Indian bourses continue to trade in negative terrain

Indian bourses continued to trade in negative territory in afternoon session, tracking weak cues from the global markets, rupee depreciation and heavy selling in blue-chip stocks. Sentiments remained weak with a private report stating that overseas investors pulled out a massive Rs 38,900 crore (over $5 billion) from the capital markets in October, the steepest outflow in nearly two years, on rising crude oil prices, depreciating rupee and worsening current account deficit. With this, the total outflow from the capital markets (equity and debt together) has reached over Rs 1 lakh crore so far this year. Some concerns also came in with a report stating that with global crude prices remaining elevated, the rupee is likely to be under pressure, and may touch the 76 levels against the US currency over the next three months. However, the markets trimmed some of their losses, as traders found some support with a monthly survey indicating that the country's services sector in October expanded at the quickest pace since July, driven by significant increase in new business orders, which in turn led to robust workforce expansion. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index rose to 52.2 in October, from 50.9 in September.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, as traders feared that President Donald Trump only reported progress in trade talks with China to score political points as the U.S. midterm elections draw near. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34896.35, down by 115.30 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 34811.91 and 35123.41. There were 11 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.28%, while Small cap index was down by 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.55%, IT up by 0.35%, Healthcare up by 0.30%, Realty up by 0.29% and Basic Materials up by 0.24%, while Power down by 1.96%, Utilities down by 1.25%, Oil & Gas down by 1.10%, FMCG down by 0.64% and Telecom down by 0.57% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 3.12%, SBI up by 2.00%, Tata Steel up by 0.98%, Coal India up by 0.96% and Sun Pharma up by 0.95%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 3.36%, Indusind Bank down by 3.14%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.32%, Power Grid down by 2.32% and HDFC down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry is likely to finalise the second round of capital infusion of about Rs 54,000 crore for public sector banks (PSBs) by November-end or by the first half of the next month, taking into account the latest quarter's performance.  In this round of fund infusion, most of the banks would be getting growth capital for expanding their lending, particularly to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The infusion would be part of remaining Rs 65,000 crore out of Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital infusion over two financial years. In October last year, the government announced the Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital infusion programme, of which Rs 1.35 lakh crore was to be raised through recapitalisation bonds, and the balance Rs 58,000 crore through raising of capital from the market. Out of the Rs 1.35 lakh crore, the government has already infused about Rs 82,000 crore through recap bonds and the balance would be done during this fiscal.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a slew of measures, including loan sanction of up to Rs 1 crore in less than an hour and relaxation in labour and environmental laws for MSMEs to give a boost to the sector, the country's second-biggest employer. The ministry had earlier this year provided capital infusion of Rs 11,336 crore to five PSBs to help them meet their interest payment commitments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10504.35, down by 48.65 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 10477.00 and 10558.80. There were 18 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.95%, SBI up by 2.00%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.61%, HCL Tech. up by 1.47% and Hindalco up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 6.06%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 5.09%, NTPC down by 3.86%, Indusind Bank down by 3.35% and HPCL down by 3.12% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Shanghai Composite decreased 19.26 points or 0.72% to 2,657.22, Jakarta Composite was down by 6.81 points or 0.12% to 5,899.48, Taiwan Weighted decreased 16.78 points or 0.17% to 9,889.81, Hang Seng shed 552.13 points or 2.13% to 25,934.22, Straits Times dipped 52.05 points or 1.7% to 3,064.34, KOSPI dropped 19.08 points or 0.92% to 2,076.92 and Nikkei 225 decreased 344.67 points or 1.57% to 21,898.99.