Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in late afternoon session on account of selling in front line counters in absence of any upside triggers. Investors took cautious approach 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. Traders were seen piling position in Power, Metal and FMCG stocks, while selling was witnessed in Bankex, IT and Oil & Gas sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, HDFC was trading in green after Foreign Investment Promotion Board gave approval to Standard Life to hike its stake in the Indian insurance JV to 35% from 26% earlier. The market may remain volatile as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. December 2015 series to next month i.e. January 2015 series. The near month December 2015 derivatives contracts will expire on Thursday i.e. December 31, 2015.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,950 and 26,100 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1354:1144 while 254 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26054.27, down by 25.21 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 26030.55 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 0.36%, while Small cap index up by 0.24%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.43%, Metal up by 0.39%, FMCG up by 0.22%, Capital Goods up by 0.17% and Consumer Durables up by 0.15%, while Bankex down by 0.44%, IT down by 0.27%, Oil & Gas down by 0.23%, Realty down by 0.06% and PSU down by 0.01% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.34%, Tata Steel up by 1.12%, NTPC up by 0.83%, GAIL India up by 0.82% and Tata Motors up by 0.79%.

On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 0.98%, SBI down by 0.85%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.64%, Axis Bank down by 0.63% and Reliance Industries down by 0.56% 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 7923.05, down by 5.90 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 7916.75 and 7944.75. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 2.53%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.46%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.33%, Tata Steel up by 1.06% and BHEL up by 0.86%.

On the flip side, PNB down by 2.00%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.97%, ICICI Bank down by 0.85%, BPCL down by 0.80% and Axis Bank down by 0.79% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 9.14 points or 0.26% to 3,572.88, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 9.19 points or 0.55% to 1,694.55, Jakarta Composite increased 12.1 points or 0.26% to 4,581.47 and Nikkei 225 increased 51.48 points or 0.27% to 19,033.71.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 117.47 points or 0.53% to 21,882.15, Taiwan Weighted decreased 13.92 points or 0.17% to 8,279.99 and KOSPI Index decreased 5 points or 0.25% to 1,961.31.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 37.91 points or 0.6% to 6,276.66, Germany’s DAX decreased 52.33 points or 0.48% to 10,807.81 and France’s CAC decreased 21.69 points or 0.46% to 4,679.67.