Benchmarks continue weak trade; Metal, Auto drag

Indian equity markets trimmed their losses but continued to trade in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters tracking Asian markets, which were lower led by a massive sell-off in Chinese and Hong Kong markets. Investors maintained cautious approach 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. Traders were seen selling in Metal, Auto and Realty sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Yes Bank was trading in red after foreign brokerage firm downgraded the scrip to sell from buy, with a new revised downward target.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in red, while the European markets were trading mostly on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,400 and 27,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 788:1792 while 94 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27824.26, down by 347.43 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 27635.78 and 28031.45. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.92%, while Small cap index down by 0.97%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 3.38%, Auto down by 1.72%, Realty down by 1.43%, Bankex down by 1.29%, INFRA down by 1.17%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.62%, Wipro up by 0.69%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.56%, ONGC up by 0.34% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.06%.

On the flip side, Vedanta down by 7.57%, Tata Motors down by 5.25%, Hindalco down by 4.71%, Tata Steel down by 3.61% and HDFC down by 3.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, government has increased minimum wage to Rs 160 per day from Rs 137 after a gap of two years, in order to have a uniform wage structure and to reduce the disparity in minimum wages across the country. This increase of wages will be applicable from 1st July 2015 and to all employment verticals irrespective of the workers engaged. The last revision of National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) was from Rs.115 to Rs.137 per day in July 2013.

The rise in Consumer Price Index -Industrial Worker (CPI-IW) prompted the Government to increase NFLMW. The rise in CPI-IW from 215.17 to 250.83 was observed after reviewing it during FY 2014-15, over the period April 2012 to March 2013. There is also a proposal to amend the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 to make the NFLMW statutory.

Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya has asked the Chief Ministers and lieutenant Governors to take necessary step in its implementation and urged them to ensure compliance regarding social security coverage of outsourced staff working in the government departments, state cooperatives, public sector undertakings and other bodies. As social security being the human right of an individual, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will also be monitoring the implementation.

The Concept of NFLMW was introduced by the recommendation of the National Commission on Rural Labour (NCRL) in 1996, in order to reduce disparity in minimum wages across the country. NFLMW was first fives at Rs 35/day and further was revised every 2 years according to the increase in CPI (IW). 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8399.20, down by 111.60 points or 1.31% after trading in a range of 8341.40 and 8457.50. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.50%, BPCL up by 0.56%, Wipro up by 0.52%, HCL Tech up by 0.37% and ONGC up by 0.34%.

On the flip side, Vedanta down by 7.51%, Yes Bank down by 5.80%, Tata Motors down by 5.26%, Cairn India down by 4.76% and Hindalco down by 4.67% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 1458.75 points or 5.84% to 23,516.56, Nikkei 225 decreased 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 decreased 219.93 points or 5.9% to 3,507.19, Straits Times decreased 55.79 points or 1.67% to 3,285.14, Jakarta Composite decreased 44.01 points or 0.9% to 4,862.04, KOSPI Index decreased 24.08 points or 1.18% to 2,016.21 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 16.33 points or 0.95% to 1,695.97.

The European markets were trading in green; Germany’s DAX increased 23.02 points or 0.22% to 10,699.80, France’s CAC increased 36.54 points or 0.79% to 4,641.18 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 25.74 points or 0.4% to 6,457.95.