Benchmarks continue to trade in red in late morning session

Indian bourses continued to trade in red in the late morning session as participants cut down bets in view of the October series expiry in the derivatives segment. Sentiments remained subdued with the report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 731.17 crore on October 28, 2015. Besides, a weak trend at other Asian bourses after the Federal Reserve hinted at a possible US interest rate hike in December also hit the sentiments. However, investors got some support with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement after India jumped 12 positions to rank 130th in the world on ease of doing business, that the improvement in ranking does not fully reflect the reforms initiated and the position will improve further next year. On the global front, Asian shares declined in early trade after the U.S. Federal Reserve revived market expectations that it might still be on track to raise interest rates by year-end.  Meanwhile, Japanese factory output unexpectedly rose in September from a month earlier, data released on October 29, 2015 showed. In overnight trading, major U.S. markets surged more than 1%, with the Nasdaq Composite leading gains, closing up 1.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose 1.1 and 1.2 percent respectively. Back home, Indian rupee depreciated by 27 paise to 65.20 against the dollar in early trade on strong month-end demand for the US currency from importers.

Back on street, stocks from Consumer Durables, Realty and Auto counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from FMCG, Banking and Capital Goods counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Shares of TRF have surged after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4.14 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015 (Q2) against a loss of Rs 9 crore in the year ago quarter. On the other hand, shares of Just Dial have dipped after the company posted 6.7% year on year (YoY) decline in operating profit at Rs 39.72 crore for the quarter ended September 2015 against Rs 42.60 crore in the year ago quarter.

The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2103 stocks traded, 1153 stocks advanced, while 842 stocks declined on the BSE. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26956.78, down by 82.98 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 26936.16 and 27099.11. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in mix; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.15%, while Small cap index up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.08%, Realty up by 0.65%, Auto up by 0.34% and Metal up by 0.13%, while FMCG down by 0.63%, Bankex down by 0.59%, Capital Goods down by 0.56%, TECK down by 0.54% and Power down by 0.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.58%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.40%, Vedanta up by 1.24%, Tata Steel up by 0.81% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.79%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 3.62%, Axis Bank down by 2.30%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.47%, ITC down by 1.10% and GAIL India down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Republic of Botswana Vice President Mokgweetsi E Masisi has sought investments from India in the priority sectors of the economy. This sector includes information and communications technology (ICT), diamond, agriculture, mining and energy. He further stated that 'Our goal is to attract as diversified a number of Indian investors and entrepreneurs as is appropriate for our priority sectors of the economy as possible so as to meet the economic impetus by investors in India'.

Masisi further said that there is huge opportunity for India to invest in diamond sector as it wants to finalise a developing diamond institute in Botswana with the support of India. He added that there are various investment opportunities in diamond sector in ancillary support services like banking, security, insurance, certification and brokerage services.

Furthermore he said that is also keen on investment in the ICT sector which is a key sector and provides huge investment opportunities in our country and will help every other sector, including infrastructure, energy, among others. On agriculture sector he said it is  another sector in which Botswana is seeking Indian investments, especially technology  for irrigation and better agricultural practices for better yields in order to become self sufficient. Botswana imports most agricultural produce to meet the needs of the country. From India it imports tea, coffee, live trees, cut flowers, roots, spices, bulbs, among others. He also said that, he will also promote Southern African Development Community (SADC) as a strategic investment destination for Indian investors during his four-day visit to India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8140.15, down by 31.05 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 8134.25 and 8179.60. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 1.69%, Tata Motors up by 1.51%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.19%, Vedanta up by 1.19% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.79%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 3.55%, Axis Bank down by 2.32%, BPCL down by 1.69%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.58% and Ambuja Cement down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Jakarta Composite was down by 1.74%, Taiwan Weighted down by 0.79%, Hang Seng down by 0.11%, Nikkei 225 down by 0.09%, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI down by 0.62% and KOSPI Index was down by 0.29%. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by0.12%.