Benchmarks trades in red in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued its weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip stocks taking cues from global counterparts. The sentiments remained under pressure after International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that the government must prioritize clean-up of its banks balance sheets and tackle corporate debt overhang, additionally cautioning against the risk of potential capital outflows. IMF warned of further downward revision to global growth estimates at upcoming spring meetings, calling for policymakers to adopt a more comprehensive plan to strengthen growth prospects. Investors maintained a cautious approach ahead of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for January scheduled to be released tomorrow. Traders were seen piling up position in Metal, Consumer Durables and Auto stocks while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods, IT and TECK sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) was trading in red after domestic rating agency downgraded its ratings on the bank facilities and debt programmes of the company. On the other hand, airline stocks Jet Airways, SpiceJet and InterGlobe Aviation were trading in green on reports of slash in aviation turbine fuel or jet fuel price.

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 7,500 and 24,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1130:1278, while 150 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24613.53, down by 180.43 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 24471.39 and 24817.48. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.04%, while Small cap index down by 0.02%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.11%, Consumer Durables up by 0.50%, Auto up by 0.02% while, Capital Goods down by 1.40%, IT down by 1.37%, TECK down by 1.28%, FMCG down by 1.03%, Realty down by 0.75% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.49%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.30%, Cipla up by 0.90%, NTPC up by 0.87% and Coal India up by 0.84%.

On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.74%, BHEL down by 2.55%, Reliance Industries down by 2.33%, GAIL India down by 1.81% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that during the April- December period in the current fiscal, over 90 percent of the total Foreign Direct investment (FDI) was received which came through automatic route. FDI equity inflow received through automatic route and approval route during the current financial year up to December 2015 is 90.24 percent and 9.76 percent respectively.

Sitharaman said the government had put in place a liberal and transparent policy under which most sectors have been opened to FDI under the automatic route. FDI is permitted in most of the sectors through automatic route, but the segments which are considered sensitive for economy need to be first cleared from FIPB.  Meanwhile, she also highlighted that the investment commitments worth $45.68 billion have been made through FDI inflows after the launch of ‘Make in India’ initiative in September, 2014. The investment commitments have been made in the period between October 2014 and December 2015.

According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), India has received $29.44 billion foreign direct investment (FDI), surging by 40 percent during April-December in the current fiscal. During the period, the sectors which attracted FDI include computer software and hardware, services sector, trading, automobile and chemicals.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7486.15, down by 45.65 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 7447.40 and 7547.10. There were 18 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.82%, Cairn India up by 3.55%, Vedanta up by 1.65%, HDFC up by 1.63% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.47%.

On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.01%, BHEL down by 2.74%, Reliance Industries down by 2.49%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.20% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.83% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.93 points or 0.23% to 1,690.28, KOSPI Index increased 16.38 points or 0.84% to 1,969.33, Taiwan Weighted increased 26.59 points or 0.31% to 8,660.70 and Nikkei 225 increased 210.15 points or 1.26% to 16,852.35.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 57.83 points or 2.02% to 2,804.73, Jakarta Composite decreased 32.61 points or 0.68% to 4,778.43 and Hang Seng decreased 11.84 points or 0.06% to 19,984.42.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 5.33 points or 0.09% to 6,151.65, France’s CAC increased 14.45 points or 0.33% to 4,440.10 and Germany’s DAX increased 19.97 points or 0.21% to 9,743.06.