Benchmarks continue lackluster trade in late noon session

Indian equity indices continued the lackluster trade in the late noon session, hovering in negative territory on global pessimism and in absence of any buying interest, which is forcing market to trade below neutral line. Weak trend in the global market too weighed. Asian stock markets are trading in red, with Hang Seng index trading lower by around 250 points ahead of number of economic numbers from the euro zone and the US.

Back home, losses remained capped after India Meteorological Department (IMD), ahead of its second stage monsoon forecast, predicted that with reduced chances of La Nina weather event, the monsoon rainfall this year is likely to be normal and not 'above normal', even though monsoon rains in India were 4 percent below average in the last one week. In scrip specific development, ICICI Bank was trading 3 per cent down ahead of its earnings for the first quarter ended June 30, 2016, slated to be announced later in the day.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28105.06, down by 103.56 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 28076.48 and 28233.47. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.83%, while Small cap index added by 0.54%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.91%, Auto up by 0.73%, Realty up by 0.47%, PSU up by 0.41%, Metal up by 0.40% while, Consumer Durables down by 0.77%, Capital Goods down by 0.64%, Bankex down by 0.51%, TECK down by 0.33%, IT down by 0.21% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 2.22%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.00%, Tata Steel up by 1.77%, Lupin up by 1.73% and Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.34%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 2.98%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.58%, HDFC down by 1.94%, Wipro down by 1.39% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Railway has to perform its dual role of commercial organization and vehicle for fulfillment of social obligations. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has emphasized that and said that if we run it as a commercial enterprise, we cannot fulfill social obligations and if we fulfill the social obligations, we cannot run it as a commercial enterprise. But we have to fulfill our social obligations while running this as a commercial enterprise.

Suresh Prabhu said that constant efforts should be on to find ways to increase passenger and freight traffic and also the share of non-fare revenue as railways is facing challenges. Minister said that “If we do not think about competition, we cannot improve. At the micro level, we should see how the competition is faring. We therefore, have to properly make our pricing policy for both passenger and freight traffic. And at the same time we have to keep long term interest of the railways in mind”.

Emphasizing on station redevelopment through PPP route, he said it is a priority for us because Railways cannot work only with our own resources. Joint ventures with states are very much necessary Hence PPP route should be explored wherever possible to benefit the states and to fund the joint venture projects. He said railways needs to strike a balance between Japanese and Chinese railway financial models as China invests heavily for the development of their railways. Extra Budgetary resources are necessary for the development of railways.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8649.25, down by 17.05 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 8636.20 and 8670.35. There were 33 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 3.03%, Cipla up by 2.16%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.10%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.01% and Tata Steel up by 1.93%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 3.01%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.49%, BHEL down by 2.31%, HDFC down by 1.95% and Wipro down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 239.12 points or 1.08% to 21,935.22, Taiwan Weighted declined 92.23 points or 1.02% to 8,984.41, Shanghai Composite was down 12.8 points or 0.43% to 2,981.52, KOSPI Index dropped 4.91 points or 0.24% to 2,016.19, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI fell 3.43 points or 0.21% to 1,655.07. On flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 23.57 points or 0.44% to 5,322.79, Nikkei 225 climbed 92.43 points or 0.56% to 16,569.27