Markets span two-day gaining streak with a gap-down opening

Snapping two-day gaining streak, Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap-down opening and are trading lower by over half a percent, with both the Sensex and Nifty drifting below their psychological 25,600 and 7,850 levels respectively. Depreciation in Indian rupee against dollar too weighed down sentiments. The rupee weakened by 8 paise to 66.95 against the US dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to sustained demand for the American unit from importers and banks. Further, Weakness in global markets too added pressure, as investors turned cautious after strong US inflation numbers and Federal Reserve comments raised hopes of the central bank hiking rates later this year. Meanwhile, India's receipts from invisible services declined 4% to $57.61 billion in the October-December quarter of 2015-16, while payments towards such activities rose by 5.8% to $30.67 billion. However, shares of all three listed associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI) gained by up to 4 per cent on BSE as reports suggested that SBI may merge its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself.

On the global front, US markets ended lower on Tuesday, amid gains in oil prices, after renewed investor concerns about a Fed moving sooner rather than later. Asian markets were trading mostly in red after upbeat US economic reports led to renewed speculation that the US. However, Japanese market was trading higher after data showed that the country's economy grew more than expected in the first quarter.

Back home, traders were seen piling up position in Oil & Gas, PSU and Consumer Durables, while selling was witnessed in Banking, IT, TECK and FMCG. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 634: 860, while 67 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25585.20, down by 188.41 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 25554.97 and 25671.48. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.32%, while Small cap index was tad lower by 0.07%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.76%, PSU up by 0.30% and Consumer Durables up by 0.08%, while Auto down by 1.24%, Bankex down by 0.93%, IT down by 0.67%, TECK down by 0.63% and FMCG down by 0.56% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.40%, GAIL India up by 0.66%, SBI up by 0.48%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.34% and NTPC up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.18%, BHEL down by 1.61%, ICICI Bank down by 1.41%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.38% and Tata Motors down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after good monsoon predictions, there is something more that can cheer the government, the global performance management company - Nielsen- in its latest study has stated that Indian consumers were the most confident in the world in terms of job prospects, personal finances and concerns in the first quarter of 2016, with their confidence index touching a nine-year high during the period.

India’s Consumer Confidence Index score increased three index points in the first quarter to a score of 134, the highest for the country since 2007. According to the study, India and Indonesia are bright spots among Asian growth markets with confidence up three and two points respectively from the previous quarter. The report further added that all three confidence indicators increased from the previous quarter in both countries with job sentiment, personal finances and immediate spending intentions at consistently high levels.

Regarding the global consumer confidence, the study found it remaining stable in the first quarter and below the optimism baseline score of 100, edging up one index point to 98. While 11 countries out of 61 saw their confidence increase five or more points relative to a year ago, 21 saw confidence fall five or more points compared to the first quarter of 2015. In the world’s largest economy, the US consumer confidence score of 110 remained at or above the optimism baseline for nine consecutive quarters.

Meanwhile, among key European markets, confidence declined four points in the U.K. (97) and one point in Germany (97) from the previous quarter, as the outlook for jobs in the next 12 months worsened in both countries. In China, consumer confidence edged down two points to 105, as the share expressing a positive outlook for jobs in the next year declined five percentage points to 60%-the lowest level since 2010. Confidence also declined 11 points in Hong Kong (88) and six points in Japan (73).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7836.70, down by 54.05 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 7826.15 and 7852.50. There were 10 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.40%, BPCL up by 1.27%, GAIL India up by 0.78%, SBI up by 0.59% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.24%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.19%, BHEL down by 1.57%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.53%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.49% and Bosch down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 338.37 points or 1.68% to 19,780.43, Shanghai Composite decreased 49.39 points or 1.74% to 2,794.29, KOSPI Index decreased 12.39 points or 0.63% to 1,955.67, Taiwan Weighted decreased 7.69 points or 0.09% to 8,132.79 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.5 points or 0.03% to 1,632.89.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 5.84 points or 0.12% to 4,735.00 and Nikkei 225 increased 100.75 points or 0.61% to 16,753.55.