Markets continue to trade weak; Nifty below 8300

Markets continue to trade weak in the early noon session, though the selling has got arrested but the damage done in early trade is clearly visible with the benchmarks still trading lower by over one and a quarter percent. Amid the global growth concerns traders feared the currency war with Indian rupee falling to 65.90/dollar to its fresh two years low. Banking pack was among the top loser after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that NPA levels are unacceptable, adding that it has been partly due to past inaction and changes in some sectors of economy. Realty stocks too were reeling in red after Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan exhorted realty developers stuck with high inventories to cut their rates

Amid the slump one sector that was keeping its head high in green was IT, supported mainly by gains in Infosys. The company has launched Aikido, three enhanced service offerings in Design Thinking, Platforms and Knowledge-Based IT (KBIT). These services are aimed at helping clients address a non-disruptive renewal and simplification of their existing landscapes; introduction of new offerings and business models in a dynamic business environment and create a culture of innovation in their organisation.

The overall market breadth remained extremely weak as 1,822 stocks were declining against 551 advancing, while 88 stocks remained unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27245.90, down by 361.92 points or 1.31% after trading in a range of 27131.44 and 27442.82. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.25%, while Small cap index lost 1.35%.

The two gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.41%, TECK up by 0.06%, while Auto down by 2.42%, Realty down by 2.22%, Capital Goods down by 2.15%, Bankex down by 1.98%, INFRA down by 1.52% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 0.94%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.67% and Coal India up by 0.16%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.71%, Hero MotoCorp down by 3.32%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.25%, Tata Steel down by 3.23% and GAIL India down by 3.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a positive surprise Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India increased by 40% at Rs 60,299 crore during the April-June period of the current fiscal as against Rs 43,171 crore in the same period last fiscal. Further bifurcating, for month of April the inflow stood at Rs 22,620 crore and later increased at Rs 24,564 crore in the month of May. However, it fell by 47 percent to Rs 13,115 crore in June. When adjusted against the dollar, FDI inflow growth stands at 31% for the April-June period. For the January-June period, the FDI inflow stood at Rs 121,797 crore a 34% increase to Rs 90, 876 crore in the same time-period last year.

Department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) data highlighted that, Singapore accounted for the majority of the investment in the April-June period at Rs 23,320 crore, while Rs 13,236 crore was invested by Mauritius. Further, Netherlands' investment stood at Rs 4,123 crore with seven other countries contributing the rest of the investment.

On the sectoral front, Computer software and hardware received Rs 16,245 crore of FDI during April-June period -- the highest , while the automobile industry got another Rs 6,914 crore. Trading sector stood at Rs 5,679 crore and services sector at Rs 4,036 crore. FDI in telecommunications stood at Rs 2,517 crore while the power industry accounted for Rs.1, 717 crore.

The investment in the states came up such as Delhi, parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana topped the chart at Rs 19,892 crore with Maharashtra, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and the Daman and Diu region following at Rs 12,538 crore. While, investments in Karnataka stood at Rs 8,447 crore with Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry at Rs 5,828 crore. The investment in the Andhra Pradesh region hovered at Rs 2,681 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8269.00, down by 103.75 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 8225.05 and 8305.40. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 1.74%, Infosys up by 1.25%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.05%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.88% and HCL Tech. up by 0.63%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 4.19%, Vedanta down by 3.80%, Zee Entertainment down by 3.28%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.24% and GAIL India down by 3.20% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red barring FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI which was modestly higher by 4.93 points or 0.31% to 1,582.34.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slumped by 597.69 points or 2.98% to 19,435.83, Hang Seng lost 379.3 points or 1.67% to 22,378.17, Taiwan Weighted was down by 242.89 points or 3.02% to 7,786.92, Jakarta Composite declined by 91.16 points or 2.05% to 4,350.75, Straits Times was lower by 52.68 points or 1.75% to 2,957.10, Shanghai Composite lost 44.58 points or 1.22% to 3,619.71 and KOSPI Index declined by 38.48 points or 2.01% to 1,876.07.