Benchmarks trade lower in early deals on Friday

Benchmark equity indices are trading lower on Friday morning with losses of around half a percent in absence of any positive cues, which dragged both Sensex and Nifty below psychologically crucial 27,800 and 8,400 levels respectively tailing weak cues from global markets, as Greece and its international creditors yet again failed to sign a truce. Some cautious also prevailed after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan warned of 2013 rupee plunge repeat. He added that the currency needs to reduce its inefficiencies if it wants to insulate itself from the possible tightening by the US Federal Reserve. The session was also negative for broader indices, which succumb to selling pressure, trading with losses in the range of 0.20-0.40%. However losses remained capped on reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 280.21 crore on June 25, 2015 as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

In scrip specific development, Mastek was trading higher, extending its gains of the past three trading sessions, after the company said that shareholders of Cover-All Technologies have approved its merger with Majesco - the US-based subsidiary of Mastek.

On the global front, the US markets ended lower on Thursday as Greece failed again to reach an agreement with its creditors and stumbled towards a default. Asian markets were mostly trading in red ahead of last-ditch talks at the weekend between Greece and its creditors.

Back home traders were seen piling position in IT, Consumer Durables and TECK, while selling was witnessed in Bankex, Capital Goods, Power and INFRA. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 695: 911 while 68 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27774.93, down by 121.04 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 27724.12 and 27921.86. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.37%, while Small cap index was lower by 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.85%, Consumer Durables up by 0.69%, TECK up by 0.48% and Healthcare up by 0.10%, while Realty down by 1.04%, Bankex down by 0.98%, Capital Goods down by 0.86%, Power down by 0.80% and INFRA down by 0.78% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 0.89%, Wipro up by 0.80%, Cipla up by 0.72%, TCS up by 0.64% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.54%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.94%, Vedanta down by 1.53%, BHEL down by 1.31%, HDFC down by 1.29% and ICICI Bank down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) has recommended fixing limits of authorized lead content in a wide range of products including salt, fruits, juices, vegetables, pulses and meat products, after Maggi was termed 'unsafe and hazardous', failing the test of presence of lead and monosodium glutamate above permissible limits. Lead is a highly toxic metal and a very strong poison. Its poisoning can cause severe mental and physical impairment.

FSSAI has revised the existing regulations and has come out with draft norms seeking public comments within 60 days. In this draft the lead content for food items such as fruits, vegetables, canned juices, milk, salt, fish, poultry, meat and pulses among others has been specified. The regulator has also added the food items such as, salt, jam, fish, mineral water under the mandatory agreement of maximum limit of the heavy metals like tin, arsenic and cadmium.

FSSAI had last came out with a regulation in august 2011 specifying the authorized limits of heavy metal contaminants, toxins, and residues in food items.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8372.85, down by 25.15 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 8352.50 and 8408.55. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 1.97%, Wipro up by 1.20%, Infosys up by 1.16%, Cipla up by 0.84% and BPCL up by 0.73%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 2.06%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.68%, Vedanta down by 1.48%, Cairn India down by 1.33% and HDFC down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Asian markets were mostly trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 359.96 points or 1.33% to 26,785.79, Shanghai Composite decreased 183.72 points or 4.06% to 4,344.06, Nikkei 225 decreased 48.97 points or 0.24% to 20,722.43, Taiwan Weighted decreased 23.28 points or 0.25% to 9,453.06, Straits Times decreased 14.88 points or 0.44% to 3,334.99 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.53 points or 0.21% to 1,713.28.

On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 7.09 points or 0.34% to 2,092.15 and Jakarta Composite increased 17.13 points or 0.35% to 4,937.18.