Benchmarks erase gains in post noon session

Indian equity benchmarks erased gains and started trading weak hovering near the neutral line in the post noon session  on account of selling in Auto, IT, Realty counters amid weak global cues. Investors turned wary ahead of the announcement of the next RBI governor, a post that will fall vacant on September 4. Weak global cues also dampened the domestic sentiment. European stocks were trading lower amid uncertainty over the trajectory of US monetary policy. Back home, losses remained capped with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reporting that June-to-September monsoon has been normal so far. Some support were also there in the market after Moody’s Investors Service retained India’s growth forecast at 7.5% for 2016 and also stated that the outlook for emerging markets economies stabilized on account of the modest recovery in commodity prices, better capital flows and a better near-term outlook for growth in China. In scrip specific development, Tata Power gained 1% to Rs 77.65 after the company announced that South African Joint Venture Company commenced commercial operations of its 95 MW wind farm project.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28075.72, down by 47.72 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 28026.12 and 28212.30. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.38%, while Small cap index was up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.95%, PSU up by 0.56%, Consumer Durables up by 0.48%, Bankex up by 0.41% and Oil & Gas up by 0.39%, while Auto down by 0.45%, TECK down by 0.42%, IT down by 0.31%, Realty down by 0.23% and FMCG down by 0.07% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 3.71%, Cipla up by 0.87%, ONGC up by 0.77%, Tata Steel up by 0.63% and ICICI Bank up by 0.51%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.53%, TCS down by 1.16%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.94%, HDFC down by 0.88% and Lupin down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, government has sanctioned projects worth Rs 8,400 crore in Andhra Pradesh (AP) under the Sagarmala initiative. The Sagarmala project aims at 'port-led development' in the country. After a whirlwind tour of projects being undertaken by the Visakhapatnam Port Trust, union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that AP would be accorded top priority in encouraging port-led development and improvement in connectivity.

Nitin Gadkari has said that under Sagarmala, the projects worth Rs 8,400 crore which includes LNG terminal at Kakinada with a cost of Rs 3,000 crore, Development of Coastal Food Export berth at Kakinada with a cost of Rs 150 crore, Oil Jetty at Visakhapatnam port at a cost of Rs 100 Crore, additional Stackyard for GCB at Visakhaptanm port with Rs 150 crore and New port development at Vadarevu and Machilipoatnam with a cost of Rs 5,000 Crore.

Minister further added that under this initiative, the NDA Government would spend Rs 12 lakh crore in phases which includes Rs 4 lakh crore on road and railway connectivity and Rs 8 lakh crore on developing 27 industrial clusters. Earlier he inaugurated Container Freight Station developed by the Visakha Container Terminal Private Limited at the cost of Rs 104 crore near Muralinagar in the city and a 10 MW solar power plant set up by Visakhapatnam Port Trust at the cost of Rs 57.5 crore.

The Sagarmala project includes modernisation and mechanisation of all major ports and creation of infrastructure in the minor ports, island improvement, road connectivity and infrastructure facilities to enhance the capacity buddings of all ports in the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8660.45, down by 12.80 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 8647.10 and 8696.60. There were 22 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 3.82%, Hindalco up by 2.95%, Bank of Baroda up by 2.72%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.10% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 1.56%, Coal India down by 1.53%, TCS down by 1.27%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.25% and Bharti Infratel down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 88.23 points or 0.97% to 9,034.27, Hang Seng declined 85.94 points or 0.37% to 22,937.22, Jakarta Composite dropped 28.95 points or 0.53% to 5,432.50, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 6 points or 0.35% to 1,688.87. On other hand, KOSPI Index increased 0.77 points or 0.04% to 2,056.24, Shanghai Composite was up by 3.99 points or 0.13% to 3,108.10, Nikkei 225 rose 59.81 points or 0.36% to 16,545.82.

European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 92.84 points or 0.88% to 10,510.19, France’s CAC decreased 40.43 points or 0.91% to 4,396.63 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 16.82 points or 0.24% to 6,852.14.