Benchmarks make gap down opening; Nifty trades below 8450 level

Magnifying their previous session losses, Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap down opening and are trading in red in early deals on Wednesday, with losses of around a percent that dragged both Sensex and Nifty below psychologically crucial 27,950 and 8,450 levels respectively, on the back of weak global cues amid continuing Greece debt crisis. The sentiments were under pressure on concerns of slowdown in China. Meanwhile, the session was also negative for broader indices, which succumb to selling pressure and were trading with losses in the range of 0.40-0.60%. In scrip specific development, Titagarh Wagons was trading higher after the company received an industrial license for manufacturing defence items.

On the global front, the US markets ended higher as a rebound in US oil prices helped offset concerns about a slowdown in China and the Greek debt crisis. Asian markets were trading in red; stocks fell as Greece debt crisis continued.

Back home, all the sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in red, led by Metal, Auto and Bankex. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 692: 1053, while 61 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27918.58, down by 253.11 points or 0.90% after trading in a range of 27876.58 and 28031.45. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.59%, while Small cap index lost 0.49%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 1.95%, Auto down by 1.48%, Bankex down by 1.19%, INFRA down by 1.06% and Power down by 1.04%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.50%, Cipla up by 0.59% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.06%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 4.13%, Tata Motors down by 4.10%, Hindalco down by 3.22%, Tata Steel down by 2.25% and BHEL down by 1.70% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has called for fresh round of stakeholder consultations with industry representatives, both from e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail companies for opening up the e-commerce sector and will be meeting the industry, including representatives from industry bodies Confederation of All India Traders (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), on July 10 to discuss the issue.

The meeting which is likely to be attended by both Indian and foreign e-commerce companies, seems to have been necessitated with pressure mounting from potential free-trade partner countries to open up the e-commerce sector. In the meeting the minister may discuss the pros and cons of opening up the sector to foreign players and the safeguards that might be required if foreign direct investment (FDI) is allowed in the sector. Later the Commerce and Industry Minister is scheduled to meet chief ministers on July 15 to get their views on the matter.

The first round of the meeting which was held in May remained inconclusive as traders’ organisations like the CII had opposed the move, while the Retailers Association of India representing large brick-and-mortar retail companies had boycotted the meeting. Ficci had said that FDI should be allowed in B2C e-commerce but with a focus on sourcing from Indian manufacturers and in a phased manner. At present, India allows 100 percent FDI in business-to-business or B2B e-commerce, but not in B2C companies that sell directly to consumers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8430.40, down by 80.40 points or 0.94% after trading in a range of 8417.50 and 8448.90. There were 5 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.46%, BPCL up by 0.72%, Cipla up by 0.63%, HCL Tech. up by 0.56% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.05%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 4.32%, Tata Motors down by 4.18%, Cairn India down by 4.12%, Hindalco down by 3.17% and Tata Steel down by 2.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 1118.12 points or 4.48% to 23,857.19, Nikkei 225 decreased 426.5 points or 2.09% to 19,950.09, Taiwan Weighted decreased 253.83 points or 2.74% to 8,996.33, Shanghai Composite decreased 144.63 points or 3.88% to 3,582.50, Straits Times decreased 30.14 points or 0.9% to 3,310.79, KOSPI Index decreased 22.37 points or 1.1% to 2,017.92, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 18.51 points or 1.08% to 1,693.79, Jakarta Composite decreased 3.68 points or 0.08% to 4,902.37.