Benchmarks continue weak trade in the afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their weak trade in the afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters and taking cues from the global counterparts. The sentiments were under pressure with Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that economic output in the current quarter may get affected, with the government’s demonetization drive temporarily hitting commercial activities in some sectors. Sentiments weakened further after key meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, scheduled for Friday, was postponed to December 2-3 due to lack of consensus on the draft model GST and compensation laws. Besides, the rupee hit a fresh nine-month low in early trade as upbeat U.S. data coupled with hawkish Fed minutes fuelling capital outflow worries. Some buying was seen in IT, TECK and Capital Goods, while selling was witnessed in Oil & Gas, Metal, Auto, Power and Banking sector stocks. At present, both Sensex and Nifty were trading below the crucial 26,000 and 8,050 levels, respectively.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, with the US reporting strong economic data overnight which increased the chances of a Fed rate increase. Data showed that the orders for durable goods in the US increased 4.8% on-month in October, much higher than the 2.7% gain predicted by economists. Back home, in scrip specific development, Cipla fell about 0.7 percent after the drugmaker divested 16.7 percent stake in Chase Pharma to a subsidiary of Allergan Plc.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25939.00, down by 112.81 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 25880.78 and 26049.14. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.28%, TECK up by 0.83%, Metal up by 0.30% and Capital Goods up by 0.05%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.15%, Auto down by 1.06%, Power down by 0.92%, Bankex down by 0.77% and FMCG down by 0.36% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 1.59%, Infosys up by 1.47%, TCS up by 1.33%, SBI up by 0.81% and Wipro up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.32%, NTPC down by 1.97%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.86%, ICICI Bank down by 1.60% and Reliance Industries down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, moving ahead with the implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has notified two sets of regulations, the Model Bye-Laws and Governing Board of Insolvency Professional Agencies as well as those pertaining to Insolvency Professional Agencies.

Corporate Affairs Ministry said that these two regulations inter alia provide for the eligibility norms to be a professional member of an insolvency professional agency and also for eligibility norms to be registered with the IBBI as an insolvency professional agency. It added that the regulations related to insolvency professionals provide for registration, regulation and oversight of such people under the Code and will be effective from November 29, 2016.

Under the regulations, a firm registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 having minimum net worth of Rs 10 crore would be eligible to be an insolvency professional agency. More than half of the directors of its board shall be independent directors and not more than one fourth of the directors shall be insolvency professionals. Besides, such an entity would have membership, monitoring, grievance redressal and disciplinary committees to regulate as well as have an oversight of the professional members.  The Section 8 of companies Act is not for profit entities.

As per the government notification, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code seeks to consolidate and amend laws relating to reorganization as well as insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals in a time-bound manner.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8000.25, down by 33.05 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 7973.95 and 8013.65. There were 16 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 2.34%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.82%, Hindalco up by 1.61%, Infosys up by 1.54% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.13%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.64%, Eicher Motors down by 2.55%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.53% and NTPC down by 1.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 67.17 points or 0.3% to 22,609.52, Jakarta Composite declined 66.41 points or 1.27% to 5,145.58, Taiwan Weighted shed 26.12 points or 0.28% to 9,152.11, KOSPI Index slipped 16.69 points or 0.84% to 1,971.26, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 6.13 points or 0.38% to 1,624.25 and Shanghai Composite was down by 1.98 points or 0.06% to 3,239.15. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 increased 170.47 points or 0.94% to 18,333.41.