Benchmarks extend losses; Nifty slips below 7800 mark

Indian equity extended losses hovering near the lowest point of the day in late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters and taking cues from the global counterparts. Chinese stock markets tumbled 7% in their opening session of 2016 as weak factory activity surveys and falls in the yuan added to concerns about the struggling economy, forcing exchanges to suspend trade for the first time. The sentiments were further dampen after India’s manufacturing sector output dipped in December to a 28-month low, the first contraction in over two years, as new orders fell sharply and production took a big hit from heavy rains in Chennai, putting pressure on RBI to keep rates low. Traders were seen selling in Bankex, Realty and Auto sector stocks. In the scrip specific development, Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were trading under pressure after the telecom regulator asked operators to ensure compliance with call drop regulations, with effect from January 1.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in red while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,800 and 25,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1076:1697 while 96 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25622.61, down by 538.29 points or 2.06% after trading in a range of 25601.12 and 26116.52. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.56%, while Small cap index down by 1.44%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex down by 2.53%, Realty down by 2.05%, Auto down by 2.00%, Capital Goods down by 1.95%, PSU down by 1.79%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.55% and Wipro up by 0.04%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 5.79%, Bharti Airtel down by 4.13%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 3.27%, HDFC down by 3.19% and BHEL down by 3.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has raised excise duty on petrol and diesel, the second increase in duties in just over two weeks, to mop up a little less than Rs 4,400 crore. The duty on petrol has been raised by 37 paise per litre, while that on diesel is up a steeper Rs 2 per litre. The increase in excise duty will fetch the government over Rs 4,300 crore on diesel and about Rs 80 crore on petrol. Hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel, three times in quick succession, will help the government garner an additional Rs 10,000 crore in the fiscal and partly make up for the shortfall in disinvestment receipts and direct tax collections.

As per the notification of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), the total levy on unbranded petrol will be Rs 19.73 per litre as against Rs 19.36 currently, after including additional and special excise duty. On unbranded or normal diesel, total excise duty after including special excise duty will be Rs 13.83 per litre as compared to Rs 11.83 currently. Basic excise duty on unbranded or normal petrol has been increased from Rs 7.36 per litre to Rs 7.73 and the same on unbranded diesel from Rs 5.83 to Rs 7.83 per litre.

The three excise duty hikes this fiscal, totalling Rs 2.27 per litre on petrol and Rs 3.47 a litre on diesel, will yield the government Rs 10,000 crore in additional revenue during the remainder of current fiscal. Earlier, in December, government had raised excise duty on petrol by 30 paise litre and on diesel by Rs 1.17 a litre.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7793.55, down by 169.65 points or 2.13% after trading in a range of 7786.25 and 7937.55. There were 3 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cairn India up by 1.01%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.55% and Wipro up by 0.11%.

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 5.87%, Bank of Baroda down by 5.00%, Idea Cellular down by 4.71%, Hindalco down by 4.36% and Bharti Airtel down by 4.11% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 587.28 points or 2.68% to 21,327.12, Nikkei 225 decreased 582.73 points or 3.06% to 18,450.98, Shanghai Composite decreased 242.92 points or 6.86% to 3,296.26, Taiwan Weighted decreased 223.8 points or 2.68% to 8,114.26, Jakarta Composite decreased 60.32 points or 1.31% to 4,532.68, KOSPI Index decreased 42.55 points or 2.17% to 1,918.76 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 34.02 points or 2.01% to 1,658.49.

The European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 393.27 points or 3.66% to 10,349.74, France’s CAC decreased 128.33 points or 2.77% to 4,508.73 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 127.02 points or 2.03% to 6,115.30.