Indian bourses continue to languish into negative territory

Indian equity benchmarks continued to languish into negative territory in early afternoon session as selling momentum in the equities persisted. Sentiments remained downbeat with report that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has halved its dividend payout to the government to Rs 30,659 crore for the fiscal ended June 2017. Last fiscal, the RBI had transferred Rs 65,876 crore surplus as dividend to the government. Moreover, prevailing caution ahead of the release of macro-economic data and a weak trend in Asia continued to dampen investors’ sentiments. The rupee has also come under pressure, falling 8 paise to 64.15 against US dollar in early trade at the forex market.  In scrip specific development, Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL) was up by over a percent after receiving an approval for setting up an Optical Fibre Manufacturing Facility.

On the flip side, Asian markets were trading in red, as tension ramped up between the US and North Korea, sending investors fleeing to less risky assets such the yen and the Swiss franc. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31313.12, down by 218.21 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 31194.87 and 31379.20. There were 7 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.64%, Healthcare up by 0.33%, Oil & Gas up by 0.20%, PSU up by 0.14% and Realty up by 0.07%, while Metal down by 2.17%, Capital Goods down by 1.13%, Auto down by 0.83%, Basic Materials down by 0.74% and Consumer Disc down by 0.72% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.88%, SBI up by 1.43%, Lupin up by 1.11%, Axis Bank up by 0.63% and Wipro up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.00%, Asian Paints down by 1.94%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.75%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.55% and ONGC down by 1.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the government is planning to bring a new bio-fuel policy for encouraging its use in transport fuel that will catalyse Rs 1 lakh crore of investment in the entire value chain. He also noted that this will be in line with the government’s commitment to cut down emission and bring down the overall oil import bill.

The Petroleum Minister has pointed out that India imports 80 percent of its crude oil needs and use of biofuel extracted from non-edible oils will help meet the target of reducing imports by 10 percent by 2022. He also said that India's top three state-owned oil companies have committed approximately $2 billion investment in research and development (R&D) on biofuels. He added that they will soon take to the Cabinet a biofuel policy that will provide for investment climate, incentives, government role and commercial returns for developers.

Adding further, Pradhan said that the new policy will help develop a biofuel economy worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the next two years. He also said that the government has already asked state oil companies to set up ethanol plants at 12 locations over the coming year. He noted that promoting biofuels creates jobs, fosters economic growth, supports farmers and helps improve energy security for the country. He added that ways are being explored on conversion of urban, rural waste to fuel and use of waste/barren lands for cultivation of feedstock for 2G biofuels.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9746.85, down by 73.40 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 9704.35 and 9771.65. There were 15 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.98%, GAIL India up by 1.64%, SBI up by 1.15%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.04% and Axis Bank up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 4.52%, Hindalco down by 4.10%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.96%, HCL Tech. down by 1.88% and Asian Paints down by 1.84% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 481.81 points or 1.76% to 26,962.19, Jakarta Composite dipped 62.98 points or 1.08% to 5,762.97, Shanghai Composite shed 53.94 points or 1.65% to 3,207.81, KOSPI Index was down by 39.76 points or 1.69% to 2,319.71, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI slipped 9.01 points or 0.51% to 1,768.76 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.17 points or 0% to 10,329.57.