Markets continue to trade in red in noon session

Indian markets despite showing some signs of recovery, were still reeling in red, with benchmarks trading lower by over a quarter percent in the early noon session, eyeing the monetary policy review, though RBI is expected to keep policy interest rates unchanged for a third straight meeting, shifting focus to the tools it will use to mop up excess cash in the banking system. The global cues too remained soft and most of the Asian peers were in red, as the region was nervously watching for market-moving news from the first meeting between the US and Chinese leaders. Traders have largely overlooked the report that services sector in India registered second straight month of growth in March, driven by strong rise in new work orders amid softer inflationary pressures. The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which tracks services sector output on a monthly basis, rose to 51.5 in March from 50.3 in February. Weakness in rupee too was impacting the day’s trade in equity markets.

On the sectoral front while the rate sensitive realty sector was the top gainer, some of the major banking stocks continue to build pressure, dragging the markets lower. In scrip specific movement, Aditya Birla Money hit upper circuit for the second consecutive sessions after Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank becomes the seventh entity to receive a final licence from the RBI to set up a payments bank.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29855.12, down by 119.12 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 29817.59 and 29948.44. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.23%, while Small cap index was lower by 0.35%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.95%, Oil & Gas up by 0.44%, Energy up by 0.34%, IT up by 0.27%, TECK up by 0.10%, while Metal down by 1.18%, Telecom down by 0.77%, Capital Goods down by 0.76%, Consumer Durables down by 0.74%, Healthcare down by 0.70% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 1.36%, Reliance Industries up by 0.74%, Infosys up by 0.73%, Axis Bank up by 0.69% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.44%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.63%, Coal India down by 1.36%, ITC down by 1.31%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.29% and Adani Ports &Special down by 1.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing the need to turn problems into opportunities and work at expanding the scale of operation, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that every Indian mind is an innovative mind, having potential to come up with the solution to problems and if India has to become a great economic power, it has to invest heavily in innovation and entrepreneurship. He added that the Indian innovation strategy should focus on generating ideas that promote inclusive growth and benefit those who are at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid.

Noting India will grow when whole of India grows; Mukherjee said with 68 percent of our population still live in villages in the rural areas, smart development can take place only if villages and villagers become smart. He expressed need of development in rural areas and said that they must have the required basic physical and social infrastructure with a layer of smart information and communication embedded in the infrastructure to improve governance and delivery of services, livelihood and economic opportunities.

To encourage youth to take up entrepreneurship and contribute to economic development, President further said that imparting skill and providing gainful employment is essential for them to face demographic challenge and harness the enthusiasm, energy and ambition. Besides, he said that India has a huge domestic market and this provides an advantage for the enterprises that use local material and technologies to produce low cost but good quality products for the market.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9229.30, down by 35.85 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 9220.00 and 9245.80. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 1.40%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 0.96%, Indusind Bank up by 0.89%, Reliance Industries up by 0.77% and Zee Entertainment up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.10%, Indiabulls Housing down by 1.78%, ICICI Bank down by 1.70%, ITC down by 1.42% and Eicher Motors down by 1.38% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets barring the Shanghai Composite which was marginally up by 8.51 points or 0.26% to 3,278.82, all were trading in red.

Nikkei 225 slumped by 264.21 points or 1.4% to 18,597.06, Hang Seng was down by 121.6 points or 0.5% to 24,279.20, Taiwan Weighted lost 51.68 points or 0.52% to 9,897.80, Jakarta Composite declined by 20.67 points or 0.36% to 5,656.31, KOSPI Index was lower by 8.1 points or 0.37% to 2,152.75 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased by 4.29 points or 0.25% to 1,740.38.