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 sentiments were under pressure after Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha stated that the government is keeping a close eye on inflation and is concerned about food prices, especially dal prices and are monitoring those prices very closely. Investors were cautious on report that foreign institutional investors have reduced their holdings in 19 blue chip firms that are part of the 30-share benchmark Sensex during July-September quarter as they recast their portfolio on account of several domestic and global factors. Traders were seen piling position in FMCG and Auto stocks, while selling was witnessed in Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas and PSU sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, Manpasand Beverages was trading in green after the company announced that it has entered into a tie up with ice cream & food retailing major Havmor Ice Cream. The market may remain volatile today as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. October 2015 series to next month i.e. November 2015 series. The near month October 2015 derivatives contracts will expire on Thursday i.e. October 29, 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, 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 1129:1399 while 146 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27256.53, down by 105.43 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 27209.52 and 27296.30. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.07%, while Small cap index up by 0.13%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE was FMCG up by 0.10%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.79%, Oil & Gas down by 0.65%, PSU down by 0.61%, Metal down by 0.59%, Capital Goods down by 0.57% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.46%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.11%, HDFC Bank up by 0.86%, Wipro up by 0.61% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.48%.

On the flip side, Lupin down by 3.26%, ONGC down by 3.03%, HDFC down by 2.73%, GAIL India down by 2.35% and BHEL down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has promised stakeholders to resolve the regulatory and financing issues in the infrastructure sector to expedite infrastructure projects especially those which are being promoted under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. This assurance came after the meeting taken by Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, Economic Affairs with the representatives of the infrastructure companies on Monday, October 26, 2015.

Das held a meeting with infrastructure consultants, players and lenders, who have burnt their fingers in PPP. The meeting was organized by industry chamber CII and was also attended by RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi, SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and officials from infrastructure ministries. In the meeting the industry representatives raised regulatory and financing issues, difficulties and certain issues which they have been encountering as well as capacity building.

Besides, issues concerning dispute resolution with regard to concession agreement for implementing Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects were also discussed. The government has already set up a committee under former finance secretary Vijay Kelkar to suggest a framework for revitalizing the PPP model, which has faced some trouble after initial success. The terms of reference of the committee include measures to improve capacity building in government for effective implementation of PPP projects, review of experience of PPP policy, analysis of risks involved in such projects in different sectors and existing framework of sharing of such risks between project developer and government.

Das also said that the panel is expected to submit its report by November. Some of the recommendations, if accepted by the government, can be operationalised far quicker. But some of the recommendations may require little more time. So it will depend on content of recommendation of the Kelkar panel. Further discussion in this regard would also take place between the RBI, banks and department of Financial Services.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8230.65, down by 29.90 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 8217.05 and 8241.95. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.66%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.32%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.17%, BPCL up by 0.92% and Asian Paints up by 0.92%.

On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.29%, Lupin down by 3.07%, HDFC down by 2.73%, GAIL India down by 2.70% and Ambuja Cement down by 1.89% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 170.08 points or 0.9% to 18,777.04, Taiwan Weighted decreased 44.04 points or 0.5% to 8,701.32, Jakarta Composite decreased 32.28 points or 0.69% to 4,659.43, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 11.47 points or 0.67% to 1,695.32 and KOSPI Index decreased 3.43 points or 0.17% to 2,044.65.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite increased 4.76 points or 0.14% to 3,434.34 and Hang Seng increased 26.48 points or 0.11% to 23,142.73.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 27.23 points or 0.42% to 6,389.79, Germany’s DAX decreased 61.92 points or 0.57% to 10,739.42 and France’s CAC decreased 25.33 points or 0.52% to 4,871.80.