Markets continue to trade choppy; Sensex breaches 25,800 level

The Indian equity markets came off the day’s low but choppiness continued in the market, which is still trading in the red as retail investors started off-loading their bets, tracking a global sell-off on weak Chinese factory data. Sensex slipped over 90 points while Nifty stayed below the 7,850 mark in which about 30 shares out of 50 were on sellers' radar. Sentiments remained subdued on repot that Indian business sentiment fell for the third consecutive month in September amid subdued foreign demand and a sharp depreciation of rupee. The broader markets are however, outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up by over 0.35% each. Sentiment got some support with chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian’s statement that India does not need further fiscal stimulus to revive the economy, despite record low inflation and growth seen at the lower end of an 8.1-8.5 percent target this financial year. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1330.12 crore on September 23, 2015. Markets were still expecting some volatility ahead of the derivatives expiry today.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red on Thursday after more dour economic news in China and the United States piled pressure on riskier assets. Overnight, Wall Street also lost ground on Wednesday, dragged down by economic reports portraying US factory growth as tepid and China in its worst manufacturing contraction since the global financial crisis. Back home, extending weakness for the fourth straight day, Indian rupee fell further 24 paise to 66.22 against the US dollar in early trade, following sustained month-end demand for the American currency overseas amid foreign fund outflows.

Back on street, stocks from Consumer Durables, IT and Realty counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Metal, Capital Goods and Banking counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Shares of Elder Pharmaceuticals have surged after the company scheduled a board meeting on September 28, 2015 to consider the proposal for sale of step down overseas subsidiaries. On the other hand, Shares of SREI Infrastructure Finance have dropped after rating agency CARE ratings downgraded ratings for the company’s long term bonds and debentures owing to rise in non-performing assets (NPAs) and restructured assets.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2140 stocks traded, 1286 stocks advanced, while 763 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25731.96, down by 91.03 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 25670.96 and 25811.85. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.36%, while Small cap index up by 0.60%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.21%, IT up by 0.95%, TECK up by 0.84%, Realty up by 0.59% and Auto up by 0.49%, while Metal down by 1.22%, Capital Goods down by 0.91%, Bankex down by 0.64%, Oil & Gas down by 0.55% and PSU down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 3.19%, Infosys up by 1.20%, Cipla up by 1.14%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.10% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.08%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.39%, Coal India down by 2.01%, Reliance Industries down by 1.42%, Vedanta down by 1.37% and Tata Steel down by 1.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Power Minister Piyush Goyal speaking at the India-US Ministerial Energy Dialogue held at the US Department of Energy, emphasised that India is committed to pursue a green path to growth and that India will provide 24x7 power across the country by 2019 by creating cost effective infrastructure which is sustainable and inclusive of clean energy solutions.

Goyal pointed out that India-US collaboration in the energy sector offer great potential, in view of India's enormous energy needs and the US' resources, capabilities and technology. He also welcomed US-based companies to invest in the Indian energy sector and invited them to also participate in India's unconventional hydrocarbons sector, especially in the field of exploration and exploitation of alternate energy sources such as shale oil, shale gas and gas hydrates.

During the dialogue it was pointed that substantial headway has been made for the development of new technologies for distributed power generation through solar thermal route and development of new tools for improved building energy efficiency codes. The need to develop a robust energy data management system to develop better simulation of the energy scenario in India in the future was also recognised.

The focus of the meeting revolved on various dimensions of clean energy in order to ensure that people have access to adequate and affordable energy for better quality of life and sustainable livelihood. It was also agreed to explore addition of smart grids and energy storage for grid application as the fourth stream under PACE - R.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7830.35, down by 15.60 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 7804.10 and 7848.45. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 3.20%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.67%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.44%, Tata Power up by 1.42% and HCL Tech up by 1.26%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.62%, Coal India down by 2.17%, Vedanta down by 1.68%, NMDC down by 1.48% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 was down by 2.2%, Hang Seng down by 0.84% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.77%. On the flip side, KOSPI Index was up by 0.16% and Shanghai Composite was up by 0.35%.