Benchmarks continue weak trade in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in late morning session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The selling was witnessed on account of geo-political tug-of-war over West Asia and the Korean Peninsula which weighed on the domestic sentiment. Investors also turned cautious ahead of Infosys earnings due on April 13. The country’s second largest software services exporter is expected to show subdued bottom-line growth for January-March quarter but the key factor to watch out for would be its guidance for FY18 and whether the company will meet its FY17 dollar revenue guidance or not. Investors are also eyeing macro economic data of Industrial Production and Consumer Price Inflation scheduled to be released after the market hours. The rupee opened lower against dollar on Wednesday on account of selling of American currency by banks and exporters. Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 635.79 crore in domestic equity markets on Tuesday with gross purchases and gross sales of Rs 3773.59 crore and Rs 4409.38 crore, respectively. Traders were seen selling in Realty, Industrials and Utilities sector stocks. In scrip specific development, SAIL was trading in red as the employees of its three plants, went on day-long strike on Tuesday to protest against the stake sale.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading mostly in red, as tensions continue to ratchet up on the Korean Peninsula following a warning from North Korea of a nuclear attack on the US. North Korea had warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of aggression, as a US Navy strike group steamed toward the Korean peninsula - a force President Donald Trump described as an armada. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 9,200 and 29,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 617:1789, while 73 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29643.52, down by 144.83 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 29549.74 and 29838.82. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.49%, while Small cap index was down by 0.85%.

The losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 1.04%, Industrials down by 0.97%, Utilities down by 0.96%, Power down by 0.86% and Capital Goods down by 0.78%, while there were no gainers on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 0.43%, Infosys up by 0.37%, HDFC Bank up by 0.33%, Coal India up by 0.21% and Asian Paints up by 0.10%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.58%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.42%, Tata Motors down by 1.25%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.15% and Power Grid down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik), the government has formed an inter-ministerial committee. The panel would be responsible for coordination among stakeholders, including state governments, for 'time bound' implementation of the scheme. The scheme seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports.

According to its notification, the committee would be responsible for 'overall monitoring of the schemes of promotion of regional connectivity by way of revival of unserved and under-served airports/airstrips and RCS-UDAN'. In the flights operated under RCS, around 50 percent of the seats would have a fare cap Rs 2,500 per seat/hour.

The Inter- Ministerial Monitoring-cum-Coordination Committee, Chaired by Civil Aviation Secretary would have representations from the ministries of finance, defence, home as well as petroleum and natural gas. Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman, representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) apart from officials of airlines and states concerned would also be part of the panel. If required, the panels’ chairperson can co-opt any officer or expert.

Under the UDAN scheme the Civil Aviation Ministry has already awarded 128 routes connecting 70 airports to five airlines, including SpiceJet and an Air India subsidiary. Apart from various incentives, the operators of such flights would be extended viability gap funding -- for which money is partly raised through a levy of up to Rs 8,500 on flights operating in major routes like Delhi and Mumbai. The viability gap funding would be in place for three years for the airlines concerned from the date of starting operations in a particular UDAN route. Other benefits include zero airport charges for the operators and three-year exclusivity on the routes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9184.25, down by 52.75 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 9161.80 and 9246.40. There were 9 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 1.10%, Ambuja Cement up by 0.44%, Bharti Infratel up by 0.44%, Coal India up by 0.38% and Infosys up by 0.35%.

On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 2.88%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.65%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.54%, Hindalco down by 1.53% and Tata Steel down by 1.50% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 222.93 points or 1.19% to 18,524.94, Hang Seng decreased 37.72 points or 0.16% to 24,050.74, Taiwan Weighted decreased 33.25 points or 0.34% to 9,799.17 and Shanghai Composite decreased 10.53 points or 0.32% to 3,278.44.

On the other hand, KOSPI Index increased 1.61 points or 0.08% to 2,125.46, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.61 points or 0.09% to 1,737.45 and Jakarta Composite increased 15.94 points or 0.28% to 5,643.87.