Benchmarks make subdued start to the new F&O series

Indian equity benchmarks have made cautious start on first day of new F&O series on Friday, lacking any major cues amid mixed global trade. Sentiments remained down-beat with report that foreign institutional investors continued to remain sellers in Indian equities with net sales of Rs 470 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data. However, losses remained capped as some support came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that the economic situation in Asia is not as pessimistic as the rest of the world and it has a higher growth potential. Though, he also said India will have to undergo rapid urbanisation in the next two decades and conceded that management or urban infrastructure, especially of water will become a serious challenge.

On the global front, the Asian markets were exhibiting mixed trend at this point of time amid speculation that major central banks are moving closer to reining in stimulus, however the Japanese market rallied with gains of about half a percent as the yen traded near its weakest level since July. The US markets closed mostly lower in last session, as traders digested the latest batch of earnings news, with a slew of well-known companies releasing their quarterly results.

Back home, sugar stocks remained on buyers’ radar on government’s decision to extend stock limits on sugar traders by another six months till April 2017 in order to check sweetener prices, which at present are ruling around Rs 40 per kg. The PSU stocks too remained in action, as the cabinet on Thursday gave in-principle approval to strategic stake sales in some state-owned companies on the recommendations of the government think tank NITI Aayog.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27879.54, down by 36.36 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 27789.84 and 27985.99. There were 15 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index, while one remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.74%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.54%, Auto up by 1.14%, PSU up by 0.58%, Consumer Durables up by 0.51% and Power up by 0.36%, while Telecom down by 0.20%, IT down by 0.19%, FMCG down by 0.12%, TECK down by 0.11% and Bankex down by 0.06% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.52%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.69%, Coal India up by 1.58%, Tata Steel up by 1.36% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.93%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.66%, Asian Paints down by 1.26%, Wipro down by 1.01%, Cipla down by 0.99% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, as per the capital markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) latest data of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), more than 1,300 new FPIs have registered with capital markets regulator in April-August period of 2016-17. This shows a sign of their willingness to be part of India's growth story.

As per the data, the number of FPIs with Sebi approval increased to 5,626 at the end of August from 4,311 in March-end, reflecting an addition of 1,315 such investors. They had pumped in over Rs 36,000 crore in the capital markets (debt and equity) in April-August period. In a big revamp, Sebi had in 2014 released norms that clubbed different categories of foreign investors into a new class called FPIs. Sebi had also decided to offer direct entry to well-regulated foreign investors for investing in corporate bonds. During the last fiscal, a total of 2,900 FPIs had received approval from Sebi.

Based on risk profile and KYC (know your customer) requirements, FPIs have been divided into three categories, while other registration procedures have been made simpler for them. They are granted permanent registration as against the earlier practice of approval granted for one year or five years to overseas entities seeking to invest in Indian markets. The registration remains permanent unless suspended or cancelled by the board or surrendered by FPI.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8613.75, down by 1.50 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 8581.75 and 8627.95. There were 29 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 5.11%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.74%, Tata Motors up by 2.38%, Coal India up by 1.80% and Zee Entertainment up by 1.68%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.88%, BPCL down by 1.18%, Asian Paints down by 1.17%, Cipla down by 0.96% and GAIL India down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite rose 1 point or 0.03% to 3,113.35, Taiwan Weighted gained 1 point or 0.01% to 9,300.55, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.69 points or 0.1% to 1,670.72 and Nikkei 225 was up by 94.91 points or 0.55% to 17,431.33.

On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 98.66 points or 0.43% to 23,033.69, Jakarta Composite slipped 6.33 points or 0.12% to 5,410.50 and KOSPI Index was down by 5.02 points or 0.25% to 2,019.10.