Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in front line blue chip counters. The sentiments were under pressure on reports that exports contracted for 13th month in a row in December 2015 as outward shipments shrank 14.75% to $22.2 billion amid a global demand slowdown. The inching of rupee lower to hover around its 28-month low against the US dollar further added some selling pressure on the street. Traders were seen piling position in Metal, Bankex and IT stocks while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Realty and Capital Goods sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Larsen & Toubro was trading under pressure after a foreign brokerage firm downgraded the stock with lower price target. Lincoln Pharmaceuticals is locked at lower circuit limit after its highest selling Chloramphenicol Sodium Succinate injection has been banned in Tanzania and the company’s registration has also been cancelled there.

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 7,450 and 24,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 374:2228 while 135 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24410.43, down by 44.61 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 24268.60 and 24524.85. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.30%, while Small cap index down by 2.60%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.74%, Bankex up by 0.28% and IT up by 0.16%, while, Oil & Gas down by 1.62%, Realty down by 0.97%, Capital Goods down by 0.96%, Auto down by 0.93% and PSU down by 0.56% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 7.25%, Adani Ports & Special up by 3.09%, Tata Steel up by 2.72%, Axis Bank up by 2.44% and GAIL India up by 1.83%.

On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.54%, Reliance Industries down by 2.06%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.96%, ONGC down by 1.96% and NTPC down by 1.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said that the India’s farm sector crisis is expected to deepen further in the financial year 2016-17, amid fall in the global commodities markets. He stated that 'At present, the global market is not behaving in a normal manner. As a result, the crisis in agriculture sector is deepening’.

Ramesh Chand further said that from 2005 till 2012 Indian farmers benefited from rising global food prices, but the situation has worsened in the last two years where agriculture is facing serious problems. He said that the country has seen drought and unseasonal rains and added that despite lower production the prices are not being push up. While Emphasizing the need to train farmers with additional skills in order to get jobs outside farming and existing programmes like Start Up India to tide over the agricultural crisis, Chand pitched for more private sector involvement, reforms in land lease policy and easy market access. Besides, he said that there is a need to provide some income to farmers outside agricultural sectors, while suggesting the key reforms to sustain farm growth and farmers' welfare. He also emphasized on shedding the socialist mindset and involving the private sector in all aspects of agriculture.

On the credit system, Chand said that 50 per cent of the farmers still depend on private lenders. In order to bring them into formal banking credit system, he suggested launching of a 'kisan dhan yojana' to be blend with the existing 'Jhan Dhan Yojana'.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7414.95, down by 22.85 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 7379.45 and 7463.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 7.26%, Bank of Baroda up by 3.09%, Tata Steel up by 2.81%, Adani Ports & Special up by 2.54% and GAIL India up by 2.13%.

On the flip side, Cairn India down by 4.43%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.11%, BPCL down by 2.39%, Reliance Industries down by 2.27% and ONGC down by 1.98% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 283.32 points or 1.45% to 19,237.45, Nikkei 225 decreased 191.54 points or 1.12% to 16,955.57, Jakarta Composite decreased 50.48 points or 1.12% to 4,473.50, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.84 points or 0.36% to 1,622.71 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.42 points or 0.02% to 1,878.45.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite increased 12.87 points or 0.44% to 2,913.84 and Taiwan Weighted increased 49.17 points or 0.63% to 7,811.18.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 47.84 points or 0.82% to 5,851.94, France’s CAC increased 44.09 points or 1.05% to 4,254.25 and Germany’s DAX increased 110.71 points or 1.16% to 9,655.98.