Weakness persists on Dalal Streel in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade with a cut of over half a percent in noon deals as market participants remained caution ahead of Parliament’s Budget session today as concerns over passage of proposed Bills persisted and focus shifted to key Goods and Services Tax Bill, which is considered as the country’s biggest indirect tax reform since Independence. Depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened sentiments. The rupee was trading lower by 22 paise at 66.70 against the dollar in noon trade on sustained demand for the US currency from importers.

Global cues too remained sluggish with most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red terrain at this point of time, as telecommunication companies led Japanese shares lower and investors awaited policy decisions this week from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. Back home, traders also remained on sidelines ahead of the April F&O series expiry later in the week. Gold and jewellary stocks remained under pressure despite government deciding to set up a high-level sub-committee to look into the issue of excise duty on jewellery. The sub-committee, chaired by former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahiri, will interact with the trade and industry on the issue.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25694.16, down by 143.98 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 25649.12 and 25891.03. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.14%, while Small cap index down by 0.25%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.53%, Capital Goods up by 0.10% and TECK up by 0.07%, while Utilities down by 1.57%, Power down by 1.46%, Metal down by 1.10%, Energy down by 1.06% and Oil & Gas down by 0.93% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.59%, TCS up by 1.05%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.93%, Coal India up by 0.61% and ICICI Bank up by 0.56%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 3.14%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.94%, Tata Steel down by 1.88%, Reliance Industries down by 1.85% and Axis Bank down by 1.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a day after government rolled back its decision to tighten PF withdrawal norms restricting subscribers to withdraw employer’s share of PF contributions before the age of 58 years, the Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its meeting held on April 21, has planned to launch ‘One Employee One EPF Account’ system on May 1, in order to discourage premature PF withdrawals and encourage state governments to join its pension system.

Emphasizing the need for effective communication with employees and employers, EPFO’s Central Provident Fund Commissioner V P Joy stated that frequent withdrawals by employees on each job change, which is also encouraged by employers, need to be addressed by good service and simple interface.  He is of the view that employers and employees must be able to view and access the money trail pertaining to their individual profiles.

Joy stated that if the EPFO services and schemes are made more employee friendly, then a reference can be made to state governments for joining the EPF pension systems. He stated that once EPF services are improved then more people will voluntarily join the EPF system.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7857.00, down by 42.30 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 7840.50 and 7911.00. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 1.63%, TCS up by 1.07%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.86%, Ambuja Cement up by 0.68% and Coal India up by 0.64%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.51%, NTPC down by 3.48%, Axis Bank down by 2.06%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.99% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 133.19 points or 0.76% to 17,439.30, Hang Seng shed 103.74 points or 0.48% to 21,363.30, Jakarta Composite fell 40.81 points or 0.83% to 4,873.93, Shanghai Composite slipped 11.05 points or 0.37% to 2,948.19, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 6.09 points or 0.35% to 1,711.87 and KOSPI Index was down by 0.94 points or 0.05% to 2,014.55. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was up by 24.53 points or 0.29% to 8,560.28.