Sensex, Nifty remain under pressure; Yes Bank top loser

Indian equity benchmarks remained under pressure in late afternoon deals, despite firm opening of European markets. In line with the larger peers, the broader indices were too lingering under pressure, while Yes Bank performed the worst among all major industry players on the BSE. The street remained worried, as Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) expressed disappointment at the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to keep interest rates unchanged and said there is a need for continued action on the policy rate front to boost growth.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, even though Germany's industrial production declined unexpectedly in October. The data from Destatis revealed that industrial production decreased 1.7 percent on a monthly basis in October. Asian markets were also trading in green, despite Japan's leading index fell to the lowest level in nearly ten years in October. The data from the Cabinet Office showed that the leading index, which measures the future economic activity, came in at 91.8 in October, down from 91.9 in September.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40432.79, down by 346.80 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 40337.53 and 40952.13. There were 7 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.36%, while Small cap index was down by 0.98%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.70%, IT up by 0.07% and TECK up by 0.03%, while PSU down by 2.23%, Realty down by 1.96%, Auto down by 1.74%, Utilities down by 1.37% and Power down by 1.33% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.37%, Tata Steel up by 0.70%, Infosys up by 0.51%, Asian Paints up by 0.27% and HCL Tech. up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 8.86%, SBI down by 4.52%, Indusind Bank down by 2.99%, Tata Motors down by 2.95% and HDFC down by 2.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with its effort for furthering financial inclusion in the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the final guidelines for 'on-tap' licensing of small finance banks (SFBs) in the private sector and opened the window for applicants to approach the regulator at any point of time for 'on-tap' licensing of SFBs.

The minimum paid-up voting equity capital or net worth requirement has been set at Rs 200 crore, up from Rs 100 crore as set earlier. For primary urban cooperative banks that intend to convert into SFB, the initial requirement of net worth shall be at Rs 100 crore, which will have to be increased to Rs 200 crore within five years from the date of commencement of business.

Beside, Payments Banks can also apply for conversion into SFB after five years of operations, if they are otherwise eligible as per these guidelines. The RBI also noted that SFBs will be given scheduled bank status immediately upon commencement of operations and they will have general permission to open banking outlets from the date of commencement of operations.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11922.10, down by 96.30 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 11888.85 and 12057.05. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 5.28%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.56%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.46%, Tata Steel up by 1.09% and JSW Steel up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 8.70%, SBI down by 4.40%, Zee Entertainment down by 3.95%, GAIL India down by 3.75% and Indusind Bank down by 2.90% were the top losers.

All Asian market were trading in green; Shanghai Composite gained 3.88 points or 0.13% to 2,903.35, Straits Times advanced 5.78 points or 0.18% to 3,179.97, Jakarta Composite soared 10.82 points or 0.18% to 6,162.94, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 14.99 points or 0.13% to 11,609.64, KOSPI rose 21.11 points or 1.02% to 2,081.85, Nikkei 225 surged 54.31 points or 0.23% to 23,354.40 and Hang Seng was up by 221.64 points or 0.85% to 26,438.68.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 44.40 points or 0.62% to 7,182.25, France’s CAC increased 27.02 points or 0.47% to 5,828.57 and Germany’s DAX was up by 28.48 points or 0.22% to 13,083.28.