Weak trade prevails in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in the afternoon session, on account of selling by investors in the blue-chip counters amid subdued cues from the global front.  Sentiment remained dampened as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates, citing continued US economic growth &  job market strength and announced it would begin cutting its holdings of bonds and other securities this year. However, traders were getting some support with the report that the Union Cabinet approved the proposal to introduce a Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017. The Bill would provide for a comprehensive resolution framework for specified financial sector entities to deal with bankruptcy situation in banks, insurance companies and financial sector entities. In scrip specific development, Aarti Industries was up by over six percent after bagging big multi-year contract from global agricultural firm for supplying an agrochemical intermediary.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red after the Federal Reserve held to its forecast of at least one more hike this year and media reports suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump is being investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller for possible obstruction of justice. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31121.04, down by 34.87 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 31109.03 and 31229.44. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.99%, Healthcare up by 0.96%, Energy up by 0.18%, Power up by 0.16% and Telecom up by 0.13%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.00%, PSU down by 0.86%, IT down by 0.51%, TECK down by 0.45% and Bankex down by 0.42% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 2.24%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.57%, Wipro up by 1.46%, Sun Pharma up by 1.08% and Cipla up by 0.85%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.24%, GAIL India down by 1.23%, Coal India down by 1.17%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.16% and ONGC down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to fight against rising global protectionism, India and Republic of Korea have agreed upon the need to stimulate investments flows to push infrastructure development and bilateral trade among others.

The two nations also signed agreements to establish $9 billion in concessional credit and $1 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA) funding for infrastructure development projects in India. With this, South Korea became one of the first non G-7 countries to become an ODA contributor in India. In addition, both the countries agreed to consider deploying part of this fund towards the Smart City projects in India. They also agreed to establish a mechanism at senior official levels, to identify good infrastructure projects in India, to draw upon these funds.

As the world's fastest growing major economy, India offers Korea important opportunities to deploy its capital and technologies in India. South Korea's interest in finding new openings to diversify its economic partnerships offers India great opportunities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9590.40, down by 27.75 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 9586.45 and 9621.40. There were 18 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 5.84%, Reliance Industries up by 2.08%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.56%, Wipro up by 1.43% and Sun Pharma up by 0.92%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.60%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 3.26%, Eicher Motors down by 1.69%, GAIL India down by 1.31% and Coal India down by 1.28% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 216 points or 0.83% to 25,659.90, Nikkei 225 shed 51.7 points or 0.26% to 19,831.82, KOSPI Index was down by 10.99 points or 0.46% to 2,361.65, Jakarta Composite declined 10.21 points or 0.18% to 5,782.69 and Shanghai Composite dropped 4.39 points or 0.14% to 3,126.29.

On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.39 points or 0.02% to 1,792.74 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 15.89 points or 0.16% to 10,088.35.