Key indices continue to trade lower in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in afternoon session, on the back of sustained selling activities by market-participants amid weakness across Asian peers. The mood of the markets remained dampened despite easing wholesale price index (WPI) inflation data.  Wholesale prices in India has eased to 2.76 percent in January, as compared to 3.80 percent in December, due to cheaper food and fuel prices. Wholesale inflation, measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), grew 3.02 percent in January 2018. Sentiments remained weak with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showing that both bank credit as well as deposits growth marginally declined on a fortnightly basis, clipping at 14.5 percent at Rs 94.29 lakh crore deposits grew at a tepid 9.63 percent to Rs 121.22 lakh crore for the fortnight ending February 1. On the sectoral front, textile sector remained in focus with private report that the Centre will soon announce measures to boost exports of apparels and textiles which will be compliant with the World Trade Organization norms and help exporters meet competition from countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as China and the U.S. kicked off two days of trade negotiations in Beijing. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35948.37, down by 85.74 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 35873.55 and 36109.10. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.12%, while Small cap index was down by 0.25%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.77%, Auto up by 0.61%, FMCG up by 0.34%, Realty up by 0.23% and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services up by 0.11%, while Oil & Gas down by 2.21%, Telecom down by 2.11%, Energy down by 1.62%, Metal down by 1.55% and PSU down by 1.33% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 23.81%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.58%, Indusind Bank up by 1.78%, ICICI Bank up by 1.09% and Sun Pharma up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.06%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.78%, ONGC down by 2.69%, Power Grid down by 1.30% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union minister R K Singh has said that power demand, which is already growing, will continue to rise in the near future. He also noted that the current consumption of 1200 units per capita is expected to grow 2-3 times at par with the international consumption after each and every individual of the country has access to electricity.

About financing for the sector, Singh recommended measures like pre-payment for consumption of electricity from both discoms and end consumers, privatising distribution companies to make the process more market oriented. He said “we need to efficiently use all energy sources available and devise measures to enhance storage of energy to meet the constantly growing demand.” On the operations' front, he said it is imperative to not postpone any scheduled maintenance of the power plants and not let the power demand dictate the running of the plants.

The power minister further said that with initiatives being undertaken by the government to enhance power generation and distribution in the country like the Saubhagya Scheme and flexibility of power, the government's target to fulfil 40 percent of power generation from non-fossil fuel by 2030 is on track.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10749.70, down by 43.95 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 10736.05 and 10792.70. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 23.31%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 4.18%, Zee Entertainment up by 3.36%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.87% and Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.98%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 4.69%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 4.62%, HPCL down by 4.13%, Coal India down by 3.36% and Bharti Airtel down by 2.85% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 77.37 points or 0.27% to 28,420.22, Jakarta Composite dropped 5.62 points or 0.09% to 6,413.50, Nikkei 225 slipped 4.77 points or 0.02% to 21,139.71 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 1.57 points or 0.02% to 10,089.01.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite gained 0.13 points or 0% to 2,721.20, Straits Times advanced 2.78 points or 0.09% to 3,247.55 and KOSPI rose 24.37 points or 1.11% to 2,225.85.