Indices extend losses; hover near intra-day low points

Indian equity indices extended their losses in the early noon session with Sensex and Nifty hovering near their intra-day low points on heavy selling in consumer durables, auto, capital goods and banking stocks amid weak global cues. Top five Sensex losers were Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Adani Ports, while top five Nifty losers were Hindustan Unilever, Eicher Motors, GAIL India, Ultratech Cement and Mahindra & Mahindra. Some concerns came with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) data showing that capital garnered by Indian companies through issuance of shares to institutional investors dived by 78 per cent to Rs 7,000 crore during the April-August period of the financial year 2018-9. Besides, depreciating rupee also added to woes. Some cautiousness also came with a report showing that September WPI inflation came in at 5.13% as against street expectations of 4.6%. Meanwhile, Economic Affairs Secretary S C Garg urged IMF to implement quota reforms so that share of emerging nations increases in line with their growing economic position.

On the global front, most of the Asian counters were trading in red as investors were cautious amid worries about global economic growth and on Saudi Arabia's rising diplomatic tensions with the West following the disappearance as well as suspected murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Back home, cement related stocks were in focus with a top official of industry body Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) stating that Cement prices could go up by up to 10 per cent in the next six months in order to compensate for the increased fuel and transportation costs.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34569.28, down by 164.30 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 34559.98 and 35008.65. There were 10 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.07%, while Small cap index up by 0.68%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.57%, IT up by 0.79%, TECK up by 0.59%, Power up by 0.22% and Telecom up by 0.12%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.49%, Auto down by 1.12%, Consumer Disc down by 0.96%, Bankex down by 0.90% and Capital Goods down by 0.85% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 0.95%, Sun Pharma up by 0.87%, Infosys up by 0.80%, TCS up by 0.76% and ONGC up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 4.06%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.91%, Axis Bank down by 2.40%, ICICI Bank down by 2.35% and Adani Ports down by 2.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, bank credit grew by 12.51 percent to Rs 89.82 lakh crore in the fortnight ended September 28, while the deposits rose by 8.07 percent to Rs 117.99 lakh crore. According to the recent RBI data, in the year-ago fortnight, advances stood at Rs 79.83 lakh crore, while the deposits at Rs 109.17 lakh crore.

Data further indicated that during the fortnight ended September 14, bank credit had risen by 13.46 percent to Rs 87.98 lakh crore, while the deposits grew by 8.58 per cent to Rs 115.70 lakh crore. It also noted that in August this year, non-food bank credit increased by 12.4 percent compared with an increase of 5.5 per cent in the year-ago month. It added that loans to industry rose by 1.9 percent in August, against a contraction of 0.3 per cent in August 2017.

As per to the data, advances to agriculture and allied activities were up by 6.6 percent, compared with an increase of 6.5 percent in the same month last year. Besides, services sector advances expanded by 26.7 percent compared with 5 percent last year. It also showed that personal loans rose by 18.2 percent in August 2018, against 15.7 percent in August last year

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10422.95, down by 49.55 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 10410.15 and 10524.60. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.85%, Indiabulls Housing up by 1.94%, Cipla up by 1.70%, Hindalco up by 1.41% and Sun Pharma up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 4.02%, Eicher Motors down by 3.30%, GAIL India down by 3.15%, Ultratech Cement down by 3.12% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng decreased 326.790 points or 1.28% to 25,474.70, Taiwan Weighted decreased 144.69 points or 1.46% to 9,901.12, Nikkei 225 decreased 423.36 points or 1.9% to 22,271.30, Shanghai Composite decreased 19.85 points or 0.77% to 2,587.06, Straits Times decreased 16.74 points or 0.55% to 3,052.43 and KOSPI decreased 17.00 points or 0.79% to 2,144.85. Bucking the trend, Jakarta Composite increased 10.95 points or 0.19% to 5,767.44.