Benchmarks continue weak trade; Bankex, Power drag

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Investors remained on cautious note ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meet outcome due later today. Traders were seen piling position in Consumer Durables, TECK and IT stocks, while selling was witnessed in Bankex, Power and Realty sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, Trident was trading firm after the company reported over two-fold increase in standalone net profit for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015. The company reported an over two-fold increase in its standalone net profit to Rs 50.97 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, mainly on account of reduced expenses. Axis Bank was trading in red after it posted July-September profit which was in line with expectations but sparked worries on selling loans to asset reconstruction companies at steep discount. 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 mostly on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,200 and 27,100 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1060:1404 while 187 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27025.51, down by 227.93 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 26975.42 and 27163.98. There were 10 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green and red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.46%, while Small cap index up by 0.02%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.34%, TECK up by 0.16% and IT up by 0.05%, while Bankex down by 2.13%, Power down by 1.27%, Realty down by 1.16%, PSU down by 0.88% and Oil & Gas down by 0.60% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.89%, Vedanta up by 0.72%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.65%, Tata Motors up by 0.52% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.41%.

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 6.94%, ICICI Bank down by 3.95%, Lupin down by 2.62%, SBI down by 2.27% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.97% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, under a scheme to set up 1,000-MW grid-connected solar projects by central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) and other government organizations, the government has decided to ease norms for releasing viability gap funding (VGF). Considering the request from the various CPSUs and other government organization like NTPC, railways etc for advance release of VGF amount, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has amended the existing provision in the aforesaid scheme.

As per the amended provisions, 50 percent of the viability gap funding will be released on letter of Intent (LOI) and start of the installation of the work at plant. However, the balance 50 percent will be released on successful completion of the full capacity of the project. Changes will come into force with immediate effect.

According to the earlier norms, VGF was released in two tranches, 50 percent of the VGF was released on successful completion of the full capacity of the project, while the remaining 50 percent was released after one year of successful operation of the project. Under the National Solar Mission, government aims to achieve about 100 GW of solar power generation capacity by 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8169.85, down by 63.05 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 8152.10 and 8209.10. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 2.21%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.80%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.75%, Vedanta up by 0.95% and ACC up by 0.94%.

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 7.04%, ICICI Bank down by 3.86%, Yes Bank down by 3.05%, Adani Ports down by 2.81% and Cairn India down by 2.79% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 186.16 points or 0.8% to 22,956.57, Jakarta Composite decreased 75.36 points or 1.61% to 4,598.70, Shanghai Composite decreased 59.14 points or 1.72% to 3,375.20, Taiwan Weighted decreased 35.33 points or 0.41% to 8,665.99, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 11.52 points or 0.68% to 1,685.43 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.14 points or 0.1% to 2,042.51.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 increased 125.98 points or 0.67% to 18,903.02.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 8.72 points or 0.18% to 4,855.79, Germany’s DAX increased 19.99 points or 0.19% to 10,712.18 while, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.45 points or 0.07% to 6,360.82.