Markets trade flat with negative bias

Indian equity benchmarks erased all early gains and are now trading marginally in red in early noon session, as investors eagerly await the third quarter earnings results starting next week with Infosys slated to announce its results on January 14, 2016. Sentiment were weighted down on report that the Foreign Investors were net sellers in equities worth Rs 667 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data. However, loses remained capped with the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley’s statement that the public investments would continue to ‘remain stepped up’ in the Indian economy, which has emerged as a stable force in the midst of global slowdown. Traders were seen piling up position in Realty, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, Power and Metal, while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK, Bankex, FMCG, and Auto.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after a slump in Chinese stocks weakened the New Year share prices across Asia, Europe and America. Back home, both the sensex and Nifty were trading below their crucial 25,600 and 7,800 levels, respectively. In scrip specific development, share of IFCI surged over 6% after the company's board at its meeting held on January 04, 2016 has approved divesting stakes in two companies’ viz. Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCIL) and Assets Care and Reconstruction Enterprise (ACRE). On the flip side, State Bank of Travancore was trading down after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slapped a penalty of Rs 1 crore on the bank for violation of some of its instructions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25563.32, down by 60.03 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 25539.95 and 25766.76. 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 0.07%, while Small cap index up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.00%, Oil & Gas up by 0.83%, Consumer Durables up by 0.54%, Power up by 0.08% and Metal up by 0.05%, while IT down by 0.85%, TECK down by 0.77%, Bankex down by 0.56%, FMCG down by 0.11% and Auto down by 0.06% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 2.27%, Tata Steel up by 2.18%, GAIL India up by 1.90%, ONGC up by 1.55% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.51%, Infosys down by 1.36%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.25%, TCS down by 1.22% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das has said that the government is working on a policy to reform food and fertiliser subsidy, which is pegged at Rs 2 lakh crore this year and which accounts for about 80% of the total subsidy bill. Besides, the government will also unveil more steps to deal with the mounting problem of non-performing loans of PSU banks. Das further said that the various possibilities are under consideration for food and fertilizer and there is a need for subsidy reform, at the same time the government has to take into account state of the rural economy, as well as state of farming community.

Das highlighted that along with growth revival and jobs generation, rural and agriculture sector has also become priority for the government after two years of bad monsoon adding that agriculture sector is very important because the rural purchasing power comes from there.

Meanwhile, the DEA (Department of Economic Affairs) secretary charged with managing the country's economy, admitted that bad loans of state-run banks - impaired assets stand at 12.6% of advances - are a problem but says the government is working on it.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7775.60, down by 15.70 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 7768.60 and 7831.20. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.28%, Tata Steel up by 2.20%, GAIL India up by 1.95%, Tata Power up by 1.68% and ONGC up by 1.66%. On the flip side, Bank of Baroda down by 2.88%, PNB down by 1.73%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.56%, Coal India down by 1.51% and Infosys down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 170.66 points or 0.8% to 21,156.46m, Nikkei 225 decreased 93.33 points or 0.51% to 18,357.65, Shanghai Composite decreased 42.14 points or 1.28% to 3,254.12 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 39.15 points or 0.48% to 8,075.11, while KOSPI Index increased 10.78 points or 0.56% to 1,929.54, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 17.14 points or 1.04% to 1,670.51 and Jakarta Composite increased 47.74 points or 1.05% to 4,573.66.