear the test could lead to flight cancellations and claims. DGCA is contemplating the move following the crash of the Germanwings aircraft in the French Alps, which killed at least 150 people. However, it could be an added burden for an industry already facing higher cost of insurance.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8711.25, down by 38.95 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 8695.30 and 8760.00. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 2.61%, ONGC up by 1.78%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.63%, Hindalco up by 1.44% and Tata Motors up by 1.35%. On the flip side, PNB down by 2.58%, Lupin down by 2.48%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.23%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.13% and Wipro down by 1.74% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.1%, Jakarta Composite rose 0.12%, KOSPI Index advanced 0.37%, Hang Seng gained 0.2%, Shanghai Composite added 1.95% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 0.14% and Straits Times was down by 0.27%.