Weakness persists in Indian markets in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade weak in afternoon session, as investors stayed cautious ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill discussion by the Upper House of Parliament today. Most of the sectoral indices were trading in negative territory with FMCG as the top losing indices down by around 1.78%. Selling was broad based with both mid cap and small cap indices were trading down by over 0.60%. Weak global cues also dampened the domestic sentiment. European markets were trading lower on Wednesday but banking stocks were bucking the trend, thanks to results from HSBC and Societe Generale.

Back home, weakness in Indian rupee too dampened sentiment. The rupee was trading weak at 66.94 against the dollar, down by 21 paise from its previous close. In scrip specific development, Emami falls 5% to Rs.1,086.60 after the company reported 34.61% drop in its June quarter earnings to Rs.56.63 crore as compared to Rs.86.61 crore a year ago.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27797.98, down by 183.73 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 27690.06 and 28015.43. There were 8 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remains unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.69%, while Small cap index fell by 0.63%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.75%, TECK up by 0.08%, IT up by 0.04% and Bankex up by 0.00% while, FMCG down by 1.78%, Consumer Durables down by 1.28%, Power down by 1.14%, Capital Goods down by 1.12% and Auto down by 0.98% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 2.97%, Asian Paints up by 1.95%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.37%, Coal India up by 1.33% and Adani Ports &Special up by 0.40%. On the flip side, ITC down by 3.06%, Power Grid Corpn down by 2.04%, Tata Motors down by 1.77%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.43% and Reliance Industries down by 1.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, india’s service sector growth recovered to three-month high with faster increase in new business, underpinning stronger growth of output and boosting confidence. Services costs lowered first time in nine months indicated an overall decline in selling prices, while input cost also decreased. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index rose to 51.9 in July from 50.3 in June. The index posted above no-change mark of 50.0 for the thirteenth month running, highlighting ongoing growth of output in the sector.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index which measures both manufacturing and services, climbed to a three month high to 52.4 in July from 51.1 in June.  Manufacturing order books increased at the quickest pace since March. Besides, leading services output rise was a further expansion in incoming new business, one that was the most pronounced since April. According to survey, the upturn was supported by successful price negotiations with clients as well as improved marketing campaigns.

The survey showed that output charges fell at only a slight pace as the vast majority of survey respondents signalled no change in prices charged. By comparison, factory gate prices rose at a slight pace, which was nevertheless the quickest since April. Further, no different for job creation from June with almost all survey members reporting the same staff levels. It has now been over two-and-a-half years since the private sector has seen meaningful job creation.

July data highlighted a second successive monthly increase in unfinished business volumes at Indian service providers.  Amid reports of lower prices paid for fuel and some commodities, average input costs facing service providers fell in July. Conversely, purchasing costs at goods producers continued to rise, although the rate of inflation softened to a five-month low.Business sentiment among Indian service providers improved during July, with the degree of optimism reaching a four-month high.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8576.05, down by 46.85 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 8545.15 and 8635.45. There were 17 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 3.53%, Cipla up by 3.19%, Asian Paints up by 1.89%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.82% and Bosch up by 1.54%. On the flip side, ITC down by 3.26%, BHEL down by 2.67%, Power Grid Corpn down by 2.24%, Tata Motors down by 1.84% and Reliance Industries down by 1.58% were the top losers.

All Asian market were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 390.02 points or 1.76% to 21,739.12, Nikkei 225 was down 308.34 points or 1.88% to 16,083.11, Taiwan Weighted declined 67.05 points or 0.74% to 9,001.71,Jakarta Composite dropped 39.19 points or 0.73% to 5,334.13,KOSPI Index plague 24.24 points or 1.2% to 1,994.79,FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 10.79 points or 0.65% to 1,649.44. On flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 7.18 points or 0.24% to 2,978.46.

Europian Markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 32.65 points or 0.32% to 10,111.69, France’s CAC dropped 30.34 points or 0.7% to 4,297.65, UK’s FTSE 100 declined 9.71 points or 0.15% to 6,635.69