Benchmarks trade near intra-day low level in noon session

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade near intra-day low level on account of profit booking in frontline blue chip stocks after recent rally. Sentiments remained down-beat with minutes of the Reserve Bank of India’s maiden monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting, released on Tuesday, whereby the rate panel eyed growth concerns. The minutes showed that broad concerns over economic growth and relief from the pullback in inflation, spurred the bank’s recent rate cut decision. However, investors got some confidence with Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh’s statement that India is seen as the sole bright spot in a troubled global economy. Confident that 'Make in India' will transform the nation into a manufacturing powerhouse, Minister has also said that nearly $26 billion has flowed into the country this year so far since we opened the floodgates for FDI across sectors.  Some support also came in from reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 345.04 crore on October 18, 2016. Meanwhile, logistics companies were trading higher after the goods and services tax (GST) council worked out a compensation formula for states and is now bracing for a testy debate on rates. The Centre has proposed a tiered rate structure with the rates varying from 4% for commodities like gold to 26% plus cess on so-called sin goods.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green on Wednesday after data out of China showed Asia’s largest economy remained stable in the third quarter and amid speculation the Federal Reserve will stick to a gradual tightening of monetary policy. Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 6.7% in the year to September, exactly as forecast, while other data showed retail sales rising a solid 10.7% and urban investment 8.2%, though industrial output disappointed by growing only 6.1%. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average inched up as investors there waited for more corporate earnings to assess trends. Meanwhile, Wall Street advanced on Tuesday to give the S&P 500 its best day this month on the heels of solid earnings reports from names such as UnitedHealth and Netflix that put corporate profits on track to snap a four-quarter streak of declines.

Back home, stocks from Oil & Gas, PSU and Consumer Durables counters were supporting the markets, while those from Auto, Realty and FMCG counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has surged after the company posted 5.8% growth in aluminium sales in the April-September period, overcoming sluggish market conditions. Furthermore, Auto component maker Endurance Technologies made a stellar debut on BSE by listing at Rs 570, a 20.76 per cent premium to its issue price of Rs 472 apiece. Strong demand was seen from high net worth individuals (HNIs) and qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) as the quota for the two categories was subscribed to 127 times and 53.43 times of the quota limits, respectively.

The market breadth remained optimistic as there were 1470 shares on the gaining side against 940 shares on the losing side, while 154 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27979.21, down by 71.67 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 27976.73 and 28131.07. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.60%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.76%, PSU up by 0.61%, Consumer Durables up by 0.61%, Power up by 0.59% and Metal up by 0.39%, while Auto down by 0.64%, Realty down by 0.55%, FMCG down by 0.51% and Bankex down by 0.35% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.07%, GAIL India up by 1.94%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.75%, Lupin up by 1.43% and Reliance Industries up by 0.97%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.65%, ICICI Bank down by 1.63%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.34%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.01% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.95% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the minutes of Reserve Bank of India's newly appointed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting released on October 18, showed that broad worries over economic growth and relief from the pullback in inflation led the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) to cut rate earlier this month.

The minutes of the two-day meeting on October 3-4, where all six members of the committee unanimously voted for a 25-basis-point rate cut, showed that all the members agreed on the need to boost growth at the current juncture with excess capacity in the economy and softening food prices unlikely to pose much risk to inflation.It also revealed all members expecting inflation to be in line with Reserve Bank of India's March-end target of 5 percent.

The minutes further showed that while Governor Urjit Patel was brief in his views and expressed confidence in achieving the RBI's March-end inflation target, Executive Director M D Patra highlighted the need to remain vigilant once inflation starts moving up in the January-March quarter. Retail inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index had been rising in April-July, especially on higher prices of pulses and vegetables.

The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee has three members from the central bank and three external members appointed by the government with the governor having a tie-break vote. This was the first time the rate decision was taken by the MPC, as against past instances where the governor of the central bank was the sole arbiter. The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled on December 6 and 7, and its resolution will be announced on December 7.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8659.15, down by 18.75 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 8656.80 and 8698.75. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were BHEL up by 4.26%, GAIL India up by 1.93%, Idea Cellular up by 1.85%, Sun Pharma up by 1.72% and Wipro up by 1.71%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.61%, ICICI Bank down by 1.52%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.50%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.29% and Tata Motors down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.04%, Shanghai Composite gained 0.11%, KOSPI Index increased 0.05%, Nikkei 225 added 0.18% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 0.15% and Jakarta Composite was down by 0.23%.