Benchmarks continue to trade in negative zone

Equity benchmarks continued to trade in negative zone in early noon session ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy announcement where it is expected to hike interest rates by 25 basis points rates. Rupee’s continuous fall against the US dollar and surging global crude oil prices too dampened sentiments. Indices slipped further in initial trade with the NSE frontline index slipping below 10,500 points, while the BSE frontline index slumped below the 35,000 mark. On the Sensex, ONGC, Vedanta, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries were amongst the major losers, while on the Nifty, HPCL, BPCL, Indian Oil and GAIL were amongst the top losers. Traders took note of Care Ratings report that the government move to cut excise duty on petrol and diesel will have a limited impact if crude prices continue to rise and rupee continues its slide against the dollar. Sentiment turned negative on private report that liberalising foreign borrowings for oil companies to raise to $10 billion will not have a material impact on arresting the slide of the rupee.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, as investors got hit by mounting fears about the path of US interest rate hikes and the increasingly fraught relations between China and the United States. Back home, on scrip specific development, Bhushan Steel touches roof on reporting production of 1.05 MT in Q2 FY19 as the company reported production of 2.09 MT in H1 FY19. Besides, Hathway Cable surged on the buzz of unveiling hybrid STB based on Google’s Android TV.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34788.96, down by 380.20 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 34760.57 and 35118.54. There were 11 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 1.22%, while Small cap index was down by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.28%, Telecom up by 0.46%, IT up by 0.33% and TECK was up by 0.32%, while Oil & Gas down by 10.33%, Energy down by 5.59%, PSU down by 4.89%, Metal down by 2.84% and Utilities was down by 2.23% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.74%, Infosys up by 1.00%, Sun Pharma up by 0.73%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.70% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 0.42%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 12.79%, Vedanta down by 3.94%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.34%, Adani Ports &Special down by 3.31% and Reliance Industries was down by 2.86% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, blaming higher crude oil imports, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said that India is facing lot of economic crisis and there is need to reduce overall imports and increase exports. He noted that the country is world’s third largest crude oil importer and mounting international oil prices are inflating domestic transport fuel costs in a strong demand environment. He also called for finding out fuel import substitutes products and added that India has great potential for the use of ethanol, methanol, CNG and electric transportation system as solutions.

The minister has stated that India is presently ahead in innovation, entrepreneurship, technology, research and development. He pointed out that there is a huge potential in Indian petrochemical sector, but it needs import substitutes, pollution-free, cost-effective and indigenous ways to go ahead. While blaming OPEC countries for the current increase in oil prices, he said one day they will find there is no market for crude oil.

Gadkari further said that the government had taken a decision to increase production of ethanol, which is important for the country. He said that as this is the time for India to find solutions for import substitutes, the chemical industry must work towards finding the solutions to curb imports of crude oil at rising prices. Noting that the country has the technology to produce ethanol from agri waste, he asked the Indian chemical industry to check whether agriculture materials or waste can be used to make chemicals as well.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10461.20, down by 138.05 points or 1.30% after trading in a range of 10445.10 and 10540.65. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan up by 4.45%, Indiabulls Housing up by 2.50%, Indusind Bank up by 1.52%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.41% and Infosys was up by 1.07%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 21.18%, BPCL down by 17.76%, Indian Oil down by 13.93%, ONGC down by 11.89% and GAIL India was down by 8.38% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red, Hang Seng slipped 71.06 points or 0.27% to 26,552.81, Nikkei 225 lost 183.70 points or 0.77% to 23,791.92, Taiwan Weighted tumbled 201.79 points or 1.92% to 10,517.12, Jakarta declined 19.92 points or 0.35% to 5,736.70, KOSPI decreased 7.16 points or 0.32% to 2,267.33 and Straits Times was down by 28.65 points or 0.89% to 3,202.94.