Domestic bourses trade range-bound in noon deals with modest gains

Indian frontline indices are trading in tight-band in afternoon trade with modest gains as investors opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. Some support also came in with report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 152.20 crore on Wednesday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. However, gains remained capped with the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde stating that global economic growth will be 'disappointing' next year. She said the prospect of rising interest rates in the US and an economic slowdown in China were contributing to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic vulnerability worldwide.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading sideways without any directions as some of the markets closed are for the Year end. Back home, stocks related to telecom space edged higher, on report that India’s mobile phone subscriber base peaked to more than 1 billion users for the first time. However, stocks related to metal and mining counters edged lower, as weak response from bidders amid depressed commodity prices and market conditions has forced the government to call off the fourth round of coal block auctions meant for deregulated industries such as steel and cement. Meanwhile, the broader indices too were trading mixed, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,339 shares on the gaining side against 1,065 shares on the losing side while 214 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25989.98, up by 29.95 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 25941.91 and 26016.39. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.04%, while Small cap index up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.62%, Realty up by 0.59%, TECK up by 0.49%, Telecom up by 0.43% and IT up by 0.41%, while Healthcare down by 0.50%, Capital Goods down by 0.17%, Metal down by 0.10%, FMCG down by 0.06% and Auto down by 0.05%, were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.20%, GAIL India up by 0.84%, HDFC Bank up by 0.78%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.77% and Infosys up by 0.59%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.38%, BHEL down by 1.12%, Axis Bank down by 1.00%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.69% and Tata Motors down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, poor response from bidders in sectors like steel amid depressed commodity prices and adverse market conditions has forced the government to annul the process for fourth round of coal block auctions, meant for deregulated industries such as steel and cement which was scheduled for the next month.

Coal secretary Anil Swarup has said that “We have not got sufficient number of bids to carry on with the coal block auctions. We have received 15 bids for nine blocks. So in view of this, we had to annul the process and the government will wait for the right time for the auction of these mines”. He further said that the coal mines to be auctioned were earmarked for non-regulated sectors like iron and steel, cement and captive power plants, which have been impacted due to adverse market conditions.

The government had last month kick-started the process to auction nine blocks for sectors like iron and steel, cement and captive power plants. The fourth round of mines auction was slated for January 18-22. The previous three rounds of auction would generate proceeds of over Rs 3 lakh crore, to be realised over 30 years, for states where the mines are located. The coal blocks, which were to be put under the hammer, were Brahmapuri and Suliyari in Madhya Pradesh, Bundu and Gondulpura in Jharkhand, Gondkhari and Khappa & Extn in Maharashtra and Jaganathpur A and Jaganathpur B in West Bengal besides Bhaskarpara mine in Chhattisgarh.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7909.95, up by 13.70 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 7891.15 and 7915.15. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 2.03%, Tata Power up by 1.48%, HDFC up by 1.24%, HCL Tech up by 1.23% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.93%. On the flip side, PNB down by 1.78%, Hindalco down by 1.42%, ONGC down by 1.42%, Vedanta down by 1.41% and Bank of Baroda down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Shanghai Composite decreased 16.28 points or 0.46% to 3,556.60, Straits Times Index slipped 2.78 points or 0.10% to 2,882.73 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.55 points or 0.03% to 1,692.59. On the flip side, Hang Seng rose 32.25 points or 0.15% to 21,914.40 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 58.07 points or 0.7% to 8,338.06.