Benchmarks extend losses; Consumer Durables, Realty drag

Indian equity markets extended their losses in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on pessimistic mood after industry body, Assocham’s  latest assessment reported that in the face of slow global demand for merchandise, India’s exports in the current financial year are likely to stay flat or may even move backward of $310 billion, the figure achieved in 2014-15. Traders were seen selling in Consumer Durables, Realty and Oil & Gas Auto sectors stocks. In scrip specific development, Eros International Media was trading firm as the company has sought expert opinion following the investor groups suggestion of de-listing the Indian subsidiary to stave off transfer pricing and subsidy concerns. Sun TV Network was trading weak after MHA denied security clearance to 33 channels of the network.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,050 and 26,600 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 716:1764 while 105 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26550.41, down by 218.08 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 26503.41 and 26827.06. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.39%, while Small cap index down by 1.34%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables down by 1.69%, Realty down by 1.48%, Oil & Gas down by 1.32%, INFRA down by 1.24% and Auto down by 1.06%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 1.27%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.27%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.73%, Axis Bank up by 0.48% and Coal India up by 0.35%.

On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.47%, Tata Motors down by 2.76%, Tata Steel down by 2.49%, Cipla down by 2.11% and Reliance Industries down by 2.02% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, global ratings agency Moody's in its latest report has said that steel prices in India are expected to remain under pressure in the current fiscal, but the demand is expected to pick up with an uptick in commercial vehicle sales.

During April-March 2014-15, crude steel production grew by almost 8 per cent to 88.124 MT year-on-year, though India imported 9.321 million tonnes (MT) of steel in April-March 2014-15, an increase of 71 per cent over 2013-14, making it a net importer for the last fiscal. Moody’s however stated that it do not foresee steel imports coming down anytime soon and so there may be pressure on the prices in 2015-16 fiscal.

Moody's has said that subdued domestic demand and rise in imports from China, Russia and Korea had exerted pressure on steel realisations in the last fiscal, however the rating agency expects steel demand to pick up in 2015-16 on the back of an uptick in commercial vehicles sales, particularly the medium and heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV).

The rating agency sounded upbeat on the performance of two major players in the domestic market -- Tata Steel and JSW Steel -- in 2015-16, saying that the worst phase for the two is over, adding that Tata Steel’s total deliveries in 2014-15 fiscal stood at 26.32 MT, whiles sales of JSW Steel stood at 12.03 MT during the same period. It also said that both companies have been performing better than the market average in terms of steel price realization.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8048.35, down by 66.35 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 8033.75 and 8131.00. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 1.27% and Power Grid up by 1.24% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.18% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.68% and Ambuja Cement up by 0.65%.

On the flip side, PNB down by 4.11%, Vedanta down by 3.56%, Cairn India down by 3.23%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.93% and Tata Steel down by 2.76% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Jakarta Composite decreased 93.46 points or 1.83% to 5,007.11, Straits Times decreased 12.81 points or 0.38% to 3,320.86, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.76 points or 0.33% to 1,739.57, Nikkei 225 decreased 3.71 points or 0.02% to 20,457.19 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.91 points or 0.14% to 2,065.19.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted increased 28.3 points or 0.3% to 9,368.43, Hang Seng increased 56.12 points or 0.21% to 27,316.28 and Shanghai Composite increased 108.79 points or 2.17% to 5,131.88.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 74.22 points or 0.66% to 11,122.93, France’s CAC decreased 38.92 points or 0.79% to 4,881.82 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.25 points or 0.12% to 6,796.35.