Choppiness continues on Dalal Street in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade choppy in noon deals with traders offloading positions in risky assets after three days of continues rally. Market participants remained on sidelines ahead of the second edition of Gyan Sangam, a retreat of heads of public sector financial institutions, in the background of the government's strategy to consolidate public sector (PSU) banks. Asian markets were trading mostly in green at this point of time as participants remained cautious ahead of the US employment report due to be slated today amid volatility in crude oil prices.

Back home, Staying on the upward trajectory for the sixth straight day, the rupee gained another 10 paise to trade at 67.24 against the US dollar in noon deals at the Interbank Foreign. The broader indices, however, were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,406 shares on the gaining side against 867 shares on the losing side while 114 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24604.50, down by 2.49 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 24531.80 and 24719.05. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.86%, while Small cap index up by 0.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.57%, PSU up by 1.30%, Realty up by 1.19%, Power up by 0.90% and Oil & Gas up by 0.61%, while IT down by 0.29%, Consumer Durables down by 0.19%, TECK down by 0.17% and Bankex down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 3.78%, ONGC up by 2.46%, Cipla up by 2.27%, Tata Motors up by 2.13% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.61%, GAIL India down by 1.37%, Sun Pharma down by 1.31%, Asian Paints down by 1.15% and Wipro down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government is planning to set up four new major ports at Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh at an investment of Rs 32,000 crore under PPP model. Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan has said that these projects are proposed to be taken up through combination of public and private investment.

Radhakrishnan said that the four new ports are proposed to set up at Colachel, Tamil Nadu with an estimated cost of RS 6,000 crore, Dahanu Maharashtra with Rs 9,000 crore estimated cost, Sagar Island, West Bengal with Rs 11,000 crore estimated cost and Dugarajapatnam, Andhra Pradesh with cost of Rs 6,000 crore.

Besides, he said that the outer harbour projects are proposed to be taken up in VOC port at Tuticorin at an expenditure of about Rs 11,000 crore and Paradip, Odisha at Rs 5,000 crore approx. Ports capacity in India is close to about 1,400 million tonnes. Minister Further said that apart from 12 major ports, which are under the control of the centre, 200 non-majorthere are about ports under the control of the respective maritime state governments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7466.70, down by 8.90 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 7444.10 and 7505.90. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 4.82%, BHEL up by 3.87%, PNB up by 2.78%, ONGC up by 2.74% and Cipla up by 2.66%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 2.80%, Idea Cellular down by 1.62%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.60%, Sun Pharma down by 1.45% and Adani Ports &Special down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 5.66 points or 0.34% to 1,693.86, Shanghai Composite gained 15.78 points or 0.55% to 2,875.54, Taiwan Weighted rose 31.76 points or 0.37% to 8,643.55, Nikkei 225 added 54.62 points or 0.32% to 17,014.78 and Hang Seng was up by 133.98 points or 0.67% to 20,075.74.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 36.29 points or 0.75% to 4,807.75 and KOSPI Index was down by 2.54 points or 0.13% to 1,955.63.