Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in late afternoon session as selling pressure witnessed in FMCG, banking and IT stocks. The markets traded in the negative territory eyeing the outcome of sixth bi-monthly Monetary Policy for 2016-17. However, the broader indices followed the European markets to show some fervor and traded with decent gains, performing better than their larger peers. The losses remained limited with a private report stating that the global economic order is expected to shift from advanced to emerging economies over the next few decades and by 2040 India could edge past the US to become the world's second largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Some support also came in from reports that Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 201.13 crore on February 07, 2017.

On global front, European markets were trading mixed amid heightened fears about the outlook for a third Greek bailout. Asian markets were trading mixed as upbeat corporate earnings results from U.S. companies helped offset concerns over French politics, worsening debt problems in Greece and policy uncertainty under President Donald Trump. Back home, in scrip specific development, Gateway Distriparks gained after the company reported 43.60% rise in its net profit at Rs 16.37 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2016, as compared to Rs 11.40 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28293.03, down by 42.13 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 28260.10 and 28391.64. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.76%, Metal up by 0.93%, Auto up by 0.64%, Realty up by 0.63% and Oil & Gas up by 0.50%, while FMCG down by 0.66%, Bankex down by 0.31%, IT down by 0.08% and Power down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.70%, Cipla up by 1.46%, TCS up by 1.45%, Coal India up by 1.44% and Tata Motors up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.67%, ITC down by 1.19%, Sun Pharma down by 0.90%, Infosys down by 0.87% and Axis Bank down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a move to create digital and less-cash economy, the Lok Sabha has passed the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017, under which specified industrial units will have to pay salaries and wages to workers solely via cheque or by electronic transfer to their bank. According to this bill, there is no need to get the consent of the workers to pay through cheques or through transfer in bank account.

The new Payment of Wages bill will also ensure that the other benefits like ESI, PF are also properly been passed onto the workers. Once the bill becomes law, it will also repeal the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Ordinance 2016, which was promulgated on December 28, 2016 and it replaces the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill 2016, which was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 15, 2016.

The amendment enables the Centre as well as state governments to notify industries where employers shall have pay wages either through cheque or crediting that into workers’ bank accounts. At present, the Act covers all those employees in certain categories of establishments whose wage do not exceed Rs 18,000 per month.

Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya hailed the initiative aimed at promoting the welfare of workers and said that the new legislation will help check exploitation of workers engaged in un-organised sectors and they will get exact salaries in their bank accounts.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8759.50, down by 8.80 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 8751.75 and 8782.85. There were 27 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ACC up by 2.41%, Idea Cellular up by 2.38%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.01%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.99% and Grasim Industries up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.93%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.25%, Asian Paints down by 1.17%, ITC down by 1.17% and Sun Pharma down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Jakarta Composite decreased 22.76 points or 0.42% to 5,358.71, Taiwan Weighted decreased 11.31 points or 0.12% to 9,543.25, KOSPI Index decreased 10.13 points or 0.49% to 2,065.08 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.65 points or 0.04% to 1,688.19. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite increased 13.89 points or 0.44% to 3,166.98, Nikkei 225 increased 96.82 points or 0.51% to 19,007.60 and Hang Seng increased 153.56 points or 0.66% to 23,485.13.

European markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX increased 16.34 points or 0.14% to 11,565.78 and France’s CAC increased 20.47 points or 0.43% to 4,774.94. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 0.51 points or 0.01% to 7,185.71.