Markets pare losses to trade flat in late afternoon session

The local benchmarks have turned flat and were trading near its neutral lines in late afternoon session, paring almost all of their early losses, as traders opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. Some support also came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that presentation of the union budget has been advanced by a month to ensure speedier implementation of projects and programmes and he has urged states to align their plans with this new schedule. Firm opening in European markets too supported sentiments. European stocks were higher on Thursday, as investors focused on earnings and new data but continued to fret with rising concerns that OPEC countries would not reach an agreement over a production cut. Back home, traders remained cautious ahead of the expiry of October derivative contracts today. Some concern also prevailed with the private report that the Reserve Bank of India may not be able to achieve its medium term target of 4% inflation, even if food prices are managed, as health and education prices could play spoil sport. In scrip specific development, ONGC was trading higher after the company posted a net profit of Rs 4974.92 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 as compared to Rs 4681.39 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27840.72, up by 4.21 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 27665.60 and 27895.70. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.87%, while Small cap index was down by 0.58%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE was FMCG up by 0.65%, while Auto down by 1.34%, TECK down by 0.82%, Oil & Gas down by 0.77%, IT down by 0.76%, Consumer Durables down by 0.68% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 2.47%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.15%, ITC up by 2.13%, Sun Pharma up by 1.18% and Cipla up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.96%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.78%, Tata Motors down by 1.75%, Lupin down by 1.60% and Wipro down by 1.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet is likely to consider Finance Ministry's proposal of advancing the date for Budget presentation and decide on the date on which Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the budget for 2017-18. The Finance Ministry had earlier proposed that the Budget presentation date be fixed for February 1 and the entire exercise be completed by March 24.

The Cabinet had on September 21 in-principle decided to end the colonial-era tradition of presenting the Union Budget on the last day of February and advance it by about a month to help complete the legislative approval for annual spending plans and tax proposals before beginning of the new financial year on April 1.
Finance Ministry wanted the Budget Session of Parliament to begin before January 25 and go in for a three-week break between February 10-15 before reconvening between March 10-15 to complete the legislative exercise and the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the reason we wanted to advance the date was that we want the entire budgetary exercise to be over and the Finance Bill to be passed and implemented from April 1 onwards rather than June because then the monsoon sets in and effectively, the expenditures start in October.

Having decided to advance the Budget presentation by a month, the government took the line that it should not be presented in the middle of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, the assembly elections in these five states is likely to be held in phases, there is a probability that this budget schedule may clash with the campaigning and polling.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8600.85, down by 14.40 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 8550.25 and 8609.90. There were 12 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 2.64%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.33%, ITC up by 2.32%, Sun Pharma up by 1.29% and Aurobindo Pharma up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 4.10%, Asian Paints down by 3.12%, Yes Bank down by 3.00%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.74% and Idea Cellular down by 2.54% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 193.08 points or 0.83% to 23,132.35, Taiwan Weighted dropped 62.7 points or 0.67% to 9,299.55, Nikkei 225 declined 55.42 points or 0.32% to 17,336.42, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.16 points or 0.31% to 1,668.76 and Shanghai Composite was down by 3.96 points or 0.13% to 3,112.35. On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased 10.23 points or 0.51% to 2,024.12 and Jakarta Composite rose 15.04 points or 0.28% to 5,414.72.

European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 15.79 points or 0.35% to 4,550.38, UK’s FTSE 100 surged 36.68 points or 0.53% to 6,994.77 and Germany’s DAX climbed 50.46 points or 0.47% to 10,760.14.