Benchmarks continue to reel under pressure in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continue to reel under pressure as investors remain wary after strong US inflation numbers and Federal Reserve comments raised hopes of the central bank hiking rates later this year. Sentiments also remained dampened with report that India’s receipts from invisible services declined 4 per cent to $57.61 billion in the October-December quarter of 2015-16, while payments towards such activities rose by 5.8 per cent to $30.67 billion. On the global front, Asian stocks fell for the first time in three days as better-than-expected data in the US and Japan fuelled speculation their central bank policies will be less accommodative than was previously envisaged.

Back home, weak rupee, which fell for the fifth day against the dollar, also has its bearing on domestic equities. The partially convertible currency is trading at 66.93 in noon deals, weaker by 6 paise from its previous close of 66.87 on Tuesday due to sustained demand for the American unit from importers and banks. Banking counter edged lower on profit booking after yesterday’s rally after SBI chairwomen has called for the government to park surplus funds with banks instead of the RBI to make up for fund shortage. However, shares of companies focusing on agriculture such as agrochemicals, pesticides and other special chemicals remained on buyers’ radar, ever since India Meteorological Department predicted good monsoon this year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25572.04, down by 201.57 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 25503.40 and 25671.48. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.34%, while Small cap index up by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 0.26%, Consumer Durables up by 0.06%, Oil & Gas up by 0.05% and Capital Goods up by 0.01%, while Auto down by 1.56%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 0.93%, FMCG down by 0.89%, TECK down by 0.82% and IT down by 0.75% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 1.36%, ONGC up by 1.26%, Adani Ports &Special up by 0.44%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.27% and Lupin up by 0.26%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.24%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.93%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.87%, BHEL down by 1.82% and TCS down by 1.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya has proposed a 15-fold increase in the rehabilitation cost of bonded labourers to up to Rs 3,00,000 in order to restore the government's pro-labour image. The government is revising the rehabilitation of bonded labour scheme and increasing the quantum of financial assistance from Rs 20 thousand to one lakh rupees. The scheme proposes to increase the budget provision from Rs 5 crore to about Rs 47 crore per annum.

Under the revised scheme, male bonded labourer would get a financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh, while a child or woman would of get Rs 2 lakh. This would go up to Rs 3 lakh in case of a differently-abled or physically challenged bonded labourer.

The minister said that under this new scheme the money will remain in an annuity account, controlled by the District Magistrate and a monthly earning will flow to the beneficiary account for his/her comfortable living. Furthermore, the new scheme aims to address new forms of bondage such as organised begging rings, forced prostitution and child labour for which females, disabled and transgenders are mercilessly used by the powerful elements.

In the year 1978, the government had launched a centrally-sponsored scheme for rehabilitation of bonded labourers. Under the scheme, an assistance of up to Rs 4,000 per bonded labour was provided initially. This was raised to Rs 6,250 in 1986 and to Rs 10,000 in 1995, before fixing it at Rs 20,000 in 1999.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7829.10, down by 61.65 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 7810.75 and 7852.50. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 1.36%, ONGC up by 1.26%, HCL Tech up by 0.91%, Adani Ports & Special up by 0.55% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.40%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.23%, Bosch down by 2.22%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.17%, BHEL down by 1.94% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 328.34 points or 1.63% to 19,790.46, Shanghai Composite dropped 60.05 points or 2.11% to 2,783.63, KOSPI Index shed 11.33 points or 0.58% to 1,956.73 and Nikkei 225 was down by 8.11 points or 0.05% to 16,644.69.

On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.72 points or 0.04% to 1,634.11, Jakarta Composite gained 4.35 points or 0.09% to 4,733.51 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 19.2 points or 0.24% to 8,159.68.