Benchmarks extend southward journey; Sensex breaches 24,400 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have extended their losses breaching their crucial 24,400 (Sensex) and 7,450 (Nifty) levels in noon deals. Sentiments remained down-beat on report that Exports dipped for 15th straight month in Feb, fall 5.6%. Besides, investors remained on sidelines awaiting the outcome of the two-day US Federal Reserve policy meet which began yesterday. The Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting will end today. Selling was both brutal and wide-based as none of sectoral indices on BSE, barring information technology, were spared. Counters, which featured in the list of worst performers, include consumer durables, metal and auto.

 Asian markets exhibiting mixed trend at this point of time as investors watched for news from a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting and from China's annual legislative session. Closer home, stocks related to pharma space remained under pressure on some reports that the government may ban nearly 400 fixed-dose combination medicines made by 1,500 manufacturers in the next six months due to harmful side-effects. The gold and jewellery stocks continue to trade lower for second straight session on report that gold imports in February declined 29.49 percent to $1.39 billion.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24372.06, down by 179.11 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 24366.39 and 24565.30. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.35%, while Small cap index down by 0.93%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was IT up by 0.12%, while Consumer Durables down by 3.29%, Metal down by 1.64%, Auto down by 1.37%, Basic Materials down by 1.24% and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 1.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 0.76%, ITC up by 0.68% and NTPC up by 0.12%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.23%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.17%, Sun Pharma down by 1.77%, Axis Bank down by 1.75% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the disinvestment department is strategising to aggressively market PSUs (Public Sector Undertaking) among investors in countries such as Japan and US, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created a positive buzz about opportunities in India. This step has come after the good response from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the latest offers for sales in Concor and NTPC.

An action plan is being readied to increase engagement with select top investors of these countries in one-to-one as well as group interactions to showcase the opportunities in various sectors such as infrastructure, metals and oil & gas. After a lacklustre response from FPIs in most part of the current fiscal, investor’s participation increased in the latest government stake sales in Concor and NTPC. The effort would be to bring small stake sales in PSUs on a regular interval to maximise the opportunities subject to market conditions

For the current fiscal, the government has revised the disinvestment revenue target to Rs 25,300 crore as against Rs 69,500 crore set in Budget. Out of Rs 56,500 crore target set for next fiscal, Rs 36,000 crore is estimated to come from minority stake sales in PSUs and the remaining Rs 20,500 crore from strategic stake sales. Foreign participation in the government’s disinvestment programme would significantly increase after the Budget announcement on February 29, increasing the FPI limit in non-bank PSUs to 49% from 24%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7411.55, down by 49.05 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 7409.10 and 7470.40. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.01%, ITC up by 0.96%, Infosys up by 0.82%, Grasim Industries up by 0.24% and NTPC up by 0.20%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 4.77%, Vedanta down by 3.63%, Asian Paints down by 2.26%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.17% and PNB down by 2.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.68 points or 0.1% to 1,692.60, KOSPI Index gained 4.93 points or 0.25% to 1,974.90, Shanghai Composite rose 7.65 points or 0.27% to 2,872.02 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 87.96 points or 1.02% to 8,699.14.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 142.62 points or 0.83% to 16,974.45, Hang Seng declined 76.53 points or 0.38% to 20,212.24 and Jakarta Composite was down by 3.18 points or 0.07% to 4,846.61.