Benchmarks erase all gains; starts trading in red

Indian equity markets erased its most of the gains and are trading in red in the late afternoon session amid caution ahead of Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's speech later in the week. Further, weakness in Indian rupee too dampened sentiment. The rupee was trading weak at 67.13 against the dollar, down by 7 paise. However, losses remained capped with rating agency Ind-Ra revising India's economic growth forecast to 7.8 percent for the ongoing fiscal on better monsoon. It has said the positive impact of monsoon on agriculture will support the overall GDP growth with its backward and forward linkages. Traders were seen piling up position in Oil & Gas, PSU, Realty, Power and IT stocks on the other hand selling was witnessed in Metal, Bankex, Capital Goods, FMCG and Consumer Durables. In scrip specific development, Tech Mahindra rose over 1 percent after UK's Financial Conduct Authority approved its acquisition of Target Group, while eclerx Services rallied 2.5 percent ahead of a board meeting next week to consider a share buyback.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as oil prices slid on data showing a surprise build-up in U.S. crude inventories and North Korea launched a ballistic missile from a submarine off its east coast early Wednesday in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27967.52, down by 22.69 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 27963.24 and 28108.39. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.23%, PSU up by 0.59%, Realty up by 0.28%, Power up by 0.27% and IT up by 0.24%, while Metal down by 0.35%, Bankex down by 0.23%, Capital Goods down by 0.19%, FMCG down by 0.18% and Consumer Durables down by 0.11% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.59%, Cipla up by 2.06%, NTPC up by 2.02%, Infosys up by 1.23% and Sun Pharma up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 2.43%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.25%, Tata Steel down by 1.15%, TCS down by 1.03% and Tata Motors down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in absent of speedy expansion, up-gradation of basic infrastructure, India’s progress is incomplete. Government to review the progress in core infrastructure sectors and noted that there has been ‘phenomenal progress’ in crucial sectors such as renewable energy and railways. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the development journey of India is special and sustained efforts are characterized by speed and scale, which can usher an era of historic growth. He also emphasized that the India story is also about resilience, when the world economy is weakening and slowing down, India is a ray of hope.

Minister further said that doing business is easier today than it was and big level corruption and bottle necks are becoming history and added that they will continue building on this progress and achieve their aim of transforming India. Besides, India had two drought years but still agriculture production has not decreased and will try hard to give farmers an expansive market and more money for their produce continue.

Narendra Modi also stated that the cumulative installed capacity in the new and renewable energy sector has crossed 44 GigaWatts. Targets have been met for various components and projects under Centre and State policies. As far as the railways are concerned, he said that the Indian Railways has achieved its target of daily passenger movement and 40 unmanned crossings have been eliminated in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8630.30, down by 2.30 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 8625.55 and 8661.05. There were 18 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 4.52%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.63%, Cipla up by 2.19%, NTPC up by 1.92% and Infosys up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 3.22%, Lupin down by 2.53%, Ambuja Cement down by 1.51%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.26% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.24% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 234.23 points or 1.02% to 22,764.70, Taiwan Weighted decreased 13.55 points or 0.15% to 9,017.38, Shanghai Composite decreased 6.89 points or 0.22% to 3,082.81 and KOSPI Index decreased 6.17 points or 0.3% to 2,043.76. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.04 points or 0% to 1,683.11, Jakarta Composite increased 0.59 points or 0.01% to 5,417.73 and Nikkei 225 increased 99.94 points or 0.61% to 16,597.30.