Markets to extend the somberness with a soft start

The Indian markets bucking the global trends ended lower in last session, with selling intensifying in final hours on getting some weak earnings. Today, the start is likely to be soft tailing the weakness in the global markets and major bourses may lose further ground lacking any supportive cues. There will be some action in infra sector, as the government has assured industry stakeholders of resolving regulatory and financing issues to expedite infrastructure projects, including those being promoted under the PPP mode. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das has said that we will examine the suggestions in consultation with the various other departments and ministries and place them before the government for decision quickly. Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Services projecting Indian economy’s growth at 7 per cent in the current fiscal and 7.5 per cent in the next one has said that GDP growth and low oil prices will lead to higher fuel consumption over the next 18 months. There will be some buzz from the primary market too, with the launch of much awaited IPO of IndiGo’s parent InterGlobe Aviation. The company is hitting the capital market to raise Rs 3,018 crore through the initial public offering, the biggest in nearly three year.

There will be lots of result reactions too, to keep the markets buzzing.Axis Bank, Ceat, Bharat Bijlee, Dish TV, Coromandel Internnational etc will be among many to announce the numbers today. 

The US markets made mostly a lower closing in last session, while the Nasdaq managed to extend gains Dow and S&P ended in red. The trade remained choppy throughout the day as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Asian markets have made a weak start led by the Chinese index, which is down by over two percent in early deals. The Japanese market too was down, as the yen strengthened amid speculation the Bank of Japan will refrain from adding stimulus this week.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended the choppy day of trade with a cut of around half a percent as investors opted to remain on sidelines ahead of derivatives expiry later this week and US Federal Reserve Meeting, which is scheduled to start from tomorrow. Earlier, markets made a positive start tracking firm global cues, but profit booking at higher levels dragged benchmarks lower. Traders remained cautious, as an Assocham study has said that inflation may have dropped significantly from last year, but most Indians still find prices of goods and services consumed on a daily basis growing beyond their comfort level. Disappointment over some of the corporate earnings too weighed down sentiments. Bharti Airtel has reported results 54.96% fall in its net profit at Rs 2223.70 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as compared to Rs 4937.30 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Its total income has decreased by 4.91% to Rs 15911.90 crore for the quarter under review. Meanwhile, Asian Paints declined around 5% after India’s largest paint company missed volume growth and margins estimates. Asian Paints reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 399 crore on sales of Rs 3,730 crore in Q2, which was below street’s expectation. IIFL Holdings has posted 74.43% fall in its net profit at Rs 23.39 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 as compared to Rs 91.46 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Weak opening in European counters too dampened the sentiments; however, Asian markets ended the session mostly in green. Back home, depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened the sentiments. Selling in Oil & gas counter mainly played the spoil sport for Indian equity markets with market heavyweight Reliance Industries and state-run ONGC making soft closing amid weak global crude prices. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 108.85 points or 0.40% to 27361.96, while the CNX Nifty lost 34.90 points or 0.42% to 8260.55.