Markets continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red in late afternoon session amid weak opening in European markets. Sentiment remained subdued ahead of the results of state elections, including that of UP. Exit polls are due later in the day. Besides, investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy review later in the evening and the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meet next week. However, downside remained capped with the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s statement that he expects a breakthrough on Goods and Services Tax (GST) before the session concludes next month. He said all political parties have also extended cooperation in a positive way. Modi also said issues that would benefit the poor would be discussed during the second leg of the Budget session. On sectoral front, stocks from Consumer Durables, Auto and Realty sectors were attracting buyers, whereas those from Telecom, Oil & Gas and Healthcare sectors were trading in red.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red as investors await cues from the ECB policy meeting due later in the day and the all-important U.S. jobs report, set for release Friday. Asian markets were trading in red after news of a big buildup in U.S. oil stockpiles depressed crude prices and shares of energy companies. Back home, in scrip specific development, NIIT was trading in green after the company unveiled its first specialized IT center in Hoa Sen, Vietnam to create talent pool for Digitalization of Vietnam.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28883.31, down by 18.63 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 28815.02 and 28928.85. 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 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.79%, Auto up by 0.51%, Consumer Disc up by 0.42%, Realty up by 0.19% and Basic Materials up by 0.13%, while Telecom down by 0.56%, Oil & Gas down by 0.53%, Healthcare down by 0.46%, Energy down by 0.38% and Metal down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.47%, Tata Motors up by 1.07%, Asian Paints up by 1.06%, Axis Bank up by 1.00% and SBI up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 4.62%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.87%, Wipro down by 1.64%, ONGC down by 1.61% and GAIL India down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to avoid expenditure rush in the last month of the fiscal, the Finance Ministry has asked other ministries not to breach financial propriety and cap spending in March to 15 per cent ceiling. It has also asked various government departments and ministries, which are not on the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) portal, to update it about their expenditure and revenue collections on a daily basis.

While noting that regular sanctions and bills should be put on the PFMS portal by March 20, the Finance Ministry has said that only “very few” expenditure requests would be processed after that. It has also asked the CBDT and CBEC to update the daily tax collection figures to the expenditure department and added that the last quarter expenditure must be limited to actual procurement of goods and services and reimbursement of expenditure already occurred.

The Fiscal deficit, the gap between government expenditure and revenue collection, budgeted at Rs 5.33 lakh crore, or 3.5 per cent of GDP for the current fiscal ending March, shot up to Rs 5.64 lakh crore, or 105.7 per cent of the full-year target, at the end of January.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8912.20, down by 12.10 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 8899.50 and 8929.80. There were 18 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.44%, Tata Motors up by 1.10%, Asian Paints up by 1.02%, SBI up by 0.82% and Axis Bank up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 4.52%, Wipro down by 1.99%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.86%, Idea Cellular down by 1.84% and ONGC down by 1.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 280.71 points or 1.18% to 23,501.56, Taiwan Weighted decreased 94.84 points or 0.97% to 9,658.61, Shanghai Composite decreased 23.92 points or 0.74% to 3,216.75, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 6.36 points or 0.37% to 1,719.18 and KOSPI Index decreased 4.35 points or 0.21% to 2,091.06. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 10.38 points or 0.19% to 5,404.15 and Nikkei 225 increased 64.55 points or 0.34% to 19,318.58.

All European Markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 35.37 points or 0.48% to 7,299.24, Germany’s DAX decreased 21.89 points or 0.18% to 11,945.42 and France’s CAC decreased 12.57 points or 0.25% to 4,947.91.