Indian equities extend losses; Nifty below 5,250 mark

Indian equities added losses to continue its weak trade below neutral line hovering near the lowest point of the day in the late afternoon session on account of selling in front line counters. The selling pressure got intensified even after Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the April-June quarter grew better-than-expected at 5.5%, after eight successive quarters of declining growth. Traders were seen selling in Metal, Power and Realty sector. In the scrip specific development, Neyveli Lignite Corporation was trading firm in green after Finance Ministry issued an advertisement for appointing merchant bankers for divestment of 5% government stake in the firm. Coal India was trading in red on reports that the company is likely to consider approval for the model fuel supply agreement with power companies in its board meeting to be held today i.e. on August 31, 2012.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading on a mixed note while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. The ECB president Mario Draghi’s decision to pull out of the Fed’s annual symposium provoked investors anticipating that within the ECB they do not have a consensus for a plan for supporting the peripheral bond markets in Europe. In Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy held talks with French President Francois Hollande, with both men calling on the European Central Bank to act to lower borrowing costs for euro-area nations. On the home turf, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 5,250 and 17,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1175:1433 while 103 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17,363.12, down by 178.52 points or 1.02% after touching a high of 17557.62 and low of 17,357.04. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 declines on the index.

The broader indices too were trading under pressure with marginal cut; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.15% while Small cap index was down by 0.01%.

There were no gainers on the BSE sectoral space while Metal down by 1.86%, Power down by 1.54%, Realty down by 1.46%, Auto down by 1.40% and Information Technology (IT) down by 1.18% were the top losers on the index.

The only gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.36%, Cipla up by 1.20%, ONGC up by 0.76%, HDFC up by 0.21% and Jindal Steel up by 0.03%. On the flip side, Sterlite Industries down by 3.36%, Hindalco Industries down by 3.06%, BHEL down by 2.92%, Coal India down by 2.64% and Hero Moto Corp down by 2.41%, were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, with the deadline for digitization of cable services nearing by, the government has made it clear that no further extension will be allowed to the mandatory cable digitization in the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Cracking the whip for delays in adhering to deadlines, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry has revoked registration of two multi-system operators (MSOs).

I&B Secretary, Uday Kumar Varma pointed out that 170,000 set-top boxes have to be seeded in a day in next 2 months to meet deadline and the current rate is not even one-tenth of this. Centre is concerned that the industry is not moving fast enough to install the required number of set-top boxes in time.

The Bill to digitize the cable sector in India by December 31, 2014 was passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2011. The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2011 includes mandatory digitization of the entire country, systematized registration of cable operators and the use of standard equipment by the industry, among other things.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,247.10, down by 67.95 points or 1.28% after trading in a range of 5,303.25 and 5,245.30. There were 4 stocks advancing against 46 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 1.30%, Cipla up by 1.13%, ONGC up by 0.78% and SBI up by 0.01%. On the flip side, IDFC down by 4.30%, Sterlite Industries down by 3.42%, Kotak Bank down by 3.30%, Hindalco Industries down by 3.20% and BHEL down by 3.04% were major losers on the index.

Asian indices were trading on a mix note; Nikkei 225 plunged 1.60%, Hang Seng index slid 0.36%, Shanghai Composite dropped 0.25%, Kospi Composite Index descended 0.07%, while Taiwan Weighted up by 0.35%, Straits Times added 0.18% and Jakarta Composite ascended 0.47% were the gainers.

Meanwhile, KLSE Composite remained close today on account of Merdeka day holiday.

The European markets were trading in green with, France’s CAC 40 ascending 0.66%, Germany’s DAX added 0.41% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 gained 0.29%.