Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The downside was however capped with US Treasury Department report which stated that amid weaker outlook across emerging market economies, India’s recovery has strengthened under a new reform agenda; since it is not a large importer, but it is not yet a major driver of global growth. Traders were seen piling position in Metal, TECK and IT stocks, while selling was witnessed in Realty, Bankex and Capital Goods sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, MphasiS was trading firm after the company announced a strong set of quarterly numbers. The company reported a 17 percent jump in profit at Rs 184.47 crore compared with Rs 160.2 crore reported for the same period a year ago. Total income stood at Rs 1,606.66 crore, up 6.1 percent from Rs 1,508.82 crore in the year-ago quarter.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,250 and 27,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1109:1429 while 168 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27256.93, down by 49.90 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 27190.55 and 27445.24. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.22%, while Small cap index down by 0.51%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.94%, TECK up by 0.58%, IT up by 0.43% and FMCG up by 0.03%, while Realty down by 1.86%, Bankex down by 1.05%, Capital Goods down by 0.99%, PSU down by 0.57% and Oil & Gas down by 0.55% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 3.14%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.52%, Tata Steel up by 1.70%, NTPC up by 1.68% and Vedanta up by 1.58%.

On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 3.11%, GAIL India down by 2.64%, SBI down by 1.81%, ICICI Bank down by 1.71% and Sun Pharma down by 1.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to achieve the target of $30 billion in bilateral trade in the next 10 years, India and Russia have discussed the ways to boost their economic ties. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, chairing the 21st India-Russia Inter-Governmental Consultations, also looked at ways to enhance the mutual direct investment to $15 billion by 2025.

Both the countries identified various sectors in order to achieve their commercial targets. Agriculture, pharmaceutical and infrastructure were some of the areas identified by both countries to strengthen their economic engagement. The other areas deliberated upon were space, energy, culture and science and technology. 

Furthermore, India reiterated its commitment to work towards having 12 Russian nuclear plants as was agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russia is an important partner for India in peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Last year, the bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to $9.51 billion, with Indian export touching $3.17 billion and imports from Russia $6.34 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8237.70, down by 23.95 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 8217.15 and 8294.40. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 3.20%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.43%, NTPC up by 1.64%, Tata Steel up by 1.60% and Vedanta up by 1.58%.

On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 3.18%, GAIL India down by 2.52%, Asian Paints down by 2.28%, SBI down by 1.98% and PNB down by 1.85% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.65 points or 0.1% to 1,706.68, KOSPI Index increased 3.62 points or 0.18% to 2,042.98, Jakarta Composite increased 15.56 points or 0.34% to 4,601.39 and Nikkei 225 increased 347.13 points or 1.91% to 18,554.28.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 104.65 points or 3.06% to 3,320.68 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 44.37 points or 0.51% to 8,609.23.

Hong Kong stock exchange was closed on account of ‘Chung Yeung Day’ holiday.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 15.63 points or 0.25% to 6,329.50, France’s CAC decreased 20.91 points or 0.45% to 4,652.90 and Germany’s DAX decreased 7.2 points or 0.07% to 10,140.48.