Choppiness continues on Dalal Street in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade choppy in afternoon session, as sentiment remained weak in the absence of any positive trigger amid sustained capital outflows by foreign funds. Traders remained cautious ahead of key economic data tomorrow. The government will release data for Consumer Price Inflation for March and Index of Industrial Production for February on April 12. Some cautiousness also crept in with a WTO report stating that India's rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2015 in the list of top 30 merchandise exporters of the world, though India's ranking among top importers slipped by one notch to 13th in 2015. India's exports dipped by 17.2 percent to $ 267 billion last year while imports aggregated at $ 392 billion.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red with Japanese shares retreating amid a slump in machine orders. Closer home, losses remained capped with Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das’ statement that a Parliamentary panel is expected to submit its report on the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code on April 29 and government would push for the passage of the bill in the second leg of the Budget session. The broader indices, however, were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,207 shares on the gaining side against 1,033 shares on the losing side while 109 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24642.55, down by 31.29 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 24600.65 and 24791.36. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.41%, while Small cap index up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.77%, Consumer Durables up by 2.22%, Realty up by 1.09%, Power up by 1.06% and Utilities up by 1.04%, while FMCG down by 0.71%, Finance down by 0.37%, IT down by 0.28%, Healthcare down by 0.27% and Bankex down by 0.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.83%, Adani Ports &Special up by 3.11%, BHEL up by 2.33%, NTPC up by 1.10% and Tata Motors up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 1.96%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.28%, HDFC Bank down by 1.21%, Cipla down by 1.20% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, stretching the energy ties with Iran, India is to invest up to $20 billion in oil and gas as well as petrochemical and fertiliser projects in the Persian Gulf country subject to provision of concessional rights. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has informed the Iranian side that India is interested in setting up petrochemical and fertiliser plants, including those in Chabahar SEZ, either through a joint venture between Indian and Iranian public sector companies or with private sector partners.

In this regard Pradhan has requested Iran to allocate appropriate and adequate land in the SEZ and has also requested the Iranian side for favourable treatment in the pricing of gas for India and supply of rich gas at competitive price on long-term basis for the life of joint venture projects Indian companies are interested in setting up.

Furthermore, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, on a two-day visit to Tehran from April 9, also discussed with his Iranian counterpart the repayment of nearly $6.5 billion that Indian refiners owe to Iran, but there is no agreement yet on rights to develop Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf discovered by OVL. Pradhan conveyed that India is committed towards making payments as and when banking channels, acceptable to both sides, are available.

Pradhan also conveyed to the Iranian side that both countries must expand the basket of oil and gas trade. He expressed India’s interest in importing LPG from Iran and said companies from both sides could discuss on setting up an extraction plant in Chabahar, if required. Both sides agreed to continue examining various means of evacuation of gas such as LNG, including through the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7548.95, down by 6.25 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 7534.95 and 7580.80. There were 28 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 3.69%, Idea Cellular up by 3.21%, Adani Ports &Special up by 2.96%, BHEL up by 2.04% and Hindalco up by 1.88%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 1.90%, Grasim Industries down by 1.33%, HDFC Bank down by 1.26%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.26% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 70.39 points or 0.44% to 15,751.13, Jakarta Composite declined 52.38 points or 1.08% to 4,794.32, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI shed 5.22 points or 0.3% to 1,713.18 and KOSPI Index was down by 1.68 points or 0.09% to 1,970.37. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted increased 21.09 points or 0.25% to 8,562.59, Shanghai Composite surged 44.43 points or 1.49% to 3,029.39 and Hang Seng was up by 68.75 points or 0.34% to 20,439.15.