Benchmarks extend losses in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets extend losses and continued their trade in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments remained down-beat after India’s retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September increased to 4.41%, from 3.74% recorded for the previous month, on the back of higher food prices. Traders were seen piling position in Realty and Power stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and Oil & Gas sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure (RIIL) was trading under pressure on reporting weak Q2 earnings for the fiscal year 2015-16. The infrastructure firm reported 30 percent decline in its net profit at Rs 4.16 crore as compared to Rs 5.42 crore in the year-ago period. However, Yes Bank was trading in green after it became the first Indian bank to be selected as an index component of the Dow Jones sustainability indices in the Emerging Markets Index.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in mostly in red, while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,050 and 26,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1279:1305 while 119 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26737.08, down by 167.03 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 26719.10 and 26918.52. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.37%, while Small cap index down by 0.01%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.94% and Power up by 0.12%, while IT down by 1.45%, TECK down by 1.30%, Oil & Gas down by 0.85%, Metal down by 0.70%, PSU down by 0.55% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 1.29%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.16%, Coal India up by 1.09%, ITC up by 0.87% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.63%.

On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.89%, ONGC down by 3.81%, Vedanta down by 3.56%, Tata Steel down by 2.77% and Infosys down by 2.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, reversing a two-month easing streak the retail or the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for the month of September rose at 4.41 percent, compared to 3.74 percent in August and 6.46 percent in September last year, mainly due to costlier food items in general and beverages and pulses in particular. Also, the August CPI inflation has been revised higher to 3.74 % from 3.66%.

As per the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Consumer Price Index numbers on Base 2012=100 for Rural, Urban and Combined for the Month of September 2015 stood at 5.05 percent, 3.61 percent and 4.41 percent respectively compared to 5.87 percent, 5.30 percent and 5.63 percent respectively in Septmber 2014. On the same time Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural, Urban and Combined for the month of August 2015 stood at 4.05 percent, 3.45 percent and 3.88 percent respectively.

The General Indices (Provisional) for the month of September 2015 for Rural, Urban and Combined stood at 127.0, 123.5 and 125.4 respectively.  The CFPI for Rural, Urban and Combined for the same month were 131.0, 131.8 and 131.3 respectively.

The sharp rise in the inflation numbers were due to rise in food and beverages, which almost doubled from a month earlier to 4.29 percent in September. Food inflation for the month of September rose to 3.88 percent versus 2.20 percent in August, on the back of poor rainfall. Inflation in cereals and products was also higher and stood at 1.38 percent versus 1.22 percent in August. Retail inflation in pulses and products category rose to 29.76 percent in September .The price rise in spices category was higher at 9.27 percent and for non-alcoholic beverages at 4.32 percent.

Meanwhile, the item head of paan, tobacco and intoxicants rose 9.35per cent, fuel and lighting rose 5.4 per cent, and clothing items rose nearly 6 per cent. Among other protein rich items such as meat and fish, the rate of price rise has slowed to 5.59 percent. While, milk and its products were also cheaper during the month with inflation rate at 5.05 percent, eggs also turned cheaper with 1.19 percent price rise. Inflation in sugar and confectionery category remained in negative zone at (-) 12.91 percent.

The September data has come just after the Reserve Bank of India had cut its key policy rate by 50 basis points in its latest policy review, to boost economic activity. RBI chief Raghuram Rajan had predicted that retail prices would see a rise in the September-December quarter but reiterated that he did not expect CPI inflation to rise above six per cent in January. RBI estimates retail inflation to be at 5.8 percent in January 2016.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8098.10, down by 45.50 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 8088.95 and 8150.25. There were 16 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 1.87%, BHEL up by 1.56%, BPCL up by 1.47%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.43% and Coal India up by 1.23%.

On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.84%, ONGC down by 3.70%, Vedanta down by 3.52%, Tata Steel down by 2.61% and Idea Cellular down by 2.60% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 203.93 points or 1.11% to 18,234.74, Hang Seng decreased 130.47 points or 0.57% to 22,600.46, Jakarta Composite decreased 129.54 points or 2.8% to 4,501.17, Taiwan Weighted decreased 5.8 points or 0.07% to 8,567.92 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.58 points or 0.13% to 2,019.05.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.6 points or 0.09% to 1,711.46 and Shanghai Composite increased 5.57 points or 0.17% to 3,293.23.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 142.25 points or 1.41% to 9,977.58, France’s CAC decreased 84.88 points or 1.81% to 4,603.82 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 54.24 points or 0.85% to 6,316.94.