Markets in bear grip; Realty, Metal drag

Benchmark indices remained in bear grip in the late afternoon session on sustained selling activities by funds and retail investors amidst lack of positive triggers. The bulls failed to carry over previous session momentum as sentiments were dampened with Industrial Production plunging to 0.1% in March and retail inflation jumping to 5.39% in April. Looking at the release of the latest macro data, the street expects that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may not go for any fresh rate cut at its June money policy review. Traders were seen selling in Realty, Metal and Bankex sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Eicher Motors was trading in red after promoters sold stake in the company. The promoter group has sold 4.2% stake in the company for Rs 2,100 crore. On the other hand, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (CGCEL) was trading firm after being listed on the stock exchange. Private equity investors Advent International and Temasek launched Rs 1,695 crore open offer to acquire 26% stake in CGCEL to become majority shareholders.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in red while the European markets traded on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 7,850 and 25,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 882:1509 while 153 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25448.47, down by 341.75 points or 1.33% after trading in a range of 25400.27 and 25743.69. 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 0.31%, while Small cap index down by 0.26%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 1.99%, Metal down by 1.99%, Bankex down by 1.50%, Capital Goods down by 1.48%, Consumer Durables down by 1.19%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 1.57%, ITC up by 0.45% and Tata Motors up by 0.41%.

On the flip side, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 4.61%, Hindustan Unilever down by 3.19%, ICICI Bank down by 2.87%, GAIL India down by 2.69% and HDFC down by 2.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, abandoning the ancient concept of five-year plans, the government has decided to come up with a 15-year vision document in tandem with global trends and economic growth.  This will also include internal security and defence that has been not a part of the five year plan. The long-term vision document will formulate various ways through which India can achieve its broader social objectives to meet the UNDP’s 2030 sustainable goals and will be a roadmap on transformation required in the planning system to sync it with the 14th Finance Commission recommendations. The move comes just three months after finance minister Arun Jaitley hinted in his budget speech that the government will abandon the plan and non-plan distinction from 2017-18, indicating that the five-year plan process will end with the 12th five-year plan (2012-17).

The first 15-year vision document will start from 2017-18, along with a seven-year National Development Agenda which will lay down the schemes, programmes and strategies to achieve the long-term vision. National Development Agenda will be reviewed after a gap of every three years to ensure that it was aligned with financial needs and requirements. For the first Development Agenda, the review would be done in 2019-20, in line with the termination year of the 14th Finance Commission. The NITI Aayog will create a dashboard for constant monitoring, evaluation and reviewing and also fix up outcome targets for all major schemes of infrastructure and social sectors. A plan for the current financial year would be submitted to the Prime Minister's Office by later this month.

The Five-Year Plans were started by Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1951. Since then India had 12 such programs ensured an integrated approach to national economic programs. However, the Modi government felt that the Planning Commission and the five-year-plans have outlived their utility.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7802.50, down by 97.90 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 7784.20 and 7881.00. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Idea Cellular up by 1.56%, HCL Tech up by 1.55%, Asian Paints up by 1.41%, ITC up by 0.64% and Tata Motors up by 0.49%.

On the flip side, Adani Ports &Special down by 5.43%, Hindalco down by 4.07%, Eicher Motors down by 3.91%, Hindustan Unilever down by 3.28% and ICICI Bank down by 2.87% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 234.13 points or 1.41% to 16,412.21, Hang Seng decreased 196.17 points or 0.99% to 19,719.29, Taiwan Weighted decreased 54.36 points or 0.67% to 8,053.69, Jakarta Composite decreased 46.58 points or 0.97% to 4,756.74, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 26.02 points or 1.58% to 1,622.96, KOSPI Index decreased 10.5 points or 0.53% to 1,966.99 and Shanghai Composite decreased 8.75 points or 0.31% to 2,827.11.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 30.4 points or 0.5% to 6,073.79, Germany’s DAX decreased 48.32 points or 0.49% to 9,813.80 and France’s CAC decreased 22.6 points or 0.53% to 4,270.67.