Benchmarks continue dull trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their dull trade hovering near the neutral line in the late afternoon session in absence of any buying activity in frontline blue chip counters. The downside was capped after the Paris based think tank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated that Indian economy saw the ‘strongest growth’ in the first quarter of 2015 among large economies, including China, the US, Germany and Canada. Investors have maintained cautious approach ahead of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for April and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for May scheduled to be released today. Traders were seen piling position in Oil & Gas, Bankex and FMCG stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT and Consumer Durables stocks. In scrip specific development, ABG Shipyard was trading firm on reports that the company is in discussion with Germany-based Privinvest Holding to sell a majority stake.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,950 and 26,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 973:1475 while 94 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26380.11, up by 9.13 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 26307.56 and 26489.58. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.02%, while Small cap index down by 0.56%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.48%, Bankex up by 0.41% and FMCG up by 0.26% while, Metal down by 1.57%, IT down by 1.56%, Consumer Durables down by 1.55%, TECK down by 1.25% and Realty down by 0.72% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 3.13%, Tata Power up by 3.06%, HDFC up by 2.05%, ICICI Bank up by 1.68% and Reliance Industries up by 1.40%.

On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.82%, Vedanta down by 2.45%, Tata Motors down by 2.17%, TCS down by 1.91% and Hindalco down by 1.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be meeting the heads of PSU banks to review their performance and bad loans situation as also to persuade them to pass on Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) rate cut benefit to borrowers for propping growth. FM is expected to push state-run banks to boost their housing loan portfolio and consider further rate cuts at the meeting, as the Reserve Bank of India has reduced the key rates by 75 basis points in the last six months.

Jaitley is likely to deliberate on the issue of non-performing assets (NPAs) and discuss ways to contain them. As per RBI’s data, gross NPAs of PSU banks have gone up to Rs 2,60,531 crore as on December 2014.

A finance ministry statement said that FM will also review the progress of three social security schemes namely Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY). He will also review the progress made with regard to Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency (MUDRA), expeditious disposal of public grievances and Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for Scheduled Castes among others.

Meanwhile, a day before the meeting, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan called on the Finance Minister here and reviewed the state of economy in particular reference of the inflationary expectations measured by the central bank on fears of weak monsoon and the interest rate regime.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7961.05, down by 4.30 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 7940.85 and 7995.60. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 3.29%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.98%, HDFC up by 2.26%, ICICI Bank up by 1.68% and Reliance Industries up by 1.46%.

On the flip side, NMDC down by 2.84%, HCL Tech. down by 2.73%, Vedanta down by 2.69%, Bosch down by 2.60% and Wipro down by 2.55% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.49 points or 0.14% to 1,737.25, Straits Times increased 6.42 points or 0.19% to 3,354.09, Nikkei 225 increased 24.11 points or 0.12% to 20,407.08, Shanghai Composite increased 44.76 points or 0.87% to 5,166.35 and Hang Seng increased 372.69 points or 1.39% to 27,280.54.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index decreased 4.44 points or 0.22% to 2,052.17, Jakarta Composite decreased 0.62 points or 0.01% to 4,928.19 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.56 points or 0.01% to 9,301.93.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 102.54 points or 0.9% to 11,230.24, France’s CAC decreased 32.24 points or 0.65% to 4,939.13 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 37.51 points or 0.55% to 6,809.23.