Markets trade in range in early deals after a soft start

Indian markets made a soft start on Wednesday but showed some signs of recovery and entered into the green; however profit taking at higher levels has dragged back them into the red in the early deals. The prevailing cautiousness in the regional peers was restricting any major recovery in the market.Traders remained concerned about the probable rate hike by the US after data released overnight showed consumer prices in the US increased 0.2 per cent in October after two straight months of declines. Another data print suggested US manufacturing production in October jumped 0.40 per cent MoM. Back home, markets are consolidating, lacking any supportive cues, traders though are expecting rise in consumer demand with the report that the 7th Pay Commission slated to be announced tomorrow is likely to recommend an average 15 percent hike in salary which is due for implementation from January 1, 2016. On the street, it’s the drag in bluechips that is restricting markets to move higher, while the broader markets are continuing their pace since opening. On sectoral front, consumer durables, power and capital goods were supporting the markets to some extent.

The aviation stocks are under pressure, after the Competition Commission clamping down on cartelisation in fixing fuel surcharge on air cargo, slapped penalties totalling Rs 258 crore on three major airlines. A penalty of Rs 151.69 crore has been imposed on Jet Airways, while InterGlobe and SpiceJet have been slapped with penalties of Rs 63.74 crore and Rs 42.48 crore, respectively. However, CCI has not imposed any fine on Air India and GoAir.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25797.94, down by 66.53 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 25795.67 and 25890.36. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.13%, while Small cap index gained 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.12%, Power up by 0.59%, Capital Goods up by 0.43%, PSU up by 0.27%, Oil & Gas up by 0.22%, while IT down by 1.08%, TECK down by 0.70%, Realty down by 0.33%, FMCG down by 0.01%, Bankex down by 0.01% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 1.69%, NTPC up by 1.44%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.23%, GAIL India up by 1.13% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.93%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.34%, Vedanta down by 1.30%, Hindalco down by 0.87% and Tata Steel down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, outward Foreign Direct Investments (OFDI) by Indian firms abroad fell 21 percent to $2,276.17 million in October 2015. The Reserve Bank of India has reported that during the month Indian companies had put in $2,276.17 million in the form of  OFDI compared to $ 2,879.58 million in the month of October 2014. However compared to previous month of $1,241.33 million, it was up by huge 83.87 percent. RBI has further elaborated that in the OFDI of $$2,276.17 million for October, equity constituted $341.82 million, Loan constituted $210.94 million, while the major portion was of $1,723.41 million of Guarantee Issued.

Altogether 461 Indian parties were involved in outward FDI from the country during the month. Lupin invested $753 million in a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) in Switzerland, Tata Communications invested $ 210 million in a WOS in Singapore and Infosys made a combined investment of $ 106.34 million in two of its wholly owned units in Sweden and Switzerland.

Among others, Sintex Holdings made an investment of $ 102.5 million in a WOS in Netherlands, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India put in $60.27 million in a WOS in Mauritius and Tata Chemicals invested $ 54 million in a fully-owned bio-energy unit in Mauritius. JSW Steel invested a total of $ 43 million in two wholly-owned units in Mauritius and Netherlands and one joint venture in the US. Essel Propack committed $ 40.04 million in a wholly-owned company in Mauritius.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7827.15, down by 10.40 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 7813.10 and 7843.40. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 1.70%, Coal India up by 1.64%, Asian Paints up by 1.58%, GAIL India up by 1.44% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.86%, HCL Tech. down by 1.81%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.26%, Vedanta down by 1.25% and Adani Ports &Special down by 1.16% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were mostly in green, KOSPI Index was tad higher by 1.21 points or 0.06% to 1,964.79, Shanghai Composite gained 6.3 points or 0.17% to 3,611.10, Jakarta Composite increased by 13.43 points or 0.3% to 4,514.38, Hang Seng gained 21.68 points or 0.1% to 22,285.93 and Nikkei 225 surged by 111.36 points or 0.57% to 19,741.99.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted declined by 42.68 points or 0.51% to 8,376.74 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was lower by 1.73 points or 0.1% to 1,659.80.