Pressurized by feeble global cues, Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap-down opening and are witnessing bloodbath in early deals on Wednesday, with frontline gauges breaching their crucial 27,700 (Sensex) and 8,550 (Nifty) levels. Traders remained cautious ahead of the outcome of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s two-day meet on monetary policy which will conclude today. Market participants failed to take any sense of relief with ASSOCHAM’s report that Indian economy is expected to fare better in the second half of the current fiscal backed by uptick in sales and improved capacity utilization, though fresh investments and new jobs creation may be a concern going forward. Sentiments also remained dampened on report that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 123.96 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Weak global cues too dampened sentiments with all the Asian counters trading in red at this point of time with major indices reeling with a cut of over a percent, as the acrimonious US presidential election campaign entered its final week. Traders shrugged off stronger-than-expected factory growth in China. The US markets closed in red terrain in last session, as tightening polls just a week before the US presidential election dampened sentiments and investors rethought their long-held bets on a Hillary Clinton victory.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27630.20, down by 246.41 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 27535.02 and 27679.32. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.26%, while Small cap index was down by 1.11%.
The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas down by 1.74%, Realty down by 1.57%, Energy down by 1.45%, PSU down by 1.28% and Bankex down by 1.12%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.
The few gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.86%, NTPC up by 1.71% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.87%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.39%, SBI down by 2.03%, Coal India down by 1.65%, ICICI Bank down by 1.58% and Tata Motors down by 1.41% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, India’s manufacturing sector growth revived in October and hit a 22-month high, driven by a sharp and accelerated increase in new orders, purchasing activity and output. It indicated a robust improvement in manufacturing business conditions. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance - climbed to 54.4 in October from 52.1 in September. A reading above 50 in terms of manufacturing performance indicates expansion.
The October data provide positive news for India's economy, as manufacturing output and new orders expanded at the fastest rates in 46 and 22 months, respectively. Once again, consumer goods producers outperformed their intermediate and investment goods counterparts, registering stronger rates of expansion for both output and new orders. In October, output increased for the tenth straight month and at the quickest rate in nearly four years.
Further, the amount of new work received by manufacturers grew markedly during October, with anecdotal evidence linking the latest rise to improved underlying demand. Data indicated that although foreign orders contributed to the upturn in total new work, the rate of growth in new business from abroad eased to a three-month low. The overall rate of accumulation was solid and the quickest in almost three years, with survey members reporting capacity pressures. In spite of this, businesses left employment unchanged. Survey participants reported higher prices across a wide range of goods, but particularly highlighted steel, plastic and petrol.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8543.35, down by 82.90 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 8518.70 and 8547.45. There were 4 stocks advancing against 47 stocks declining on the index.
The few gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 1.58%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.48%, NTPC up by 1.42% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.93%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 2.65%, Yes Bank down by 2.58%, ONGC down by 2.47%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.35% and Aurobindo Pharma down by 2.22% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 tumbled 341.29 points or 1.96% to 17,101.11, Hang Seng declined 309.19 points or 1.34% to 22,837.88, Taiwan Weighted decreased 111.05 points or 1.2% to 9,161.65, KOSPI Index dropped 29.26 points or 1.46% to 1,978.13, Shanghai Composite shed 15.21 points or 0.49% to 3,107.23, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 7.36 points or 0.44% to 1,663.57 and Jakarta Composite was down by 4.44 points or 0.08% to 5,411.56.
