Benchmarks manage to keep head above water in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks are trading choppy in noon deals but somehow managing to keep their head above water. Investors remained on sidelines ahead of quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) data scheduled to be released post market hours today. Weakness in Indian rupee too weighed down sentiments. The rupee was trading lower at 66.27 per dollar against previous close of 66.14 per dollar on sustained month-end dollar demand from importers. Sentiments also remained dampened on report that the country’s services sector witnessed around 14 per cent decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) at $636 million (Rs 4,036 crore) in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

On the global front, European counters have made a sluggish start, CAC and DAX were trading with a cut of around a percent in early deals. Asian markets were trading mixed at this point of time after top Federal Reserve officials kept the door open for an interest rate hike in September and investors braced for China economic data this week. Back home, on the sectoral front, healthcare, oil and gas and public sector undertaking witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while realty, capital goods and auto remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading slightly in green, while the market breadth on the BSE was evenly divided; there were 1,142 shares on the gaining side against 1,174 shares on the losing side while 92 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26417.50, up by 25.12 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 26225.71 and 26504.73. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.26%, while Small cap index up by 0.09%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.64%, Oil & Gas up by 0.93%, PSU up by 0.66%, Bankex up by 0.34%, TECK up by 0.20%, while Realty down by 0.50%, Capital Goods down by 0.32%, Auto down by 0.29%, Power down by 0.20%, INFRA down by 0.08% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 2.98%, GAIL India up by 2.54%, Cipla up by 2.11%, Sun Pharma up by 1.95% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.41%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.22%, BHEL down by 1.73%, Tata Steel down by 1.31%, Infosys down by 1.04% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in the first quarter of current financial year, the execution rate in the Indian road construction industry increased by 38 per cent to 5.49 km/day as compared to 3.98 km/day during the same period of last year. However, this was lower than the execution rate of 6.04 km/day during the first quarter of financial year 2014. During 2014 the government had taken several positive initiatives such as quick resolution of non-moving projects, delegation of powers of grant of forest clearances to regional offices, online filing for clearances to construct rail over and under bridges and higher limits on sand mining have actually started yielding results.

The total number of non-moving projects declined to 50 covering 4,636 km as on March 2015 as compared to 74 projects covering around 8,700 km as on March 31, 2014. Though, construction activity has not started in all projects. As of march 31, 2014, of the 74 non-moving projects, execution work has resumed for 8 accounting for a total of 1,776 km while 16 projects for a total of 2,288 km have been cancelled. The cancelled projects are expected to be awarded again in the next 12-18 months. Given the sharp governmental focus on quick resolution of non-moving projects, in the financial year 2016, the overall execution rate will increase by 15-20 per cent over financial year 2015.

Recently, the government has allowed road developers to completely exit BOT (build-operate-transfer) projects two years after completion and invest the funds in incomplete highway projects, power plants or retire debt. The decision is an extension to the government’s decision three months ago of easing exit norms for completed projects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8007.05, up by 5.10 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 7954.30 and 8043.60. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 3.47%, GAIL India up by 2.75%, HCL Tech up by 2.38%, BPCL up by 2.08% and Cipla up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.50%, Tata Steel down by 1.79%, BHEL down by 1.75%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.75% and ACC down by 1.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets were exhibiting mixed trend; KOSPI Index increased 3.82 points or 0.2% to 1,941.49, Hang Seng rose 5.61 points or 0.03% to 21,618.00, Jakarta Composite jumped 37.9 points or 0.85% to 4,484.11 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 155.74 points or 1.94% to 8,174.92.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 245.84 points or 1.28% to 18,890.48, Shanghai Composite dropped 39.99 points or 1.24% to 3,192.36 and Straits Times was down by 21.17 points or 0.72% to 2,934.77.

European Markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX lost 0.92% and France’s CAC was down by 0.89%.