Benchmarks turn choppy in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks have pared almost all of their gains to trade flat in noon deals as sentiments weakened after the seasonally adjusted Nikkei Business Activity Index slowed to 51.3 in September from 51.8 in August, but remained above the 50-mark for the third straight month which separates contraction from expansion. Sentiments also remained dampened after the government has said that the total revenue collection will fall short by Rs 50,000 crore (5-7 per cent) in the current financial year mainly because of subdued growth in direct taxes.

Weak opening in European counters too dampened the sentiments, CAC, DAX and FTSE were trading marginally in red in early deals. All the Asian markets were trading in green at this point of time with Japan’s Nikkei extending the rebound from eight-month low hit a week ago, helped by speculation that the Bank of Japan might adopt stimulus to support the flagging economy. Back home, on the sectoral front, consumer durables, oil and gas and healthcare witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while software, technology and banking remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were trading in green, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,350 shares on the gaining side against 1,053 shares on the losing side while 116 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26810.89, up by 25.34 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 26774.18 and 27010.27. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.15%, while Small cap index up by 0.47%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 3.81%, Oil & Gas up by 1.47%, Healthcare up by 1.23%, Metal up by 1.01% and Realty up by 0.93%, while IT down by 1.15%, TECK down by 0.73%, Bankex down by 0.56% and Capital Goods down by 0.21% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.11%, Cipla up by 3.25%, GAIL India up by 2.43%, ONGC up by 2.33% and Coal India up by 2.22%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.99%, Infosys down by 2.15%, HDFC Bank down by 1.11%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.03% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Germany on an Indo-German bilateral cooperation in energy sector. Under this Germany has promised to provide assistance of one billion euros (Rs 7,300 crore) based on concessional loans over the next 5 years by giving a push to the clean energy. Both the countries will continue to intensify their cooperation in developing climate friendly and sustainable solutions for India's expanding energy needs. Germany will support India in its efforts to deploy renewable, in particular solar, energy technologies and to create attractive framework conditions.

The Indo-German Climate and Renewables Alliance shall strengthen cooperation on climate and energy technology issues, including within the already existing fora established for this purpose. Besides, public and private entities will be included from both the countries. Germany welcomeed India's intention to transform its energy sector with it’s of 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022 by increasing the share of renewable energy, particularly solar, in electricity generation, consistent goal. The renewable energy and the efficient use of energy are most effective approaches to ease greenhouse gas emissions in both the countries.

Both countries will intensify their current cooperation on climate and renewables technology under the new Indo-German Climate and Renewables Alliance, which includes next generation solar technology, renewable energy storage, super-efficient appliances and buildings, energy-efficient rail and water infrastructure and off shore wind. The countries together will work to implement solutions that strengthen climate friendly urban development, including, inter alia, through initiatives in energy transition in cities, climate friendly urban mobility, energy efficiency in the housing sector, energy efficiency in urban water supply as well as recycling and waste management in major Indian cities.

Besides, the German commitment of 1.15 billion euros in the last two years for the implementation of Green Energy Corridors Partnership is also progressing well. The bilateral trade between the countries stood at $20.32 billion in 2014-15. India has received $8.19 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the European country during April 2000 and June 2015. Germany accounts for about 3 percent of the country's total FDI during that period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8115.20, down by 4.10 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 8105.55 and 8180.95. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.24%, Cipla up by 3.64%, Idea Cellular up by 3.15%, GAIL India up by 2.38% and ONGC up by 2.29%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 3.36%, Infosys down by 2.25%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.85%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.76% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in the green; KOSPI Index increased 12.4 points or 0.63% to 1,990.65, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 14.27 points or 0.87% to 1,661.86, Straits Times surged 29.56 points or 1.04% to 2,880.81, Taiwan Weighted added 41.74 points or 0.5% to 8,394.10, Jakarta Composite soared 114.29 points or 2.63% to 4,457.99 and Nikkei 225 was up by 180.61 points or 1% to 18,186.10.

European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX lost 0.18%, France’s CAC declined 0.09% and UK’s FTSE was down by 0.10%.