Indian markets remain under pressure; Nifty below 9300 mark

Indian equity indices continue to reel under pressure and are trading in negative terrain in noon session, while the broader markets show signs of respite. The frontline indices maintain to move sideways in a narrow range as corporate India continues to divulge its fourth quarterly report card and investors are indulging only in stock specific activities. 35 companies including blue chip firm like Ambuja Cement will report their March-quarter results today. Leads from the Asian counterparts remained highly unsupportive giving no significant direction to the domestic indices, while decline in international crude oil prices too failed to enthuse the local sentiments. However, losses remained capped with the International Monetary Fund Managing Director’s statement that the Goods and Services Tax to be implemented from July 1 would help raise India's medium-term growth to above eight per cent, as it will enhance production and the movement of goods and services across Indian states. Snapping its three-day rise, the rupee eased from a 21-month high to end 5 paise lower at 64.16 on Thursday against the US dollar. It breached the psychologically crucial 64-mark to touch a fresh intra-day high of 63.97 in early trade.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower on Friday, amid renewed jitters over North Korea and conflicting signals from President Donald Trump about U.S. trade policy. Japan's Nikkei share average ticked down further from recent five-week highs as a relief rally driven by fading political worries in Europe fizzled ahead of Golden Week holidays next week. Investors also digested a raft of local economic data, including weak industrial output data. Meanwhile, U.S. stock indexes fluttered up and down, then ended the day a hair above where they started.

Back home, stocks from Metal, Basic Materials and PSU counters were supporting the markets, while those from Realty, FMCG and Telecom counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Capital First surged after the company entered into an investment agreement with Sienna Systems Resources and the Promoter of Sienna (collectively Sienna) to acquire Equity Shares comprising around 8% of the Share Capital of Sienna and Equity Share Warrants comprising around 2% of the Share Capital of the Sienna. Furthermore, Indraprastha Gas gained after the company received its board’s approval to increase foreign institutional investors (FIIs) / foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) shareholding limits from 24% of paid up equity share capital to 30% of the paid up share capital of the Company.

The market breadth remained optimistic, as there were 1281 shares on the gaining side against 1184 shares on the losing side, while 132 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29898.81, down by 130.93 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 29876.35 and 30067.64. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.38%, while Small cap index up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.43%, Basic Materials up by 0.87%, PSU up by 0.60%, Auto up by 0.38% and Consumer Disc up by 0.31%, while Realty down by 1.43%, FMCG down by 0.90%, Telecom down by 0.84%, TECK down by 0.39% and Capital Goods down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.15%, ONGC up by 1.87%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.55%, Axis Bank up by 1.37% and ICICI Bank up by 1.00%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.03%, HDFC down by 1.84%, HDFC Bank down by 1.78%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.51% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in an aim to shift towards energy self-sufficiency, India the world's third-biggest coal importer is in the process of throwing open commercial coal mining to private firms for the first time in four decades. The Coal Secretary Susheel Kumar has said that the opening up of commercial coal mining to private companies will lead to the competition in the coal sector and reduce power tariff. He also said that commercial coal mining is a very big reform in the coal sector and the idea is to bring in competition for the monopoly coal miner, a public sector company, Coal India.

The Coal Secretary explaining further said that this is the intervention which the government wants to bring in and what they wish to achieve ultimately in the coal sector is to reduce the prices of coal so that their ultimate end-use consumer who is a power consumer gets power at cheaper rates. He also said that the government wants to convey to potential investors that sustainable and efficient mining, not revenue maximization, is the idea behind commercial coal auction.

He added that they hope to achieve through commercial mining is these mines will attract efficient power sector players who will invest in a big way and bring in that efficiency, ultimately reducing the prices. Meanwhile, the government is planning to auction four blocks under commercial mining in the first phase. As per the Coal Mines Special Provision Act of 2015, the government can open up commercial coal mining for private players.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9298.60, down by 43.55 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 9290.25 and 9342.65. There were 24 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.05%, Tata Steel up by 2.34%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.19%, ONGC up by 2.12% and Bank of Baroda up by 1.63%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.40%, HDFC Bank down by 1.83%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.83%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.79% and HDFC down by 1.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased by 93.49 points or 0.38% to 24,604.99, Nikkei 225 declined 83.69 points or 0.43% to 19,168.18, Jakarta Composite slipped 11.35 points or 0.2% to 5,695.68, Shanghai Composite decreased 7.92 points or 0.25% to 3,144.26 and KOSPI Index was down by 4.11 points or 0.19% to 2,205.35.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 1.62 points or 0.09% to 1,769.54 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 11.38 points or 0.12% to 9,872.00