Indian markets slip further lacking any supportive cues

The Indian markets have drifted further low in the mid morning session with high beta sectoral gauges playing the spoil-sport. The weakness in the regional indices has engulfed the local markets too and the benchmarks are down by over half a percent and are trading near their lows of the day. Rupee has extended its plunge, trading at fresh four-and-a-half-month low of Rs 53.72 against the US dollar, as importers rushed to cover short-term exposures amid a modest intervention by the central bank. Foreign fund inflows are needed to help rupee rebound but the GAAR confusion is keeping the FII’s away from the Indian markets. The broader markets are in bad state too and are trading even weaker than the benchmarks. On sectoral front only defensive sector Healthcare and Fast Moving Consumer Goods are showing some courage, otherwise all other sectoral indices are languishing in red.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,050.96 down by 100.23 points or 0.58%. The index has touched a high and low of 17,121.37 and 17,033.55 respectively.  There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 declines on the index.

The broader indices too were trading lower; the BSE Mid cap and small cap indices declined 1.06% and 0.65% respectively.

The top laggards in the BSE sectoral space were Realty down by 1.73%, Capital goods (CG) down by 1.70%, Bankex down by 1.58%, Metal down by 1.32% and Power down by 1.19%. On the flip side, Health Care (HC) up by 0.71%, Fast moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) up by 0.27% and Information Technology (IT) up by 0.07% were the only gainers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 2.99%, Wipro up by 1.35%, Sun Pharma up by 0.69%, HUL up by 0.65% and ONGC was up by 0.62%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 3.20%, DLF down by 2.91%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.82%, Tata Steel down by 2.63% and Bajaj Auto down  by2.47% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Indian companies have raised $3.84 billion from abroad in the month of March as per data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This is 48% higher than the amount of $2.6 million it raised in February. The money borrowed came from 126 deals and borrowers used external commercial borrowings (ECBs) and foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) as modes of raising the amounts.

Also the borrowing from the overseas market over the month comprised of $3.2 billion through automatic route and $632.15 million via approval route. Rural Electrification Corp, Reliance Industries, Sasan Power, Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemical, Bhushan Steel, Idea Cellular, Adani Power Rajasthan, General Motors, India were among the major borrowers from the overseas market during the month.

Rural Electrification Corp raised a total of $448.92 million in two separate tranches via approval route for its power projects. Reliance Industries raised $391 million for import of capital goods via automatic route over the month. Bhushan Steel raised $290 million for rupee expenditure and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemical raised $250 million for modernisation projects.

Telecom firm, Idea Cellular raised $150 million and Adani Power Rajasthan raised $145 million through automatic route. General Motors India raised $133.08 for imports of capital goods from the automatic route.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,150.05, down by 38.35 points or 0.74%. The index has touched a high and low of 5,177.20 and 5,148.60 respectively.  There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Cipla up by 3.07%, Wipro up by 1.15%, Sun Pharma up by 0.93%, ACC up by 0.59% and Tata Motors was up by 0.58%.On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.51%, BHEL down by 3.38%, DLF down by 2.94%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.78% and Kotak Bank down by 2.77% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices continue to trade in the red; Hang Seng declined by 0.73%, Jakarta Composite lost 0.20%, Straits Times was down by 0.19% and KOSPI Composite shed 0.42%.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was marginally up by 0.10%, KLSE Composite gained 0.41%, and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.28%. 

Stock markets in Japan remained closed on Friday.