Markets continue to sulk in red on final session of F&O expiry

Local equity markets continued to sulk in red in absence of any buying activity on final session of April F&O series, which dragged both Sensex and Nifty below psychologically crucial 27,000 and 8,200 levels respectively with losses of over 3/4th of a percent. Meanwhile, absence of fresh positive triggers also weighed on the sentiment. The session was also dismal for broader indices, which went home with losses of around 0.20-0.30%.On the global front, Asian stocks stumbled on Thursday after surprisingly downbeat first quarter economic growth in the US dimmed the mood. The disappointing news on the world’s biggest economy, coming on top of a worrying slowdown in China, found expression in a warning by New Zealand’s central bank that it could cut rates if domestic momentum weakened.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading lower, nevertheless top losers were the stocks from Metal, Technology and Fast Moving Consumer Goods counters. On the flip side, much of the gains were witnessed by stocks from Consumer Durables, banking and Oil & Gas counters. Banking pack were trading upbeat after better than expected numbers of Axis Bank. The stocks of Axis Bank spurted over 4% after the bank reported better than expected 18.36% growth in quarterly net profit of Rs  2,180.59 crore for the January-March quarter against Rs 1,842.32 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of declines which thumped advances in the ratio of 1349:1043; while 89 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26994.26, down by 231.67 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 26924.17 and 27242.05. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.22%, while Small cap index down by 0.29%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.82%, Bankex up by 0.13%, Oil & Gas up by 0.09% while, Metal down by 1.74%, TECK down by 1.03%, FMCG down by 0.91%, Capital Goods down by 0.90%, INFRA down by 0.85% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 4.17%, Sesa Sterlite up by 0.89%, Cipla up by 0.74%, Reliance Industries up by 0.38% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.69%, Tata Power down by 2.52%, HDFC down by 2.48%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.28% and Coal India down by 2.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has levied a penalty of Rs 1.5 crore each on three banks-- Dena Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of Maharashtra-- for violation of Know Your Customer (KYC) and non adherence of RBI norms on fund transfer, transactions and opening of fixed deposits. In aggregate, three banks have to pay Rs 4.5 crore fine for failing to comply with the guidelines.

Besides, India’s central bank also has warned eight other PSBs Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank-to put in place appropriate measures and review them from time to time to ensure strict compliance of KYC requirements in future.

India’s central bank’s penal action was based on the basis of complaint received from a private organization, while the fine imposed is on basis of deficiencies in regulatory compliance. The RBI, based on the complaints received, a wider thematic review was conducted and in all 12 branches of 11 public sector banks were covered.

The scrutiny revealed alleged frauds involving accounts of certain organizations in these banks, deficiencies or irregularities while opening Fixed Deposits (FDs) and extending Overdraft (OD) facility there against. Besides, RBI also found involvement of middlemen or intermediaries in opening of the accounts as also subsequent operations in those accounts. It was based on these finding, RBI issued show cause notices to 11 banks.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8177.20, down by 62.55 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 8147.45 and 8229.40. There were 12 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index. The top gainers on Nifty were

 Axis Bank up by 4.25%, BPCL up by 1.69%, Lupin up by 1.41%, Sesa Sterlite up by 0.94% and Yes Bank up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.69%, Tata Powerdown by 2.84%, Idea Cellular down by 2.78%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.71% and HDFC down by 2.54% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; with Nikkei 225 trading lower by 538.94 points or 2.69% to 19,520.01; Hang Seng trading lower by 288.37 points or 1.02% to 28,111.97; Shanghai Composite trading lower by 34.96 points or 0.78% to 4,441.66; Taiwan Weighted trading lower by 33.78 points or 0.34% to 9,820.05; Jakarta Composite trading lower by 18.63 points or 0.36% to 5,086.93; KOSPI Index trading lower by 15.46 points or 0.72% to 2,127.17; Straits Times trading lower by 12.75 points or 0.37% to 3,474.40 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI trading lower by 12.18 points or 0.66% to 1,830.75.