Markets extend last session losses with a gap down opening

With a gap down opening Indian equity markets have extended their previous session losses and are now trading with cut of over a per cent, following a weak closing on Wall Street in overnight trades. Sustained selling in mostly all the key heavyweights along with broader indices dragged both Sensex and Nifty to below their crucial 24000 and 7300 levels respectively. Sentiments were under pressure on report that India's economy grew by 7.3 percent in the third quarter ended December 2015, compared to 7.7 percent growth in the second quarter. The sentiments were further weighed down by Indian rupee depreciating 25 paise to 68.19 against US dollar on account of persistent demand for the American currency from banks and importers, as a sell-off in European and US stocks continued into the Asian session. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 84.56 crore on February 8, 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Shares of IT majors like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services dropped up to 4 per cent after global IT major Cognizant provided weak earnings guidance.

On the global front, the US markets ended lower on Monday amid growth concerns and uncertainty over the Fed's stance on interest rates.  Most of the Asian stock markets are closed today for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Back home, all sectoral indices, barring Power, were trading in red led by IT, TECK, Banking, Metal and Realty. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 383:1194, while 49 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23998.58, down by 288.84 points or 1.19% after trading in a range of 23919.47 and 24076.85. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.94%, while Small cap index down by 1.07%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Power up by 0.04%, while IT down by 3.18%, TECK down by 2.83%, Bankex down by 1.33%, Metal down by 1.28% and Realty down by 0.87% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 1.97%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.36%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.77%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 0.66% and NTPC up by 0.61%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.59%, TCS down by 3.44%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.38%, Coal India down by 1.96% and Wipro down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are likely to sign at least 16 pacts in a wide range of sectors like nuclear energy, oil, IT, aerospace and railways, during Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayad Al Nahayan's visit to India from February 10 – 12.

UAE Ambassador Ahmed Al Banna has said that the agreements will lead to 'huge investment portfolio' in diverse areas including renewable energy, oil and gas and some other major sectors. He further said that they have on hand around 16 agreements for cooperation between different ministries and authorities. Out of 16, almost 12 have been finalised and ready for signature and are hopeful that all the 16 will be signed. The pact on nuclear cooperation will provide for peaceful use of atomic energy as research and development in the area. UAE has similar pact with France and some other countries.

A major focus of the three-day visit by the influential UAE leader will be on stepping up economic ties. The Crown Prince will be accompanied by seven ministers and a high-powered business delegation consisting of 90-100 captains of UAE industry. The visit of the crown Prince will reinforce the ongoing relationship and will take to the next level that both sides are looking at which is strategic cooperation, strategic coordination and strategic relationship.

UAE is third-largest trading partner with two-way trade reaching nearly $60 billion in 2014-15. UAE, a major player in the Gulf region, is a strategically important country for India. Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, has a sovereign wealth fund of about $800 billion. India has been eying the fund, parked with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, for its infrastructure sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7298.35, down by 88.90 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 7280.70 and 7319.70. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 1.66%, Power Grid Corpn. up by 1.23%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.21%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.64% and Sun Pharma Inds. up by 0.57%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.98%, TCS down by 3.43%, PNB down by 3.39%, HCL Tech. down by 3.01% and Tech Mahindra down by 2.97% were the top losers.

Asain markets were trading in red, Nikkei 225 decreased 852.11 points or 5.01% to 16,152.19 and Jakarta Composite decreased 26.97 points or 0.56% to 4,771.98.