Markets continue to trade marginally in red in early noon session

Indian equity markets continue to trade in red in early noon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Sentiment remained dampened after IT giant TCS Q2 results missed the street expectations following Infosys indicating tough times in the latter half of the financial year for Indian IT companies. For the quarter ended September 30, TCS' revenue grew 3% sequentially, or 5.8% year-over-year. Traders were seen piling up position in Metal, Consumer Durables, Realty, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas stocks, while selling was witnessed in Auto, IT, TECK, PSU and Banking sector stocks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after disappointing economic data from China stoked worries about its ability to meet the year-end growth target. Back home, in scrip specific development, share of Indiabulls Real Estate was trading up by 1.63% after the real estate company announced that it is looking to sell its stake in a property in London, which was acquired last year. Lupin was trading up by 1.34% after the drug maker entered into a joint strategic alliance with German pharma firm Boehringer Ingelheim for co-marketing linagliptin, a novel dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor in India.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26823.16, down by 23.37 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 26713.28 and 26869.08. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.08%, while Small cap index was up by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.95%, Consumer Durables up by 0.82%, Realty up by 0.61%, Capital Goods up by 0.16% and Oil & Gas up by 0.13%, while Auto down by 0.50%, IT down by 0.48%, TECK down by 0.40%, PSU down by 0.04% and Bankex down by 0.04% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 4.42%, Vedanta up by 3.16%, Tata Steel up by 2.53%, Lupin up by 1.31% and Infosys up by 1.31%. On the flip side, TCS down by 4.01%, Tata Motors down by 1.43%, ICICI Bank down by 1.36%, Coal India down by 1.22% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, encouraged by the almost three years high industrial production data in August, the Finance Ministry has said that reform measures would continue in order to boost economic activity. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said that 'Improved IIP numbers are encouraging. Reform measures will continue. GST and Bankruptcy law are on top of reform agenda.'

The finance ministry has said that latest data for Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI)-New Series points at steady improvement in the Indian economy. It said that Industrial growth data is a reflection of recovery in the economy, predominantly led by domestic demand as the external sector environment continues to be sluggish.

Industrial output rose to nearly three-year high of 6.4 percent in August on improvement in manufacturing and capital goods, the more than 6% growth in IIP came after 34 months. Cumulative IIP growth in the first five months in 2015-16 at 4.1% was better than the growth of 3% in the same period last year.

The manufacturing sector grew at 6.9% in August spearheading the industrial production growth. The double digit growth in capital goods of 21.8% and consumer durables of 17% in August 2015 was helped by a favourable base effect, implying improvement in investment and consumption demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8123.60, down by 8.10 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 8096.35 and 8139.30. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.24%, Vedanta up by 3.16%, Tata Steel up by 2.65%, Infosys up by 1.26% and ACC up by 1.17%. On the flip side, TCS down by 4.07%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.59%, Cairn India down by 2.58%, Tata Motors down by 1.52% and ICICI Bank down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 374.17 points or 2.05% to 17,860.57, Hang Seng decreased 180.75 points or 0.8% to 22,419.71, Jakarta Composite decreased 147.63 points or 3.19% to 4,483.08, Taiwan Weighted decreased 46.03 points or 0.54% to 8,521.89, Shanghai Composite decreased 10.34 points or 0.31% to 3,282.89 and KOSPI Index decreased 9.09 points or 0.45% to 2,009.96, while FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.28 points or 0.07% to 1,711.14.