Benchmarks trade range-bound in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks were trading range-bound with marginal losses in afternoon deals as sentiments remained down-beat after a RBI sponsored survey stated that the economy is expected to grow at a rate of 7.8 percent in the current fiscal, a shade lower than earlier forecast of 7.9 percent. Sentiments also remained dampened on report that FDI in India declined by sharp 40 per cent year-on-year to $2.11 billion in March 2015, compared to $3.53 billion in March 2014. Weakness in Indian rupee too weighed on sentiments. However, downside remained capped as markets found strong support near their crucial 27,800 (Sensex) and 8,100 (Nifty) levels. On the global front, European counters have made a weak opening and were trading lower with a cut of around half a percent in early deals. Asian markets were trading mixed but some of the markets made a decent recovery on hopes that Greece could be inching closer to a deal that would save it from default.

Back home, on the sectoral front, capital goods, oil and gas and technology witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while metal, auto and consumer durables 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 1,162 shares on the gaining side against 1,184 shares on the losing side while 109 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26797.39, down by 39.81 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 26742.15 and 26948.84. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index both were down by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.78%, Oil & Gas up by 0.60%, TECK up by 0.55%, IT up by 0.50%, Realty up by 0.34%, while Metal down by 1.39%, Auto down by 1.05%, Consumer Durables down by 0.96%, Healthcare down by 0.72%, FMCG down by 0.58%, Power down by 0.49% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.15%, Reliance Industries up by 1.68%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.34%, Axis Bank up by 1.04% and Infosys up by 0.98%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.96%, Tata Steel down by 2.65%, ICICI Bank down by 2.06%, Tata Motors down by 2.01% and Sun Pharma down by 1.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) in India declined by sharp 40 per cent year-on-year to $2.11 billion in March 2015 compared to $3.53 billion in March 2014. The FDI numbers were at the lowest in the last four months of 2014-15 fiscal. According to the data of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), during the 2014-15 financial year, foreign fund inflows grew 27 per cent, year-on-year, to $30.93 billion as against $24.29 billion in 2013-14.

Sectorwise, services received the maximum FDI of $3.25 billion in 2014-15, followed by telecommunication at $2.89 billion, automobiles worth $ 2.57 billion, computer software and hardware at $2.20 billion and pharmaceuticals $1.52 billion.

Geographically, for the entire financial year, India received the maximum FDI from Mauritius worth $ 9.03 billion, followed by Singapore $6.74 billion, the Netherlands $3.43 billion, Japan $2.08 billion and the US worth $1.82 billion.

In a related development, the Commerce and Industry Ministry has notified the FDI policy relaxations for NRIs, now non-repatriable investments by NRIs, OCIs and PIOs will be treated as domestic investments and will not be subject to foreign direct investment caps.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8119.35, down by 15.75 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 8104.90 and 8160.05. There were 20 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.36%, Wipro up by 2.09%, Idea Cellular up by 2.03%, Bosch up by 1.49% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.47%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 4.44%, Vedanta down by 3.35%, Tata Steel down by 2.92%, ICICI Bank down by 2.21% and Tata Power down by 2.19% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were showing a mixed trend; Hang Seng declined by 0.33%, KLSE Composite dipped 0.33%, Jakarta Composite lost 0.39%, and Taiwan Weighted was down by 2.18%. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 gained 0.07%, Shanghai Composite rose by 0.76%, KOSPI Index was up by 0.47% and Straits Times was up by 0.24%.

European Markets were trading in the red; Germany's DAX dropped 0.43%, UK's FTSE declined 0.67% and France's CAC was down by 0.77%.