Benchmarks continue to trade choppy in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade choppy in noon deals with frontline gauges trading tad below their neutral lines amid absence of any fresh triggers as traders maintained a cautious stance ahead of the expiry of December F&O contracts. Depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened sentiments. The rupee weakened again by another 4 paise to 66.43 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on increased month-end demand for the US currency from importers. Also, traders remained cautious with World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu’s statement that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 7 to 7.5 percent in 2016. Until October, the World Bank retained India's growth forecast at 7.5 percent for 2015-16 and expected it to be 7.8 percent in 2016-17 and 7.9 percent in 2017-18.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red with trading volumes continued to remain thin as the year draws to a close. However, the Japanese market was trading higher on the final trading day of the year 2015, with the positive lead overnight from Wall Street and higher commodity prices lifting investor sentiment. Back home, liquor stocks like United Breweries, United Spirits, Tilaknagar Industries continue to trade lower for second day in a row after the Supreme Court of India upheld the Kerala liquor ban policy. The broader indices, however, were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,416 shares on the gaining side against 941 shares on the losing side while 229 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26076.41, down by 3.07 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 26057.67 and 26130.20. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.51%, while Small cap index up by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.31%, Consumer Durables up by 0.77%, Power up by 0.57%, Capital Goods up by 0.51% and Metal up by 0.36%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.35%, Energy down by 0.31%, Bankex down by 0.20%, IT down by 0.02% and Auto down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.03%, Tata Steel up by 1.29%, BHEL up by 0.92%, NTPC up by 0.73% and Wipro up by 0.70%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.07%, Reliance Industries down by 0.55%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.48%, GAIL India down by 0.45% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Amitabh Kant has said that Foreign Direct Investment in the last 17 months into India has surged by 35 percent, even as across the world it has  fallen by 16 percent. FDI has come into manufacturing, consumer goods, logistics and food processing sectors.

Kant said that since 'Make in India', which was launched in end-September last year, FDI has grown by 40 per cent as compared to the previous year. But in the last seventeen months of Modi government, FDI has grown by 35 per cent as compared to the previous seventeen months.

Highlighting Indian economy, Kant said that India is growing at 7.4 per cent and it is an oasis of growth in the midst of a very balanced economic landscape across the world. He further said that the challenge for India is to grow at 9-10 per cent over a long period of time over the next three decades or more. For India to grow at 9-10 per cent it has to become a very easy and simple place for people to do business and it has to grow rapidly in manufacturing sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7928.30, down by 0.65 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 7924.35 and 7944.75. There were 27 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.95%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.95%, Tata Steel up by 1.21%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.20% and Tata Power up by 1.04%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.08%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.96%, ICICI Bank down by 0.87%, Reliance Industries down by 0.54% and GAIL India down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 103.61 points or 0.47% to 21,896.01, Taiwan Weighted slipped 13.92 points or 0.17% to 8,279.99, KOSPI Index shed 5 points or 0.25% to 1,961.31 and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.93 points or 0.03% to 3,562.81.

On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 14.23 points or 0.84% to 1,699.59, Jakarta Composite rose 19.05 points or 0.42% to 4,588.41 and Nikkei 225 was up by 51.48 points or 0.27% to 19,033.71.