Indian bourses continue to trade under pressure

Indian bourses continued their weak trade in afternoon session on account of selling witnessed in front line blue chip stocks. Both Sensex and Nifty were trading below their crucial 29,000 and 8,950 marks, respectively. Sentiments also remained dampened with RBI Deputy Governor Viral V Acharya’s statement that the impact of note ban on country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth may be seen in the fourth quarter of the current financial year in some segments. Besides, the losses in Metal, Telecom, Basic Materials and Healthcare stocks also aided to pessimistic milieu. Meanwhile, trades remained cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting next week, where it is widely expected to raise interest rates. However, downside remained capped as some support came with global ratings agency Fitch raising the forecast for India’s GDP growth in the current financial year 2016-17 to 7.1% from 6.9%, earlier after the government’s official data showed there was hardly any impact on the economy from demonetisation of high value currency notes. In scrip specific development, Asian Granito India gained over four percent after issuing Commercial Paper of an aggregate amount of Rs 20 crore on March 06, 2017 and maturing on September 1, 2017.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green despite the negative cues overnight from Wall Street amid increased expectations of an interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve next week. Oil prices were mixed amid fears growing U.S. production will offset OPEC cuts.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28971.92, down by 76.27 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 28957.68 and 29098.17. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.09%, while Small cap index was down by 0.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.62%, Power up by 0.31%, Oil & Gas up by 0.22%, Capital Goods up by 0.13% and Utilities up by 0.11%, while Metal down by 1.64%, Telecom down by 0.71%, Basic Materials down by 0.61%, Healthcare down by 0.42% and Realty down by 0.38% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.36%, TCS up by 1.15%, ONGC up by 0.85%, Wipro up by 0.64% and GAIL India up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.28%, Axis Bank down by 1.30%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.20%, Infosys down by 1.10% and SBI down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Jayant Sinha has said that overseas investors are very excited about India as structural reforms and investments are giving overall growth a leg-up. He said that overseas investors are noticing that cash to GDP is coming down, while tax to GDP is going up and as a result they believe that it is a very powerful structural reform in India.

Noting that demonetization has resulted in various benefits, Sinha said that the move is over and has led to a dramatic improvement in the country’s economic landscape. He also pointed out that it has helped in strengthening banks as well as improving the overall economy. The minister added that banks have gained considerably from the low cost current account savings account (CASA). On the GST front, Sinha said that GST council has largely approved the draft of the legislation that has to be passed. Therefore, in all, foreign investors are very excited about India. 

The minister further said that the facts are clear and overseas investors are telling them that they have been doing well in the economy and structural reforms that they have unleashed as well as the kind of investments that the government and the private sector in India are making are really contributing to very strong growth. He also noted that there has been a tremendous interest globally in stepping up investments in India and they have built up their positions in India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8934.30, down by 29.15 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 8932.80 and 8977.85. There were 17 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 1.33%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.07%, TCS up by 1.02%, ONGC up by 0.83% and Bharti Infratel up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.28%, Tata Steel down by 2.23%, Axis Bank down by 1.38%, Yes Bank down by 1.27% and Infosys down by 1.19% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.94 points or 0.05% to 1,728.30, Shanghai Composite was up by 3.71 points or 0.11% to 3,237.57, KOSPI Index gained 12.69 points or 0.61% to 2,094.05, Taiwan Weighted rose 55.44 points or 0.57% to 9,738.07 and Hang Seng added 102.53 points or 0.43% to 23,698.81.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 34.99 points or 0.18% to 19,344.15 and Jakarta Composite was down by 13.52 points or 0.25% to 5,396.30.