Local equities extend southward journey in morning deals

Local equity benchmarks extended their losses in morning deals tailing weak global cues. Feebleness was also visible in the broader markets with the S&P BSE Mid-cap and the S&P BSE Small-cap indices losing around one percent. Investors remained concerned with International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) report stating that India's total energy subsidies amounted to Rs 1,51,480 crore in financial year 2017, a 36 per cent decrease since FY14. India's fossil-fuel subsidies fell sharply by nearly 70 per cent, from Rs 1,73,330 crore in FY14 to Rs 52,980 crore in FY17. Traders took note of a private report stating that Parliamentary Committee has expressed concern over the huge losses suffered by some Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) and the low rate of return on assets and pressed the urgent need for optimum utilisation of their assets to generate better earnings. Traders ignored a report stating that after pipping France this year, India is all set to overtake the United Kingdom in 2019 to emerge as the world’s fifth largest economy.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, after Wall Street slid on recession fears, putting markets in Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney on track to end 2018 down more than 10%. Back home, on the sectoral front, PSU Banking stocks were trading lower, despite report stating that Indian public sector banks recovered Rs 60,730 crore ($8.69 billion) of outstanding bad loans in the April-September period.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36045.59, down by 386.08 points or 1.06% after trading in a range of 36027.65 and 36483.49. There were 2 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 1.14%, while Small cap index was down by 0.80%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom down by 1.83%, Realty down by 1.61%, TECK down by 1.49%, IT down by 1.44% and Energy was down by 1.32%, while there were no gainers on sectoral indices.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.34% and Tata Motors - DVR was up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.88%, Infosys down by 2.31%, Yes Bank down by 2.09%, Asian Paints down by 1.70% and HDFC was down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that bank credit rose at a healthy 15.07 percent to Rs 92.03 trillion in the fortnight to December 7, 2018, while deposits grew 9.66 percent to Rs 118.84 trillion in same period. In the year-ago fortnight, advances were at 79.98 trillion and deposits at Rs 108.37 trillion. In the previous fortnight ended November 23, 2018, credit had risen by 15.09 percent to Rs 91.32 trillion, while deposits surged 9.43 percent to Rs 118.13 trillion.

Besides, in the month of October 2018, non-food credit rose 13.4 percent compared to an increase of 6.6 percent in the same month last year. Credit to the services sector expanded 27.4 percent in the month compared to 9.4 percent a year ago.

Loans to agriculture and allied activities increased 8 percent in October compared to an increase of 5.5 percent in October last year. Credit to the industry rose by 3.7 percent in October 2018 as against a contraction of 0.2 percent in October 2017. The data also showed that personal loans rose 16.8 percent in October as against 16 percent in October 2017.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10840.70, down by 111.00 points or 1.01% after trading in a range of 10820.60 and 10963.65. There were 4 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 1.30%, Tata Steel up by 0.32%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.19% and Grasim Industries was up by 0.15%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 5.48%, Bharti Infratel down by 4.33%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.69%, UPL down by 2.67% and Infosys was down by 2.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in red, Jakarta Composite dropped 19.76 points or 0.32% to 6,128.12, Hang Seng decreased 64.58 points or 0.25% to 25,558.95, Taiwan Weighted dropped 19.13 points or 0.2% to 9,655.39, KOSPI fell 7.30 points or 0.35% to 2,052.82, Straits Times trembled 7.71 points or 0.25% to 3,042.91, Shanghai Composite declined 25.49 points or 1.01% to 2,510.78 and Nikkei 225 was down by 276.72 points or 1.36% to 20,115.86.