Choppiness continues on Dalal Street in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade choppy in noon deals with frontline gauges trading tad below their neutral lines owing to selling pressure in software counter after TCS missed market estimates for the fifth straight quarter. Meanwhile, the wholesale price index (WPI) came in at -4.54 percent year-on-year, improving somewhat from -4.95 percent in August. The September contraction was led by continuing weakness in prices of fuel and power (down 17.7 percent as compared to 16.5 percent last month) as well as vegetable (down 9.45 percent versus 21.21 percent). However, losses remained capped by appreciation in Indian rupee against dollar. The rupee is trading at 65.06 per dollar in noon deals as compared to 65.17 per dollar level on Tuesday.

On the global front, European counters have made a sluggish start with CAC, DAX and FTSE, all were trading with a cut of around a percentage point in early deals. Asian markets were trading mostly in red at this point of time pressured by a continued selloff in oil as investors awaited consumer price data from China this session. Back home, on the sectoral front, consumer durables, metal and realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while software, technology and auto remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices were trading mixed at this point of time, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,407 shares on the gaining side against 1,006 shares on the losing side while 135 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26822.90, down by 23.63 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 26713.28 and 26869.08. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red and green; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.19%, while Small cap index up by 0.52%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.80%, Metal up by 0.78%, Realty up by 0.40%, Healthcare up by 0.30% and Capital Goods up by 0.17%, while IT down by 0.71%, TECK down by 0.62%, Auto down by 0.55%, PSU down by 0.08% and FMCG down by 0.07% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 4.13%, Vedanta up by 2.51%, Tata Steel up by 2.47%, Lupin up by 1.41% and Infosys up by 1.00%. On the flip side, TCS down by 4.11%, Tata Motors down by 1.62%, Coal India down by 1.20%, ICICI Bank down by 1.11% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, overseas investments or outward foreign direct investments by the Indian firms in the month of September fell to $1.24 billion from $3.12 billion in the same month last fiscal, according to the RBI data. The overseas investments in the month of August 2015 stood at $2.19 billion.

The total outward foreign direct investment of $1.24 billion was in the form of equity, loan and issue of guarantee. Of the total investment equity, loan and issue of guarantee stood at $137.25 million, $365.83 million and $738.25 million respectively in the month of September 2015 as compared to $317.66 million, $238.30 million and $2567.50 million respectively during September 2014.

Major overseas investors during the month were Ultratech Cement in Middle East with investment of $ 234.39 million for manufacturing, Tata Power Company in Singapore for electricity, gas and water activity with investment of $90 million, Tata Communications in Singapore with investment of $67.95 million for communication services. Other investors include WNS Global Services in UK and Zensar Technologies in US for business services with an investment of $25.48 million and $20.5 million respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8119.15, down by 12.55 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 8096.35 and 8139.30. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.00%, Vedanta up by 2.69%, Tata Steel up by 2.59%, ACC up by 1.28% and Lupin up by 1.17%. On the flip side, TCS down by 4.13%, Cairn India down by 2.30%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.17%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.04% and Tata Motors down by 1.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 declined 343.74 points or 1.89% to 17,891.00, Hang Seng decreased 174.9 points or 0.77% to 22,425.56, Taiwan Weighted slipped 45.41 points or 0.53% to 8,522.51, Shanghai Composite shed 30.57 points or 0.93% to 3,262.66 and KOSPI Index was down by 9.5 points or 0.47% to 2,009.55. 

European Markets were trading in the red; Germany’s DAX lost 0.86%, France’s CAC declined 0.82% and UK’s FTSE was down by 0.76%.