Benchmarks make a lower start on the F&O expiry day

Indian equity benchmarks are trading lower with a cut of around a percent in early deals on Thursday. Sentiments remained dampened on report that foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 718.31 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar too weighed down sentiments. The rupee weakened by 28 paise to 63.58 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to month-end demand for the American currency from importers amid capital outflows.

Global cues too remained sluggish with the US markets extending their consolidation mood ending lower in last session after the release of the weak first quarter GDP data and also on uninspiring Fed statement. US GDP inched up by just 0.2 percent in the first quarter following the 2.2 percent growth seen in the fourth quarter. The Asian markets were trading mostly in the red at this point of time on uncertainty over US interest rate hike as Fed did not provide any specific guidance about the outlook for interest rates. The Japanese market was witnessing sharp fall after a day of break as the Bank of Japan is expected to keep its stimulus program unchanged, after Thailand unexpectedly cut rates.

Back home, on the sectoral front, consumer durables and banking were witnessing some gains in trade, while metal, technology and software remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were reeling under pressure, while the market breadth on the BSE was evenly divided; there were 738 shares on the gaining side against 1,058 shares on the losing side while 61 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26964.50, down by 261.43 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 26924.17 and 27242.05. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.36%, while Small cap index down by 0.50%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.64% and Bankex up by 0.04%, while Metal down by 1.56%, TECK down by 1.40% IT down by 1.38%, Infrastructure down by 1.04% and Capital Goods down by 1.01% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 3.92%, NTPC up by 0.20%, Reliance Industries up by 0.18% and SBI up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.90%, HDFC down by 2.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.61%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 2.52% and Coal India down by 2.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a move aimed at improving ease of doing business in the country and checking diversion of urea, the government lifted the curb on importing industrial and technical grade urea. Earlier, the government allowed imports of urea, but only through state trading enterprises, India Potash, MMTC and STC. The imports of industrial and technical grade urea have been less due to diversion of urea meant for farm sector to industrial usage.

Industry body, Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) Director General Satish Chander welcomed this decision and stated that with this industry can now directly import urea for its usage and will not have to take government's permission.

India’s urea imports went up 23% to 87.49 lakh tonnes last fiscal on higher demand. The country, which is among the world's top three consumers of urea had imported 70.88 MT of the fertiliser in 2013-14 and produces about 22 million tonnes (MT) of urea as against the annual domestic demand of 30 MT.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8157.95, down by 81.80 points or 0.99% after trading in a range of 8147.45 and 8229.40. There were 6 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 4.02%, Lupin up by 1.58%, BPCL up by 1.58%, Yes Bank up by 0.73% and Reliance Industries up by 0.28%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 3.00%, Idea Cellular down by 2.92%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.85%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 2.70% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.62% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the red; Nikkei 225 declined 469.34 points or 2.34% to 19,589.61, Hang Seng decreased 264.05 points or 0.93% to 28,136.29, KOSPI Index dropped 18.92 points or 0.88% to 2,123.71, Straits Times shed 15.68 points or 0.45% to 3,471.47, Taiwan Weighted slipped 9.34 points or 0.09% to 9,844.49, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 9.05 points or 0.49% to 1,833.88 and Shanghai Composite was down by 4.26 points or 0.1% to 4,472.36. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 7.84 points or 0.15% to 5,113.40.