Indian bourses continue to trade under pressure

Indian bourses continued their weak trade in afternoon session, hovering near the lowest point of the day due to selling in frontline blue chip stocks such as Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel among others. Both Sensex and Nifty were below their crucial 28,150 and 8,750 mark, respectively. Investors remained cautious ahead of the 10th meeting of the all-powerful GST Council this weekend, where a critical anti-profiteering clause in the draft Goods and Services Tax law to ensure that the benefit of lower taxes gets shared with consumers is likely to be finalized. Besides, disappointing third quarter earnings posted by Tata Motors and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries also kept investors nervous. Some concern also came with the US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hint at a likely rate hike in the forthcoming policy review. In scrip specific development, Adani Enterprises was up by over four percent after reporting 61.72% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 339.96 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, as compared to Rs 210.22 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, supported by a record-setting night on Wall Street after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen flagged a possible interest rate rise next month, keeping the dollar near three-week highs. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28144.04, down by 195.27 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 28128.56 and 28382.32. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.11%, while Small cap index was down by 1.48%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 3.24%, Auto down by 2.28%, Metal down by 1.52%, Consumer Durables down by 1.23% and PSU down by 1.16%, while there were no gainers on BSE sectoral front. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 0.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.61%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.54%, HDFC Bank up by 0.50% and Reliance Industries up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 8.70%, Sun Pharma down by 3.40%, Tata Steel down by 2.77%, ICICI Bank down by 1.74% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has clarified that government will welcome 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence sector only when the investing company proposes to produce a product in which the country does not possess expertise.

Parrikar stated that “We are not going to allow FDI in the sector irrationally. We will do it rationally. Wherever we have competition we will not buy that from outside. Why should I allow 100 per cent foreign investment in a product which we are already making? Why should I give 100 per cent FDI where we are competing? It will be irrational move.” However he noted that the route is open and proposals will be considered only when the investing company proposes to produce a product in which the country does not possess expertise.

Since Narendra Modi-led government allowed 100 per cent FDI in the defence sector in 2015 not a single proposal has been approved. French defence major DCNS was the only firm to have made a proposal, which was rejected because the technology it proposed for submarines is already being developed by DRDO. The defence minister further added that the government will take the concerns into consideration which are raised over the NDA government's policy on FDI and will not damage any national interest.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8733.85, down by 58.45 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 8728.00 and 8807.90. There were 14 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 1.78%, Bosch up by 1.28% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.61%, ITC up by 0.59% and Bharti Infratel up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 8.41%, Tata Motors down by 8.10%, Sun Pharma down by 3.23%, BHEL down by 2.89% and Tata Steel down by 2.67% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 9.29 points or 0.45% to 2,083.86, Taiwan Weighted gained 80.98 points or 0.83% to 9,799.76, Nikkei 225 rose 199 points or 1.03% to 19,437.98 and Hang Seng was up by 331.6 points or 1.4% to 24,034.61. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 4.27 points or 0.13% to 3,213.66 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 0.33 points or 0.02% to 1,708.57.