Benchmarks continue to reel under pressure in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continue to reel under pressure in noon deals on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and selling by retail investors amid weak Asian cues. Investors remained on sidelines ahead of the derivatives expiry and the Railway Budget tomorrow. Falling crude oil prices and weak global markets also dampened the domestic sentiment. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red terrain at this point of time as oil prices skidded after Saudi Arabia effectively ruled out production cuts by major producers anytime soon, sending investors into safe-havens such as the yen.

Back home, banking shares continue to succumb under pressure as there is no visibility with regards to asset quality and its impact on the fourth quarter results. Steel stocks too edged lower on report that the steel production has fallen by 1.5 percent to 7.4 million tonnes (MT) in January 2016 compared with the output in the same month last year. Energy counter too witnessed with ONGC and Cairn India losing over 2% each on further plunge in the crude oil prices after Iran said a proposal by Saudi Arabia and Russia for producers to freeze output was “ridiculous” as the Persian Gulf nation seeks to boost exports after years of sanctions. However, Shares of sugar companies rose today amid hopes of export boost.

The broader indices too were reeling under pressure, while the market breadth on the BSE was negative; there were 708 shares on the gaining side against 1,527 shares on the losing side while 151 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23204.51, down by 205.67 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 23140.17 and 23338.89. 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 0.59%, while Small cap index down by 0.77%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 1.88%, Healthcare down by 1.63%, Materials down by 1.28%, Industrials down by 1.25% and Finance down by 1.21%, while there were no gainers on the index

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.29%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.89%, Asian Paints up by 0.80%, Axis Bank up by 0.51% and Reliance Industries up by 0.37%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.83%, NTPC down by 2.74%, BHEL down by 2.39%, HDFC down by 2.19% and ONGC down by 2.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to boost economic cooperation and strengthen financial stability within the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the $2 billion currency swap arrangement to SAARC nations till mid-November 2017.

Under this agreement, RBI will offer Swap Arrangement up to and overall amount of $2 billion both in foreign currency and Indian rupee. The facility will be available to all SAARC member countries, viz., Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The swap amount available to various member central banks has been arrived at broadly based on two months import cover subject to a floor of $100 million and a maximum of $400 million per country. The SAARC Swap Arrangement was offered by the RBI to SAARC nations on November 15, 2012.

Earlier in November, the government had extended the currency swap facility for SAARC members, under which the RBI offers the facility of varying sizes not exceeding $2 billion in total.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7053.45, down by 56.10 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 7031.00 and 7080.15. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.03%, Power Grid up by 2.01%, Infosys up by 1.26%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.08% and Asian Paints up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.05%, NTPC down by 2.75%, Cairn India down by 2.69%, BHEL down by 2.49% and HDFC down by 2.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 247.2 points or 1.27% to 19,167.58, Nikkei 225 decreased 136.26 points or 0.85% to 15,915.79, Taiwan Weighted shed 51.78 points or 0.62% to 8,282.86, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 8.71 points or 0.52% to 1,668.57, Jakarta Composite slipped 5.29 points or 0.11% to 4,648.77 and KOSPI Index was down by 1.69 points or 0.09% to 1,912.53. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was up by 16.2 points or 0.56% to 2,919.53.