Weak trade persist in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. Investors shrugged Reuters poll report that showed India’s economy will hum along at a solid pace for the remainder of this fiscal year provided structural reforms are passed, while above-target inflation means the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will only cut rates once more this year. The poll of over 30 economists, taken in the past week, showed Asia’s third largest economy will expand 7.8% in the financial year ending March 2017, the fastest among big economies. Traders were seen piling position in Oil & Gas, Realty and FMCG stocks while selling was witnessed in Power, Bankex and Capital Goods sector stocks. In scrip specific development, HDFC Bank was trading in red after the bank’s gross non-performing assets increased to Rs 4,920.89 crore as on June 30, 2016 compared with Rs 4,392.83 crore as on March 31, 2016 and Rs 3,652.23 crore as on June 30, 2015. On the other hand, Neyveli Lignite Corporation was trading in green on cabinet approval for 1,980 MW thermal power project in Uttar Pradesh. VRL Logistics was trading firm after its promoters scrapped the decision to foray in aviation business.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading mostly on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,550 and 27,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1181:1330 while 205 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27841.91, down by 73.98 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 27739.07 and 27988.76. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.40%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.87%, Realty up by 0.35%, FMCG up by 0.33%, PSU up by 0.24% and Consumer Durables up by 0.03% while, Power down by 1.19%, Bankex down by 0.79%, Capital Goods down by 0.36%, IT down by 0.20% and TECK down by 0.07% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 1.92%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.18%, Coal India up by 1.05%, Cipla up by 1.00% and Asian Paints up by 0.85%.

On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 2.47%, Axis Bank down by 2.10%, ICICI Bank down by 1.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.28% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Indian restaurant industry is likely to contribute Rs 22,400 crore by way of taxes and create 5.8 million direct jobs in 2016. Indian Food Services Report (IFSR) 2016, prepared by the Indian restaurant industry body, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) has stated that the size of the market, organised as well as unorganised, which presently stands at Rs 3.09 lakh crore and has grown at 7.7 per cent since NRAI’s last report in 2013. It is projected to grow to Rs 4.98 lakh crore at a CAGR of 10 per cent by 2021.

The NRAI’s 3rd research on the Food Services Industry, a comprehensive Report that covered 2000 people across 20 cities of India and trade research at restaurants has stated that the unorganised sector holds a 67 per cent share, with an estimated size of Rs 2.07 lakh crore in FY16, however this is expected to fall and reach Rs 2.93 lakh crore by FY21, while the organised sector which presently holds a 33 per cent share and includes chain outlets, standalone outlets and restaurants in hotels, estimated at Rs 1.01 lakh crore in FY16, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15 per cent to reach Rs 2.04 lakh crore by FY21.

NRAI Secretary Rahul Singh stated that, the report estimates that the restaurant industry will contribute close to 2.1 per cent to India's Gross domestic product (GDP) by 2021 and added that the report findings reveal that the food services market in India has triggered growth across a wide range of ancillary industries, thus providing a boost to the entire ecosystem. Key allied industries which support food services and have benefited from its growth are agriculture and food processing, supply chain and logistics, real estate, kitchen equipment, and commissary.

The NRAI report addresses international market perspective for nine countries including USA, China, South Africa, Turkey and UAE.  The report also covers PE/VC funding in the industry and Digital/Social Media Marketing.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8545.55, down by 20.30 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 8524.70 and 8585.25. There were 23 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ACC up by 4.76%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.43%, IndusInd Bank up by 2.03%, Grasim Industries up by 1.74% and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 1.63%.

On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 2.58%, Axis Bank down by 2.15%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.09%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.06% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.56% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 11.11 points or 0.37% to 3,039.01, Taiwan Weighted increased 48.88 points or 0.54% to 9,056.56, Hang Seng increased 118.01 points or 0.54% to 22,000.49 and Nikkei 225 increased 128.33 points or 0.77% to 16,810.22.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite decreased 10.96 points or 0.21% to 5,231.87, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 9.31 points or 0.56% to 1,660.30 and KOSPI Index decreased 3.24 points or 0.16% to 2,012.22.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 3.56 points or 0.08% to 4,383.32, Germany’s DAX increased 17.93 points or 0.18% to 10,159.94, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 14.03 points or 0.21% to 6,714.96.