In a volatile trade, Indian equity indices once again slipped into negative territory in afternoon trade, as weak domestic macroeconomic data and negative cues from global markets kept investors on edge. Retail price based consumer inflation spiked to 16-month high of 4.62 per cent in October on costlier food items, reducing the headroom for a rate cut by the RBI in its monetary policy due next month. However, losses remain capped as traders took some support with easing wholesale price index (WPI) inflation data. Wholesale prices based inflation eased further to 0.16 percent in October, as against 0.33 percent in September due to subdued prices of non-food articles and fall in prices of manufactured items. On the sectoral front, sugar stocks remained in focus with repro that as the Rs 15,000 crore soft loan scheme for sugar mills is moving at a snail's pace, the government has extended the moratorium period for repayments by six more months. Now, the moratorium period is one-and-a-half years.
On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red, after soft Chinese economic data showed the trade war between Beijing and Washington hitting growth in the world's second-largest economy. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40094.57, down by 21.49 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 40026.99 and 40348.61. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.14%, while Small cap index was down by 0.13%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.82%, Consumer Durables up by 0.47%, Realty up by 0.14%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services up by 0.08% and TECK was up by 0.05%, while Telecom down by 5.29%, Metal down by 1.63%, Basic Materials down by 0.79%, PSU down by 0.70% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.67% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.24%, Bajaj Finance up by 0.91%, ICICI Bank up by 0.91%, Yes Bank up by 0.81% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 0.73%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.64%, Indusind Bank down by 3.95%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.44%, Tata Motors down by 2.67% and Vedanta was down by 2.19% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, in a bid to promote financial inclusion, RBI Deputy Governor MK Jain has made a case for incentivizing banks to extend loans to poor in backward areas. He also urged the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to think of steps by which funds like Rural Infrastructure Development Fund can be earmarked to the most backward credit starved regions of the country to ensure faster development.
Jain said despite impressive growth in formal agriculture granted, there are still several challenges which need to be tackled. He also said that data on the average loan taken by agricultural households indicated that 72 percent of the credit requirement was met by institutional sources and 28 percent from non-institutional sources. Further, he said the analysis of state-wise flow of institutional agriculture credit has revealed uneven distribution of credit among states, compared to their corresponding share in their overall output. To a certain extent, he said such regional disparity is on account of variation in credit absorbtion capacity of these regions.
Stressing the other challenge, RBI Deputy Governor said the problem of financial inclusion gets aggravated due to lack of legal framework for landless cultivators as the absence of documentary evidence becomes a major hindrance for extending credit to this segment of the farming community who take up cultivation work on oral lease. He also pointed out that these issues and challenges impinge on the efficiency inclusiveness and sustainability of the agriculture credit system, which is a matter of concern.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11823.00, down by 17.45 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 11802.65 and 11895.65. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 2.26%, ICICI Bank up by 1.01%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.00%, Yes Bank up by 0.88% and HCL Technologies was up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 7.72%, Bharti Airtel down by 4.44%, Indusind Bank down by 3.83%, Tata Motors down by 2.64% and Vedanta was down by 2.22% were the top losers.
Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 235.63 points or 0.89% to 26,335.83, Nikkei 225 slipped 178.32 points or 0.76% to 23,141.55, Jakarta Composite lost 68.80 points or 1.12% to 6,073.70, Taiwan Weighted dropped 17.41 points or 0.15% to 11,450.42 and Straits Times was down by 8.14 points or 0.25% to 3,231.08.
On the flip side, KOSPI rose 8.50 points or 0.4% to 2,130.95 and Shanghai Composite was up by 9.90 points or 0.34% to 2,915.14.
