Benchmarks add losses; Nifty slips below 7500 mark

Indian bourses adding losses, continued to trade in red in the late morning session, with the Sensex losing over 200 points and Nifty falling below the 7500 level, on account of selling in frontline blue chip stocks. Sentiments remained subdued on the report from the global financial services major that the Big bang reforms will not be the operating template for India and the process will be a ‘slow and tedious one’. Furthermore, market participants remained cautious with the report that India’s import of project goods has been adversely affected by the ongoing downturn in global trade and, in turn, may point to a slowdown in the infrastructure sector. However, investors got some support with the report that foreign investors have committed $45.68 billion worth of equity capital inflows under the government's ambitious Make in India programme till December 2015. Firm global cues coupled with the appreciation in rupee value against the US dollar, also supported market sentiments. Indian rupee edged higher by 8 paise to 67.13 against the US dollar in early trade on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 462.86 crore on March 09, 2016.

On the global front, Asian markets trading mostly in positive territory on Thursday as investors remained optimistic on the expectations that the European Central Bank will slash interest rates and increase the amount of securities it buys from the market each month. However, weak microeconomic data from the world’s second largest economy, has weighted on the sentiments. China's inflation accelerated to 2.3 percent in February, driven by a jump in food prices. Meanwhile, US stocks closed modestly higher on Wednesday as a rally in oil prices and sharp advances in energy and tech stocks kept the main indexes buoyant. 

Back home, stocks from Metal and Consumer Durables counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from IT, Capital Goods and FMCG counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Shares of PTC India have surged after the company’s subsidiary company - PTC Energy (PEL) has achieved successful commissioning of its 30 MW Wind Power Project at Jaora, Ratlam District in Madhya Pradesh on March 08, 2016. Furthermore, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation has gained after the company received an approval to raise funds up to Rs 5,100 crore, subject to market conditions, by way of a secured or unsecured debt issue by means of a private placement or listed on any offshore or onshore Stock Exchanges.

The market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1092 shares on the gaining side against 1028 shares on the losing side while 118 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24546.37, down by 247.59 points or 1% after trading in a range of 24529.70 and 24817.48. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.03%, while Small cap index up by 0.15%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.26%, Consumer Durables up by 0.59% while, IT down by 1.60%, TECK down by 1.45%, Capital Goods down by 1.30%, FMCG down by 0.99%, Bankex down by 0.97% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 1.13%, ONGC up by 1.10%, Tata Steel up by 1.07%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.07% and NTPC up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.83%, BHEL down by 2.14%, Reliance Industries down by 1.82%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.71% and TCS down by 1.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, following the Budget announcement, the government in a month will be setting up a committee to review Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, with an aim to look into the feasibility of setting a range for fiscal deficit targets, as against the current practice of a fixed number.

Economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das has said that considering the fact that FRBM is under implementation for the last 10 years, time has come to review the FRBM law. In his Budget speech for 2016-17, finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the FRBM law would be reviewed, as it might be better to have a range of targets, enabling more flexibiliity in policy, which would give necessary policy space to the government to deal with ever-changing dynamics and that a committee would be constituted for this, while retaining the fiscal deficit target at 3.5 per cent of the gross domestic product for next financial year and 3.9 per cent of the GDP for this financial year.

Das further said that despite slowdown in the global economy, India is expected to grow at 7.6 per cent in the current fiscal, which would get better at 8 per cent and cross that mark in years to come. Additionally he said he hope the constitutional amendment on a goods and services tax will be passed by Parliament in the current session.  The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7471.40, down by 60.40 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 7467.30 and 7547.10. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.75%, Cairn India up by 3.99%, Vedanta up by 3.30%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.68% and Tata Power up by 1.53%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.95%, Reliance Industries down by 1.89%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.88%, BHEL down by 1.81% and TCS down by 1.74% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.29%, Taiwan Weighted up by 0.16%, KOSPI Index up by 0.89%, Hang Seng up by 0.64% and Nikkei 225 up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 0.83% and Shanghai Composite was down by 0.82%.