Benchmarks continue weak trade; Realty, Bankex drag

Indian equity markets trimmed their losses but continued to trade in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in front line blue chip counters taking cues from regional counter parts. Investors have taken cautious approach ahead of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for November and CPI Inflation data scheduled to be released later in the day. Traders were seen piling position in Capital Goods, Power and Consumer Durables stocks while selling was witnessed in Realty, Bankex and TECK sector stocks. In scrip specific development, CMI was trading firm after a global emerging market fund bought nearly 15 lakh shares at Rs 304 apiece. Fortis Healthcare was trading in green after foreign brokerage firm maintained its buy call on the company. The firm said that SRL Labs is an undervalued billion dollar franchise and Fortis is well positioned to capitalize opportunity in India. Aviation Company stocks like Jet Airways, SpiceJet and InterGlobe Aviation was trading in green on further fall in crude prices as lower crude prices will boost companies’ margins.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,550 and 24,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 957:1697 while 159 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24690.27, down by 134.77 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 24597.11 and 24882.30. There were 12 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.59%, while Small cap index down by 0.58%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.24%, Power up by 0.20% and Consumer Durables up by 0.19%, while Realty down by 1.42%, Bankex down by 1.36%, TECK down by 1.15%, IT down by 0.97% and Metal down by 0.73% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.22%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.55%, Sun Pharma up by 1.10%, BHEL up by 0.93% and Wipro up by 0.85%.

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.00%, ONGC down by 2.69%, TCS down by 2.20%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.96% and Tata Steel down by 1.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India Inc has raised over $3.16 billion from overseas markets in November 2015 down 9.5 per cent from a year ago, according to RBI data. Of the total borrowings, by way of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) and foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs), $2.11 billion was raised through the approval process while $1.05 billion came through the automatic route.

Out of the total 57 borrowers, four raised the money through approval route, while the rest by way of automatic route. Through approval route, ONGC Videsh raised $1.78 billion for refinancing of an earlier ECB, Rural Electrification Corporation raised $300 million for on lending, Perkins India Private mobilized $34 million for working capital.

Among major borrowers in the automatic route, Railway Finance Corporation raised $400 million for refinancing of an earlier ECB, Power Finance Corporation raised $360 million for on-lending. Adani Hazira Port mopped up $80 million for port-related activity and Inbisco India $18.8 million for refinancing ECB and Vacmet India raised $16.36 million for import of capital goods.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7515.25, down by 48.60 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 7487.80 and 7588.30. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 2.37%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.79%, Sun Pharma up by 1.21%, BHEL up by 1.14% and Wipro up by 0.87%.

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.02%, Grasim Industries down by 2.96%, Idea Cellular down by 2.93%, Yes Bank down by 2.81% and Hindalco down by 2.31% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 479 points or 2.71% to 17,218.96, Hang Seng decreased 176.74 points or 0.89% to 19,711.76, Taiwan Weighted decreased 19.97 points or 0.26% to 7,768.45 and KOSPI Index decreased 3.98 points or 0.21% to 1,890.86.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 5.92 points or 0.36% to 1,643.51, Shanghai Composite increased 6.16 points or 0.2% to 3,022.86 and Jakarta Composite increased 49.56 points or 1.11% to 4,515.04.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 18.55 points or 0.32% to 5,890.38, France’s CAC increased 17.65 points or 0.41% to 4,330.39 and Germany’s DAX increased 68.87 points or 0.7% to 9,893.94.