Benchmarks continue to trade flat with positive bias

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade near the neutral line with positive bias in early noon session amid buying witnessed in Oil & Gas, PSU, realty, Metal and FMGC stocks. Investors got some encouragement with finance minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the problem of non-performing assets will improve within a ‘reasonable time’ on account of the recent measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India and the government. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided the sentiment. The rupee recovered from over two-month low by rising 8 paise to 66.39 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Though, investors remained cautious ahead of November futures and options expiry on Thursday and the commencement of winter session of the Parliament.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, following a lower finish from Wall Street overnight on the back of fluctuating oil prices. Back home, the broader markets, however were outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.41and 0.47% respectively.  The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2302 stocks traded, 1326 stocks advanced, while 822 stocks declined on the BSE. In scrip specific development, share of Lanco Infratech was trading higher by over 19.89% after the company announced that its subsidiary Lanco Solar signed a landmark agreement with Chhattisgarh Government to bring Chhattisgarh on the global silicon map. As per the MOU inked with the Chhattisgarh Government, Lanco Solar will set up 100 MW solar cell manufacturing plant. Indian Oil Corporation was trading higher after the company reportedly decided to set up 1,400 MW solar power systems at its Gujarat Refinery. The solar power systems will be commissioned in 2016. A grid-connected 250-kW Solar Power system is already catering to the partial electricity requirement of technical building.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25828.65, up by 9.31 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 25703.86 and 25898.23. 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 0.31%, while Small cap index added 0.42%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.08%, PSU up by 0.81%, Realty up by 0.71%, Metal up by 0.47% and FMCG up by 0.23%, while IT down by 0.54%, Auto down by 0.53%, TECK down by 0.52%, Capital Goods down by 0.43% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.37%, HDFC up by 1.90%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.41%, Coal India up by 1.10% and Reliance Industries up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.62%, Sun Pharma down by 1.41%, Infosys down by 1.28%, Tata Motors down by 0.96% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the government is willing to consider sectoral interventions to stressed sectors such as steel and aluminum at the second-quarter performance review meeting of public sector banks (PSBs). There were discussions on banks that are facing difficulties on loan quality front. Jaitley said “Results will not come overnight. The problems of each sector have to be addressed separately. The series of steps announced by the RBI will help improve the asset quality situation. The government on its part has also been taking proactive steps in certain sectors”.

Expressing confidence, Jaitley said that asset quality of the PSBs would improve considerably in a reasonable time on the back of a series of steps announced by the RBI and being implemented by several banks. Further, he said that part of the problem of the “unacceptable level of NPAs” could be attributed to the “pressures of the past”, which need to be removed.  

Highlighting willful defaulters and banks’ willingness to take action, Jaitley asserted that PSBs already had the required “authority” and “autonomy” to effectively deal with each of their debtors. He further stated that the ability of banks to get failed borrowers to exit will increase if the bankruptcy law gets enacted in Parliament soon

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7847.20, down by 2.05 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 7812.65 and 7867.50. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.40%, HDFC up by 2.08%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.77%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.62% and Coal India up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Bosch down by 2.51%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.61%, GAIL India down by 1.60%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.43% and Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 150.31 points or 0.66% to 22,515.59, Taiwan Weighted decreased 85.59 points or 1.01% to 8,400.14, Shanghai Composite decreased 6.15 points or 0.17% to 3,604.16 and Jakarta Composite decreased 0.85 points or 0.02% to 4,540.21, while FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 8.69 points or 0.52% to 1,679.59, KOSPI Index increased 15.67 points or 0.78% to 2,019.37 and Nikkei 225 increased 62.53 points or 0.31% to 19,942.34.