Benchmarks magnify losses; Nifty breaches 8,350 mark

Magnifying their losses, Indian equity benchmarks are witnessing blood-bath in afternoon deals with frontline gauges breaching their crucial 8,350 (Nifty) and 27,700 (Sensex) levels. Sentiments on the domestic front dampened following a rout in other Asian markets with nearly 7 per cent crash in Shanghai and on fears about Greece’s future in the eurozone, triggering widespread selling. However, European counters have made a positive opening with CAC, DAX and FTSE all trading in green in early deals.

Back home, investors remained on sidelines ahead of the first quarter results season, which will start form tomorrow and the Index of Industrial Production data (IIP) scheduled to be released on Friday. Depreciation in Indian rupee too weighed on sentiments. The rupee was trading at 63.61, depreciating by 15 paise against the US dollar. Selling was both brutal and wide-based as none of sectoral indices on BSE was spared. Counters, which featured in the list of worst performers, include metal, auto and banking. The broader indices too witnessed massacre, while the market breadth on the BSE was negative; there were 617 shares on the gaining side against 1,828 shares on the losing side while 85 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27637.31, down by 534.38 points or 1.90% after trading in a range of 27637.31 and 28031.45. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.63%, while Small cap index down by 1.50%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 3.83%, Auto down by 2.36%, Bankex down by 1.97%, Infrastructure down by 1.91% and Realty down by 1.88%, while there were no gainers on the index.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.95% and Wipro up by 0.04%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 8.67%, Tata Motors down by 6.44%, Hindalco down by 6.15%, Tata Steel down by 3.95% and BHEL down by 3.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has sought help from the World Bank to achieve its ambitious task of climbing into the top 30 of the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings in three years.

An eight-member World Bank team met with central and state government officials to identify what India needs to do more and with timelines after interaction with the stakeholders and took stock of progress on reforms related to construction permits in Mumbai and New Delhi, getting an electricity connection and doing business. The government looked at global best practices in key areas that could be adopted in India, signaling that enforcing contracts is a key area of concern for India.

India was ranked 142nd out of 189 countries - below Sri Lanka and Pakistan- in the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings benchmarked to June 2014. The list is based on 10 parameters such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, paying taxes, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. With the exception of two parameters (getting credit and protecting minority investors), India does not feature in the top 100 in the remaining parameters.

The Commerce and Industry Ministry had earlier initiated an extensive survey on 'ease of doing business' in states with an objective to improving the business climate of the country, with the DIPP circulating a set of 285 questions to all the states in this regard. The DIPP had also circulated a document with recommendations for states on aspects critical to enabling ease of doing business.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8346.60, down by 164.20 points or 1.93% after trading in a range of 8346.50 and 8457.50. There were 2 stocks advancing against 48 stocks declining on the index.

The only gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.04% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 8.74%, Yes Bank down by 6.47%, Tata Motors down by 6.34%, Hindalco down by 6.21% and Cairn India down by 5.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng tumbled 1409 points or 5.64% to 23,566.31, Nikkei 225 dropped 638.95 points or 3.14% to 19,737.64, Taiwan Weighted decreased 274.05 points or 2.96% to 8,976.11, Shanghai Composite crumbled 219.68 points or 5.89% to 3,507.44, Straits Times shed 43.75 points or 1.31% to 3,297.18, KOSPI Index fell 24.08 points or 1.18% to 2,016.21, Jakarta Composite slipped 18.66 points or 0.38% to 4,887.39 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 15.02 points or 0.88% to 1,697.28.

The European markets were trading in green; Germany’s DAX gained 0.31%, France’s CAC rose 0.34% and UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 0.38%.