Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade in red

In late afternoon session, Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red on the back of selling in metal and oil and gas counters. Sentiments also remained downbeat as activities on FIIs desk started slowing down ahead of Christmas holiday and vacation. However, losses remained capped with chief economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian’s statement that though the interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve will bring volatility and uncertainty in capital flows into emerging market economies, but India is very well cushioned to absorb the impact. On the global front, European markets were trading in green as investors continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy decision. However, Asian markets were showing tepid trend at this point of time. Back home, in scrip specific developments, Swan Energy jumped over five per cent after the Government of Gujarat decided to participate by investing 26% in equity of company's LNG port project in Gujarat and A2Z Infra Engineering edged higher after Delhi Metro Rail Corporation awarded three facility management services contacts to its material subsidiary.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26484.00, down by 35.07 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 26455.21 and 26594.55. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index down by 0.25%, while Small cap index was down by 0.06%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.63%, Auto up by 0.46%, IT up by 0.38% and TECK up by 0.20%, while Metal down by 1.43%, Oil & Gas down by 1.03%, PSU down by 0.77%, Bankex down by 0.66% and Capital Goods down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.08%, HDFC up by 1.15%, Infosys up by 0.98%, Cipla up by 0.78% and Power Grid Corpn. up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.50%, ONGC down by 1.94%, ICICI Bank down by 1.79%, Axis Bank down by 1.38% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, to stop the misuse of bank account for black money deposit, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed certain restrictions on withdrawal if more than Rs 2 lakh has been deposited after November 9 in an account which has a balance of over Rs 5 lakh.

The RBI in its notification said that the PAN quotation will be mandatory for withdrawal and transfer of funds in bank accounts, otherwise submission of Form 60 will be required if person don’t have PAN card. The bank also said monthly withdrawal limit of Rs 10,000 will be maintained even if a 'small account' has witnessed increase in annual permissible deposit of Rs 1 lakh.It added that no debit transaction, transfer or otherwise shall be allowed in accounts which do not comply with the above mentioned requirements.

The RBI has imposed quotation of PAN and withdrawal restrictions in bank accounts after it was brought to the notice of the RBI that strict compliance with KYC (Know Your Customer) provisions is not being ensured in some cases. In view of this, RBI advised, banks and NBFCs to ensure compliance regarding quoting of PAN/obtaining of Form 60 for all transactions. The apex bank also said that it has issued elaborate instructions to all the bank management to do central data checking and whenever they find any inconsistency, it should be pursued further through their internal audit mechanism.

It added that RBI supervisors are also carrying out similar exercise on the various data points of banks and whenever any untoward transactions or action is noticed, due investigation would be done and then due action would be pursued.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8137.75, down by 15.85 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 8127.45 and 8178.70. There were 19 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.15%,  HDFC up by 1.25% , Zee Entertainment up by 1.11% , Bharti Infratel up by 1.11% and Eicher Motors up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.52%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.48%, ONGC down by 2.06%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.89% and ICICI Bank down by 1.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite increased 5.3 points or 0.17% to 3,122.98, KOSPI Index increased 5.59 points or 0.27% to 2,042.24 and Nikkei 225 increased 127.36 points or 0.66% to 19,401.15. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 38.65 points or 0.18% to 22,020.75, Taiwan Weighted decreased 33.57 points or 0.36% to 9,326.78, Jakarta Composite decreased 11.4 points or 0.22% to 5,242.97 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 2.59 points or 0.16% to 1,634.40.

European Markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 1.29 points or 0.02% to 7,000.30, France’s CAC increased 6.71 points or 0.14% to 4,825.94 and Germany’s DAX increased 15.86 points or 0.14% to 11,382.26.