Weakness persists in markets in afternoon deals

Indian benchmark indices continued to trade in red in afternoon session due to selling in frontline blue chip stocks. The sentiment remained dull with a private report that business sentiments continue to decline for the country's financial and macro-economic conditions in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period a year before. As per the report, Composite Business Optimism Index stands at 78.4 during Q2 2019 as against 85.0 during Q2 2018 marking a 7.7% decline. Some pessimism also came in as India has again missed the target of becoming an electricity-surplus nation by a whisker as its peak power deficit stood at 0.8 percent and the overall energy deficit remained 0.6 percent in the financial year 2019. Strong earnings announcements by heavyweights such as Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank failed to encourage investors. The rupee has also come under pressure, falling by 36 paise to 69.71 against US dollar in early trade at the forex market, on rising crude oil prices. Meanwhile, the total deposits in bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme, which was launched about five years ago by the Modi-government, are set to cross Rs 1 trillion soon.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investors took stock of recent data suggesting global growth may be stabilizing. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38846.88, down by 293.40 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 38827.55 and 39158.22. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.85%, while Small cap index was down by 0.77%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.56% and TECK was up by 0.41%, while Oil & Gas down by 2.58%, Energy down by 2.10%, Realty down by 1.85%, PSU down by 1.37% and Bankex was down by 1.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 0.98%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.92%, Tata Motors up by 0.85%, Infosys up by 0.36% and Larsen & Toubro was up by 0.19%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.37%, Axis Bank down by 2.13%, Reliance Industries down by 2.02%, Indusind Bank down by 1.90% and ICICI Bank was down by 1.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has again missed the target of becoming an electricity-surplus nation by a whisker as its peak power deficit stood at 0.8 percent and the overall energy deficit remained 0.6 percent in the financial year 2019. Central Electricity Authority (CEA), in its load generation balancing report (LGBR) for 2018-19, had pegged overall energy and peak power surpluses at 4.6 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, indicating that India would be a power-surplus country in FY19.

CEA had also projected that India would become a power-surplus nation in 2017-18. However, the peak power deficit was 2.1 percent, while overall electricity deficit was 0.7 percent across the country in FY18.  According to the latest CEA data, during peak hours, as much as 175.52 gigawatt (GW) was supplied against demand of 177.02 GW leaving a deficit of 1.49 GW or 0.8 percent in 2018-19. The data showed that as much as 1,267.29 billion units (BUs) of electricity was supplied against the demand of 1,274.56 BUs leaving an overall electricity or energy deficit of 7.35 BUs or 0.6 per cent during 2018-19.

The power generation can be doubled provided distribution companies (discoms) pay their dues promptly. During March 2019, the overall energy deficit was 0.4 percent. As much as 108.19 BUs of electricity was supplied against the demand of 108.66 BUs in March. The peak power deficit in the month was 0.4 percent as 168.74 GW power was supplied against the demand of 169.46 GW.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11656.35, down by 96.45 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 11646.00 and 11727.05. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 1.05%, TCS up by 0.79%, UPL up by 0.74%, Tata Motors up by 0.72% and Tech Mahindra was p by 0.59%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 5.15%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 5.00%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 3.91%, Yes Bank down by 3.56% and Hindalco was down by 2.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 19.21 points or 0.18% to 10,987.71, Nikkei 225 surged 17.34 points or 0.08% to 22,217.90, Straits Times advanced 4.48 points or 0.13% to 3,352.06 and KOSPI was up by 0.50 points or 0.02% to 2,216.65.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 46.39 points or 1.42% to 3,224.41 and Jakarta Composite was down by 80.02 points or 1.23% to 6,427.20.