Benchmarks continue weak trade; Power, IT drag

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip stocks. The sentiments were under pressure from the early trade after International Monetary Fund warned that the world economy is highly vulnerable and called for new mechanisms to protect the most vulnerable countries. The global crisis raised concern that world growth had slowed and could be derailed by market turbulence, the oil price crash and geopolitical conflicts. The Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu concluded rail budget stating that it reflects the aspirations of the people. The minister announced several customer-oriented services and measures walking the tightrope between populist measures and the cash-strapped railways’ urgent need for finances to fund modernization and better passenger facilities.

Traders were seen piling up position in Metal, FMCG and Consumer Durables stocks, while selling was witnessed in Power, IT and TECK sector stocks. Majority of railway stocks or companies dealing in business of rail infrastructure were trading under pressure on account of profit booking post rail budget. The market may remain volatile as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. February 2016 series to next month i.e. March 2016 series. The near month February 2016 derivatives contracts will expire today i.e. February 25, 2016.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in green, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,000 and 23,100 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 943:1377, while 149 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 23044.79, down by 44.14 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 22961.05 and 23142.96. There were 9 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.63%, while Small cap index was down by 0.48%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.99%, FMCG up by 0.37%, Consumer Durables up by 0.27% while, Power down by 1.25%, IT down by 1.11%, TECK down by 1.02%, Auto down by 0.83%, Bankex down by 0.78% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 2.81%, HDFC up by 1.93%, Sun Pharma up by 1.70%, ONGC up by 1.22% and Cipla up by 1.00%.

On the flip side, GAIL India down by 3.31%, SBI down by 2.46%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.99%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.55% and Infosys down by 1.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ministry of Urban Development has given its approval for an investment of Rs 495.11 crore in 13 cities of six states under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) Action Plans for 2015-16. Out of total project cost of Rs 495.11 crore, the Centre will provide an assistance of Rs 425 crore under the mission. Of the total investments approved, Rs 201.86 crore will be spent to augment water supply, Rs 116.10 crore on expanding sewerage networks and septate management, Rs 85 crore to augment urban transport with focus on non-motorised transport, Rs 77.37 crore on storm water drain projects and Rs 14.69 crore on providing green spaces.

An inter-ministerial apex committee, chaired by Urban Development Secretary Madhusudhan Prasad, has cleared the investment plans for cities including Guwahati, Jammu, Srinagar, Panjim, Shillong, Agartala and Puducherry. The central government approved Rs 186.27 crore investment for Assam, Rs 171 core for Jammu and Kashmir, Rs 59.44 crore for Goa, Rs 36.62 crore for Tripura, Rs 22.81 crore for Meghalaya and Rs 18.97 crore for Puducherry.

The Urban Development Ministry has said that in respect of north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir the central government will bear 90 per cent of the project costs and for Puducherry it will bear 100 per cent and 50 per cent of the cost in case of Goa. Accordingly, for the year 2015-16, Assam will get central assistance of Rs 169.34 crore, Tripura Rs 32.96 crore, Meghalaya Rs 20.53 crore, Jammu and Kashmire Rs 153.90 crore, Goa Rs 29.72 crore and Puducherry Rs 18.97 crore.

The Urban Development Ministry with these approvals has so far approved a total investment of Rs 20,491 crore under AMRUT for 483 mission cities in 26 states and UTs for 2015-16. Atal Mission seeks to ensure coverage of all urban households in 500 mission cities with water supply and sewer connections, augmenting water supply, sewerage network services and storm water drains besides promoting green spaces.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6999.35, down by 19.35 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 6970.60 and 7034.20. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.98%, HDFC up by 2.08%, Hindalco up by 1.73%, Sun Pharma up by 1.58% and Tata Power up by 1.38%.

On the flip side, Power Grid down by 5.19%, GAIL India down by 3.12%, ACC down by 2.47%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.00% and SBI down by 1.95% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 5.04 points or 0.11% to 4,662.76, KOSPI Index increased 6.04 points or 0.32% to 1,918.57, Taiwan Weighted increased 83 points or 1% to 8,365.86 and Nikkei 225 increased 224.55 points or 1.41% to 16,140.34.

On the other hand, Hang Seng decreased 303.7 points or 1.58% to 18,888.75, Shanghai Composite decreased 187.65 points or 6.41% to 2,741.25 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 2.89 points or 0.17% to 1,661.28.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 101.89 points or 1.74% to 5,969.07, France’s CAC increased 66.41 points or 1.6% to 4,221.75 and Germany’s DAX increased 77.93 points or 0.85% to 9,245.73.