Benchmarks hover near neutral line in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat, hovering near the neutral line in the late afternoon session, as investors booked profits in blue chips counters. Traders remained sideline after the NITI Aayog has made a case for strategic sale in as many as 44 public sector undertakings where the government can reduce its holding below 50 per cent by selling its stake. However, European stocks were trading in red on Wednesday, with exporters coming under selling pressure in response to a firmer euro.

Back home, traders were pilling position in Capital Goods, Realty and Metal counters, while selling has witnessed in Consumer Durables, & Gas counter. In scrip specific development, ICICI Bank rises after ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. has received capital markets regulator SEBI approval to raise an estimated Rs.5,000 crore through an initial public offering, the first by an insurer in India and the biggest in nearly six years. BHEL surged after the company posted a 54.2% increase in its net profit to Rs.77.77 crore in June quarter against Rs.50.43 crore a year ago.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29000.79, up by 22.77 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 28928.10 and 29067.84. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.62%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.80%, PSU up by 1.54%, Realty up by 1.24%, Metal up by 1.02 and Bankex up by 0.87%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.04% and Oil & Gas down by 0.03% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 3.82%, ICICI Bank up by 3.80%, ONGC up by 2.26%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.50% and Tata Steel up by 1.48%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.05%, Asian Paints down by 1.84%, NTPC down by 1.07%, HDFC Bank down by 1.04% and Axis Bank down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, government’s think tanks NITI Aayog, which recently submitted first list of Public Sector Undertaking (PSUs) for closure or sell off to the government is now preparing a second list on PSUs disinvestment. Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has said that they are preparing a second list on disinvestment and have recommended a lot of names.

Government kick-started the disinvestment programme for the current fiscal with 11.36 per cent stake sale in National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and raised Rs 2,700 crore through the process. Niti Aayog has lined up as many as 15 PSUs, including Coal India, NMDC, MOIL, MMTC, National Fertilisers, NALCO and Bharat Electronics, for stake sale in current fiscal.

In the first list prepared by NITI Aayog, there were two separate lists of sick and loss-making PSUs- one comprising those that can be closed down and the other of those where government can divest its stake. The government aims to collect Rs. 56,500 crore through disinvestment in PSUs this fiscal. Of this Rs. 36,000 crore is estimated to come from minority stake sale in PSUs and the remaining Rs. 20,500 crore from strategic sale in both profit and loss-making companies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8954.75, up by 11.75 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 8919.60 and 8968.70. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 12.74%, Bank of Baroda up by 4.16%, ICICI Bank up by 3.69%, SBI up by 3.65% and ONGC up by 2.75%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.42%, Asian Paints down by 2.23%, Yes Bank down by 2.17%, Tata Power down by 2.10% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 69.54 points or 0.41% to 17,012.44, Hang Seng decreased 45.87 points or 0.19% to 23,741.81, KOSPI Index decreased 4.65 points or 0.23% to 2,061.88 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.71 points or 0.04% to 1,689.2. On other hand, Jakarta Composite increased 0.5 points or 0.01% to 5,372.59, Shanghai Composite increased 1.22 points or 0.04% to 3,091.93 and Taiwan Weighted increased 77.22 points or 0.84% to 9,259.07.

European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC decreased 6.32 points or 0.14% to 4,523.64, Germany’s DAX was down by 4.34 points or 0.04% to 10,682.80 and UK’s FTSE 100 declined 3.85 points or 0.06% to 6,822.20.