Benchmarks erase losses; trade in green

Indian equity benchmarks erased losses and started trading in green in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Traders have turned their attention to a speech by US Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen scheduled later in the day. There are hopes Yellen will shed some light on the Fed’s thinking on its interest rate policy in her speech in New York. Investors are patiently waiting for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy review due on April 5 amid hopes of a 25 basis points cut in interest rates. Traders were seen piling up position in Auto, Metal and Bankex stocks while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods, Power and Consumer Durables sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Lupin was trading in red after touching 52-week low amid reports of USFDA regulatory concerns at one of its units. Excel Industries was trading firm after the company approved buyback of shares at Rs 275 per share for up to Rs 18 crore. The market may remain volatile today as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. March 2016 series to next month i.e. April 2016 series. The near month March 2016 derivatives contracts will expire on Thursday i.e. March 31, 2016.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly in red, while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 7,600 and 24,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 885:1572 while 160 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24970.00, up by 3.60 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 24835.56 and 25053.73. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 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 0.24%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.13%, Metal up by 0.84%, Bankex up by 0.60%, Oil & Gas up by 0.39%, Realty up by 0.33% while, Capital Goods down by 0.69%, Power down by 0.29%, Consumer Durables down by 0.17%, FMCG down by 0.10% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.00%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.83%, Tata Steel up by 1.85%, Reliance Industries up by 1.49% and Adani Ports & Special up by 1.46%.

On the flip side, Lupin down by 8.46%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.58%, Sun Pharma down by 2.47%, Cipla down by 2.19% and GAIL India down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Coal Ministry during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed that two of the four fuel linkage projects including Shivpur-Kathautia rail line in Jharkhand are facing delays and added that there is need for the Centre's intervention to expedite delayed projects. The Ministry said that the forest clearance for the project in underway and land acquisition for the project is pending. Further, it also discussed exploring opportunities to promote coastal movement of coal.

Out of the four projects, the Ministry said that the crucial Jharsuguda-Barpalli railway line in Odisha in on schedule and is likely to be completed by June. Besides, Bhupdevpur/Kharsiya to Korichapar-Dharamjaigarh project in Chhattisgarh is on schedule and it is expected to be completed by March, next year.

Recently, the government had said that the land related issues with regard to long-pending Tori-Shivpur railway line, which would help in fast evacuation of coal to power plants, have been resolved and the 44-km long project is expected to be completed by 2017-end. The government had said that the project will evacuate 80-100 million tonnes of coal.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7619.70, up by 4.60 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 7582.25 and 7645.80. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.15%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.74%, Idea Cellular up by 2.56%, Tata Steel up by 2.31% and Hindalco up by 2.16%.

On the flip side, Lupin down by 7.91%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.79%, Cipla down by 2.51%, Sun Pharma down by 2.37% and Zee Entertainment down by 2.04% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 73.1 points or 0.84% to 8,617.35, Shanghai Composite decreased 37.99 points or 1.28% to 2,919.83, Nikkei 225 decreased 30.84 points or 0.18% to 17,103.53 and Jakarta Composite decreased 0.87 points or 0.02% to 4,772.76.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 9.13 points or 0.54% to 1,711.54, KOSPI Index increased 12.37 points or 0.62% to 1,994.91 and Hang Seng increased 20.69 points or 0.1% to 20,366.30.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 30.85 points or 0.51% to 6,137.33, France’s CAC increased 41.86 points or 0.97% to 4,371.54 and Germany’s DAX increased 55.9 points or 0.57% to 9,907.25.