Benchmarks continue lackluster trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in late afternoon session, as the country’s cash crunch continued to weigh on corporate earnings expectations for the December quarter. The broader indices mid and small cap were trading with over a percent cut. Sentiments also remained dampened with heavy FII outflows ahead of key US and ECB economic data later today. The foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1178.08 crore on December 21, 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. On the sectoral front, Metal stocks remained under pressure following subdued commodity prices in the global markets. In scrip specific development, Aurobindo Pharma slipped on the buzz of its Unit 1 receives USFDA observations.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red with trading volumes tapered off ahead of the Christmas weekend. Asian markets were trading mostly in red. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26029.34, down by 213.04 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 25943.91 and 26248.45. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index dropped 1.24%, while Small cap index was down by 1.10%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 2.37%, PSU down by 1.24%, Capital Goods down by 1.22%, Power down by 1.21% and IT down by 1.20%, while there were no gaining indices on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 0.88%, ICICI Bank up by 0.57%, Wipro up by 0.46% and TCS up by 0.10%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &Special down by 3.49%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.78%, ONGC down by 2.63%, Tata Steel down by 2.57% and Axis Bank down by 2.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, to encourage digital transactions, the Finance Ministry has directed all public sector banks (PSUs) to reduce their fees for various transactions above Rs 1000 settled through various digital modes up to March 31, 2017. It said that PSUs shall not charge fees for transactions settled on Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in excess of rates charged for National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) for transactions above Rs 1,000, with service tax being charged at actuals.

Ministry added that for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions above Rs 1,000 a further discount of 50 paise on these rates shall apply. USSD is mobile short code message and used mainly for banking services on feature phone. The USSD fee is Rs 1.50, which has been waived till December 30, 2016. As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms, NEFT transactions between Rs 10,000 and less than Rs 1 lakh attract a fee of Rs 5, those between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh attract a fee of Rs 15, and the fee for transactions above Rs 2 lakh is Rs 25. RBI has also rationalised the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) for debit card transactions up to Rs 2,000 for the 3-month period.

To promote digital transaction, Niti Aayog had announced two schemes - Lucky Grahak Yojana and Digi Dhan Vyapar Yojana’. The schemes cover small transactions between Rs 50 and Rs 3,000. Earlier, the Centre announced a bevy of measures to boost digital transactions, including a waiver of service tax on digital payments amounting to less than Rs 2,000, discounts on petrol and diesel purchases, suburban railway tickets and insurance policies bought from state owned insurance companies through electronic means.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7990.15, down by 71.15 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 7964.95 and 8046.45. There were 6 stocks advancing against 45 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 0.84%, Zee Entertainment up by 0.77%, Bharti Infratel up by 0.51%, ICICI Bank up by 0.51% and Wipro up by 0.50%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & Special down by 3.92%, Hindalco down by 3.73%, ONGC down by 2.88%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.82% and Tata Steel down by 2.57% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 173.6 points or 0.8% to 21,636.20, Taiwan Weighted decreased 85.51 points or 0.93% to 9,118.75, Jakarta Composite decreased 73.97 points or 1.45% to 5,037.42, Nikkei 225 decreased 16.82 points or 0.09% to 19,427.67, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 4.92 points or 0.3% to 1,624.67 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.23 points or 0.11% to 2,035.73. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 2.13 points or 0.07% to 3,139.56.

All the European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 20.98 points or 0.18% to 11,447.66, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 12.19 points or 0.17% to 7,029.23 and France’s CAC decreased 5.25 points or 0.11% to 4,828.57.