Markets remain under pressure in late morning session

Key Indian benchmarks remained under pressure in late morning session, as global rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) kept its India rating unchanged at the lowest investment grade of ‘BBB-’, with a stable outlook. Some concerns also came with the report that Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan made a strong case for broad-basing economic growth and generating more employment opportunities, arguing that short-term political solutions to the job reservation issue can damage the fabric of the country. Adding to the losses, industry body ASSOCHAM said that inflation would remain a key concern for the RBI and the government, dimming hopes of a cut in interest rates. Traders paid no heed towards the Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement that the economy will grow at a faster pace in quarter-ended September, as compared with the first quarter of the financial year 2017-18 (Apr-Mar). However, the broader markets showed some fervor and traded with notable gains, performing better than their larger peers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, despite the positive cues from Wall Street in a truncated session on Friday. Investors will keep a watch on the key data from major economies, including the US, Japan and China, later this week. Back home, in scrip specific development, Surya Roshni gained after the company bagged orders for supply of LED Street Lights under SLNP (Street light National Program) and for Supply of Super -Efficient (BLDC) Fan, aggregating to Rs 72.95 crore from Energy Efficiency Services (EESL).

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33599.52, down by 79.72 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 33563.33 and 33661.33. 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 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.69%, Capital Goods up by 0.64%, Consumer Durables up by 0.60%, Industrials up by 0.31% and Consumer Disc up by 0.30%, while Metal down by 0.58%, Oil & Gas down by 0.56%, IT down by 0.43%, PSU down by 0.35% and FMCG down by 0.35% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.18%, NTPC up by 1.39%, ONGC up by 1.05%, Sun Pharma up by 0.77% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.60%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.41%, Infosys down by 1.17%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.12%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.02% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy R.K Singh has expressed his confidence that India will comfortably achieve 200 Gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy (RE) capacity by the year 2022, as against the targeted 175 GW. Buoyed by the success of reverse auction of renewables, he unveiled plan to auction up to 21 GW solar and wind capacity by March 2018. He also informed that 10 GW will be bid out each fiscal in 2018-19 and 10 GW in 2019-20, leaving a margin of 2 years for commissioning of projects.

Besides, the minister pointed to the industry's long pending demand to declare the government's renewable energy roadmap. He said that the government intends to speed up renewable energy capacity installation in the country and strengthen the RE manufacturing base in India. Adding further, he indicated that the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) is working out the scheme and will soon issue an Expression of Interest (EoI) to the industry for establishing domestic capacity of 20 GW, which will also meet Make in India goals. He also noted that MNRE is exploring innovative ways to achieve additional installed RE capacity through floating solar power plants (FSPP) over dams, offshore wind energy systems (OWES) and hybrid solar-wind power systems (HSWPS), which may provide over 10GW additional capacity. He added that the MNRE team of experts has already surveyed the Bhakra Nangal dam for floating solar power plants and off-shore Gujarat and Tamil Nadu for wind power plants.

Talking on the issues in Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), the minister has pointed out that the sanctity of the PPAs have to be ensured and they would have to be mandatorily honoured. He said that the ministry is in constant discussions with state governments, including Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, to ensure that. He also spoke of the need to strictly adhere to the renewable power purchase obligations (RPOs) in order to ensure success of the programme.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10359.85, down by 29.85 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 10348.05 and 10369.25. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.10%, UPL up by 1.73%, NTPC up by 1.64%, ONGC up by 0.94% and Bharti Infratel up by 0.58%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 1.73%, GAIL India down by 1.67%, BPCL down by 1.48%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.43% and Indusind Bank down by 1.15% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 176.58 points or 0.59% to 29,689.74, Taiwan Weighted decreased 103.16 points or 0.95% to 10,750.93, Nikkei 225 decreased 76.67 points or 0.34% to 22,474.18, KOSPI Index decreased 33.93 points or 1.33% to 2,510.40, Shanghai Composite decreased 27.95 points or 0.83% to 3,325.87, Jakarta Composite decreased 11.05 points or 0.18% to 6,056.09 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.74 points or 0.22% to 1,713.49.