Benchmarks trade lower in early deals

With a negative opening Indian equity markets have extended their previous session losses and are now trading with cut of over quarter a per cent, on sustained selling by fund and retail investors. Weakness in the other Asian peers also weighed on the sentiments after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen in a testimony before the joint economic committee in Washington overnight kindled the prospects of benchmark interest rate hike in the month of December, citing growth in the US economy. Further, depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar too weighed down sentiments. The rupee weakened by 16 paise to 65.65 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to fresh demand for the American currency from importers. Additionally, some cautiousness also prevailed as fifth and final phase of polling in Bihar kick started and investors await exit poll results later in the day. On the sectoral front, most of the sectoral indices on BSE were trading in red, with prominent losers being Healthcare, Bankex, Metal, TECK and IT counters. On the flip side, stocks from Consumer Durables, Auto, Power and FMCG counters were the only gainers of the session.

In the scrip specific development, Chennai Petroleum Corporation (CPCL) dipped 16% on the BSE after the company's net loss widened in September 2015 quarter at Rs 452 crore as compared to loss of Rs 233 crore in the same quarter year ago.

On the global front, the US markets ended lower, with major averages pulling back off yesterday's three-month closing highs. The Asian markets were trading mostly in red following a weaker finish on Wall Street.

Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,050 and 26,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 672: 923 while 48 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26460.30, down by 92.62 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 26425.77 and 26557.80. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.40%, while Small cap index lost 0.36%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.24%, Auto up by 0.22%, Power up by 0.15% and FMCG up by 0.04%, while Healthcare down by 0.76%, Bankex down by 0.67%, Metal down by 0.34%, TECK down by 0.34% and IT down by 0.33% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.53%, NTPC up by 0.85%, GAIL India up by 0.58%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.57% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 1.98%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.60%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.36%, Lupin down by 1.18% and Axis Bank down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile,  a government-appointed Bankruptcy Law Reform Committee (BLRC), headed by T K Vishwnathan, former Law Secretary has presented the report to the finance ministry, suggesting a modern bankruptcy law to deal with insolvency cases within 180 days that may arise on account of business failures or economic downturns, with a view to promoting ease of doing business and spur economic activities. The draft bill has been put for public comment till 19 November.

The report said that the Bill seeks to improve the handling of conflicts between creditors and debtors, avoid destruction of value, distinguish malfeasance vis-a-vis business failure and clearly allocate losses in macroeconomic downturns and has prescribed 'a swift process and timeline of 180 days' for dealing with applications for insolvency resolution. The bankruptcy panel has suggested setting up of different insolvency adjudicating authority for different entities, which would have the jurisdiction to hear and dispose of cases by or against a debtor.

The draft Bill also proposes establishment of an insolvency regulator to exercise regulatory oversight over insolvency professionals, insolvency professional agencies and informational utilities. Other proposals of the government panel include application dealing with insolvency could be extended by 90 days on approval from adjudicating authority in exceptional cases. During this period, the management of the debtor would be in the hands of an 'interim resolution professional'. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) should be the Adjudicating Authority with jurisdiction over companies, and limited liability entities, it added.

The Bill includes a transfer of proceedings, where pending cases before the Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR) or the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) under the Sick Industrial Companies Act (SICA), 1985, immediately before the commencement of this law would stand abated. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, has said that he would try to introduce the bill on bankruptcy law in the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8009.15, down by 31.05 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 8001.00 and 8031.20. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 1.82%, Tata Power up by 1.09%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 0.80%, GAIL India up by 0.76% and BPCL up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.08%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.62%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.60%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.56% and Yes Bank down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Jakarta Composite decreased 12.99 points or 0.28% to 4,599.58, Taiwan Weighted decreased 9.55 points or 0.11% to 8,847.47 and KOSPI Index decreased 6.79 points or 0.33% to 2,045.98. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 9.35 points or 0.55% to 1,694.97, Hang Seng increased 72.49 points or 0.31% to 23,126.06, Shanghai Composite increased 93.12 points or 2.69% to 3,552.76 Nikkei 225 increased 224.63 points or 1.19% to 19,151.54.