Markets remain subdued; Sensex down by over 150 points

Indian equity benchmarks remained subdued in late morning session amid disappointing earnings by corporates. Negative cues from Asian markets also contributed to the losses. Some anxiety spread among the investors with Niti Aayog chief Amitabh Kant’s statement that the government needs to adopt the model of build, operate and transfer (BOT) for infrastructure projects. These projects then should be given to private companies as the government is incapable of handling the maintenance and operations of such projects. Besides, traders focus now shifted to Reserve Bank of India’s two-day monetary policy meeting, which is set to begin next week on Tuesday, while the outcome is expected on Wednesday.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, following disappointing earnings from American tech giants Amazon and Twitter. Back home, in scrip specific development, Duke Offshore traded jubilantly after the company bagged a contract for newly purchased crew boat Duke Express. The vessel will operate in Mumbai Harbor to support specialization dredging operations of a multinational dredging corporation joint venture. The contract will start in early September.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32231.23, down by 152.07 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 32164.16 and 32381.36. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.42%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.54%, Utilities up by 0.18%, Industrials up by 0.07%, Consumer Disc up by 0.07% and Basic Materials up by 0.06%, while Healthcare down by 1.53%, Telecom down by 0.71%, Metal down by 0.51%, Energy down by 0.38% and Bankex down by 0.35% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.29%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.07%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.85%, Axis Bank up by 0.66% and ITC up by 0.59%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 5.51%, Lupin down by 3.70%, Sun Pharma down by 2.68%, ICICI Bank down by 2.26% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Amitabh Kant, chief executive officer of government’s policy think tank NITI Aayog, has said that the government entities needs to adopt the model of build, operate and transfer (BOT) for maintenance and operations of infrastructure projects, including the big ones like dedicated freight corridor and national highways. He also said that these projects then should be given to private companies as the government is incapable to handle them. He also noted that it’s high time that the government should start the process of reverse BOT, must sell out projects and let the private sector handle it.

Apart from this, Kant has stated that the government should let private sector take charge of schools, airport, jails and colleges too. He also said that even running trains should be handed over to the private sector and government should restrict its role to planning and developing infrastructure. Adding further, he said that India needs to move into new areas of public private partnership (PPP). He pointed out that at least experience of many countries like Canada and Australia shows that private sector is capable of doing very good work in creation of quality infrastructure over a long period of time in social sector.

He also observed that there were huge opportunities for the private sector in India like station re-development projects, port construction and Sagarmala projects. He noted that there is no shortage of money in the market and the country can use the opportunity by de-listing its projects. He also mentioned that need of the hour is to market these projects well and added that even the freight corridor being built should be privatised.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9985.20, down by 35.35 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 9963.05 and 9999.35. There were 19 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 2.77%, GAIL India up by 1.35%, HDFC up by 1.33%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 1.18% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 5.52%, Lupin down by 3.92%, Sun Pharma down by 2.61%, ICICI Bank down by 2.28% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.11% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 178.98 points or 0.66% to 26,952.19, Nikkei 225 decreased 132.29 points or 0.66% to 19,947.35, Taiwan Weighted decreased 95.05 points or 0.9% to 10,413.32, KOSPI Index decreased 40.56 points or 1.66% to 2,402.68, Jakarta Composite decreased 10.86 points or 0.19% to 5,808.88, Shanghai Composite decreased 1.79 points or 0.06% to 3,247.99 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.76 points or 0.04% to 1,769.31.