Markets trade in red despite attempts of recovery

Indian equity markets continue to trade in the negative zone, some late attempts of recovery were thwarted by profit booking in the blue-chips, though the indices have came off their lows of the day but there is not much positive trigger that could lift the markets higher. The slide in the regional peers was weighing down the domestic market sentiments. While sectorally, only realty and few defensive sectors were showing some buying otherwise all other sectors were struggling to recover. The weakness in rupee against the dollar too was putting pressure on the equity markets. The volatility expected in the late trade, however traders are taking cautious step ahead of the GDP data announcement tomorrow.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,425.11 down by 65.70 points or 0.38% and has touched a high and low of 17,442.48 and 17,367.55 respectively. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 declines on the index.

The broader indices have made a good bounce back and were outperforming the benchmarks; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.19% and Small cap index too was marginally up by 0.02%.

On the BSE sectoral front, Realty up by 1.17% was putting a brave face, followed by Healthcare (HC) up by 0.49%, FMCG up by 0.18% and Metal up by 0.06% were the gainers. While, Capital Goods (CG) down by 0.91%, Oil and Gas down by 0.59%, Consumer Durables (CD) down by 0.47%, Information technology (IT) down by 0.47% and Technology (TECk) down by 0.37% were the major losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 2.12%, Cipla up by 1.56%, Tata Power up by 1.26%, Wipro up by 1.18% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.67%. On the other hand, Gail India down by 2.22%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.75%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.49%, HDFC down by 1.45% and Tata Steel down by 1.31% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, pouring cold water on rate cut hopes yet again, Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao has said that inflation remains too high and needs to fall further or risk more damage to the economy. India’s most aggressive central bank, which has been in eye of storm, for maintaining a status quo stance  in previous few monetary policy review, also added that cutting interest rates may support growth only in the short-term, while stubbornly high inflation will harm the economy in the longer term.

Apex Bank last pruned its main interest rate in April by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points to 8 percent and since then has maintained a hold on key rates. However, Governor Duvvuri Subbarao, underscored that with this given hawkish stance, India’s central bank has been successful in lowering the inflation rate to 7 percent from 11 percent. But, further adding to anti-inflationary tone, stated that, “battle against inflation has not ended yet, as the rates needs to fall below 5%.  RBI’s governor also highlighted that various factors, including high commodity prices, the fiscal deficit and the monsoon, were adding to the upside risk of inflation.

India's main inflation gauge, wholesale price index (WPI), unexpectedly slipped at 6.87% for the month of July, its lowest since January 2010, as compared to 7.25% (Provisional) for the previous month and 9.36% during the corresponding month of the previous year. 

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,272.20, down by 15.60 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 5,278.10 and 5,255.05. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were DLF up by 2.86%, Hindalco up by 2.36%, Cipla up by 1.71%, Wipro up by 1.41% and Cairn up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Gail down by 2.19%, Maruti down by 1.74%, Hero Moto Corp down by 1.54%, HDFC down by 1.45% and Tata Steel down by 1.24% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite was down by 0.41%, Hang Seng index plunged by 1.10%, Jakarta Composite was down by 1.55%, Nikkei 225 lost 0.95%, Straits Times down by 0.95%, Kospi Composite Index declined by 1.15% and Taiwan Weighted lost 0.27%.

On the other hand, KLSE Composite was trading marginally in green, up by 0.10 points.