Markets continue range-bound trade with negative bias

Indian equity benchmarks continued their range-bound trade with negative bias in late afternoon session as investors waited for positive corporate results after a disappointing start to the earnings season last week when Infosys issued lower-than-expected revenue guidance. However, broader markets were ahead, with mid-cap and small-cap firming up. Sentiments remained downbeat with the report that credit growth plunged to a whopping six-decade low of 5.08 percent in the financial year 2016-17 against 10.7 percent a year ago. Weak global cues due to rising geopolitical worries also kept the domestic sentiments down. On the sectoral front, stocks of select central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) such as NLC India, NTPC, NHPC, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) were trading lower after the government invited law firms to act as legal advisers for divesting its shareholding in seven CPSEs. Besides these five, the government intends to sell equity shares in seven firms including Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), via an offer for sale (OFS). Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued the revised Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework with a view to tighten the norms on bank performance.

On the global front, European markets remained closed on account of Easter Monday, while Asian markets were trading mixed. Back home, in scrip specific development, DEB Bank traded under pressure after the Bank reported a fall of 23.98% in its net profit at Rs 52.86 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2017, as compared to Rs 69.53 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29435.79, down by 25.66 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 29363.28 and 29494.08. There were 11 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.05%, while Small cap index was up by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 5.84%, Consumer Durables up by 0.59%, Consumer Disc up by 0.33%, Oil & Gas up by 0.30% and Utilities up by 0.23%, while Metal down by 1.10%, Telecom down by 1.09%, TECK down by 0.67%, IT down by 0.58% and PSU down by 0.55% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 3.35%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.53%, Power Grid up by 1.20%, Reliance Industries up by 1.01% and ITC up by 0.71%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.67%, Sun Pharma down by 2.21%, Coal India down by 1.56%, Asian Paints down by 1.27% and Lupin down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the inflation in the country on wholesale level softened in the month of March 2017, on the back of easing fuel and manufactured item prices. According to the latest data released by the government, the wholesale price inflation (WPI) stood at 5.70% in March as against 6.55% in the previous month and (-) 0.45% during the corresponding month of the previous year.  Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 5.70% compared to a build up rate of -0.45% in the corresponding period of the previous year.  Meanwhile, for the month of January 2017, the final WPI index was revised upward to 5.53 percent from 5.25 percent (provisional).

Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 20.12%, witnessed a decline of 0.2% to 257.5 (provisional) from 258.1 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group rose to 267.6 (provisional) from 267.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group decreased by 1.8% to 230.6 (provisional) from 234.8 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Minerals’ group increased by 1.5% to 238.3 (provisional) from 234.8  (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index having weight of 14.91% in the WPI inflation index, decreased by 0.1% to 203.7 (provisional) from 203.8 (provisional) for the previous month.

Besides, Manufactured Products index having weight of 64.97% declined by 0.1% to 158.7 (provisional) from 158.8 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the items in the group, the index for ‘Food Products’ group declined by 1.2% to 192.1 (provisional) from 194.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Non-Metallic Mineral Products’ group declined by 0.6% to 177.7 (provisional) from 178.8 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Machinery & Machine Tools’ group declined by 0.1% to 135.3 (provisional) from 135.4 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the other hand, the index for ‘Beverages, Tobacco & Tobacco Products’ group rose by 0.1% to 221.7 (provisional) from 221.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Textiles’ group rose by 0.2% to 142.9 (provisional) from 142.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Wood & Wood Products’ group rose by 0.7% to 193.2 (provisional) from 191.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Paper & Paper Products’ group rose by 0.7% to 158.8 (provisional) from 157.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Leather & Leather Products ‘ group rose by 0.1% to 145.3 (provisional) from 145.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Rubber & Plastic Products’ group rose by 1.0% to 150.4 (provisional) from 148.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Chemicals & Chemical Products’ group rose by 0.5% to 152.3 (provisional) from 151.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Basic Metals, Alloys & Metal Products’ group rose by 0.1% to 160.5 (provisional) from 160.4 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Transport, Equipment & Parts’ group rose by 0.2% to 140.8 (provisional) from 140.5 (provisional) for the previous month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9134.85, down by 15.95 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 9120.25 and 9160.00. There were 21 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 3.44%, Grasim Industries up by 1.96%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.59%, Reliance Industries up by 0.93% and ITC up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 3.49%, NTPC down by 2.79%, Sun Pharma down by 2.22%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.91% and Coal India down by 1.70% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.67 points or 0.27% to 1,735.66, KOSPI Index increased 10.88 points or 0.51% to 2,145.76 and Nikkei 225 increased 19.63 points or 0.11% to 18,355.26. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 23.9 points or 0.74% to 3,222.17, Jakarta Composite decreased 23.26 points or 0.41% to 5,593.29 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 16.53 points or 0.17% to 9,716.40. The Hong Kong market is closed for Easter Monday.

European markets remained closed on account of Easter Monday.