Local equities reverse early gains to sink in red

Local equity benchmarks erased all the early gains to turn negative in morning session, with the Sensex and Nifty falling more than 75 and 25 points, respectively, owing to selling pressure in frontline blue-chip counters. A level of pressure was seen on frontline stocks, especially ONGC, Power Grid and NTPC. Sentiments turned negative with a report that direct tax collections till January 15 stood at Rs 7.3 lakh crore, down 5.2% from the year-ago period. Gross direct tax collections - after refunds but before devolution to states - for FY20 is budgeted to grow at 17.4% to Rs 13.35 lakh crore. Traders remain in lackluster mood with a private report that India may be witnessing the most glaring setback among emerging economies, but its double pain of slowing growth and surging inflation is spreading far and wide. On the sectoral front, insurance stocks were in focus, on global ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service report that despite low penetration, the ongoing economic slowdown will impact insurance premium collections over the next two to three years.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, as investors mull reports that China’s coronavirus had migrated to the US mainland. Back home, government data showed that Agriculture produce worth Rs 91,000 crore has been traded through the e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) platform so far and the figure will soon reach Rs 1 lakh crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41246.93, down by 76.88 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 41198.05 and 41532.29. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.20%, TECK up by 0.78%, Healthcare up by 0.47%, Basic Materials up by 0.19% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.03% while, Power down by 1.71%, Utilities down by 1.46%, PSU down by 1.32%, Auto down by 0.93% and Telecom was down by 0.84% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.54%, TCS up by 1.17%, HCL Tech up by 1.16%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.95% and Sun Pharma was up by 0.61%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.75%, NTPC down by 3.16%, Power Grid down by 2.89%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.12% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was down by 1.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, automobile dealers' body -- Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has said retail sales of passenger vehicles (PV) dropped around 9 percent to 2,15,716 units in December 2019, as compared to sales of 2,36,586 units in December 2018, as even the best offers failed to lift weak consumer sentiments.

Two-wheeler sales declined 16 percent to 12,64,169 units in December as compared with 15,00,545 units in December 2018. Commercial vehicle sales declined 21 percent to 67,793 units as compared to 85,833 units in December 2018.  However, Three-wheeler sales rose one percent to 58,324 units last month. Total sales across categories declined 15 percent to 16,06,002 units in December 2019 as against 18,80,995 units in the year-ago month.

FADA President Ashish Harsharaj Kale said December sales de-growth was not on expected lines as the inquiry levels all through the month were quite robust. He added Consumer sentiment continues to be very weak as customers did not conclude on the purchase even after taking the efforts of inquiring and despite the best offers being available.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12144.50, down by 25.35 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 12125.50 and 12225.05. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 1.48%, HCL Tech. up by 1.29%, TCS up by 1.28%, Grasim Industries up by 1.21% and Vedanta up by 0.97%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.79%, Coal India down by 3.71%, Zee Entertainment down by 3.40%, NTPC down by 3.16% and Tata Motors down by 2.80% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed, Hang Seng increased 281.67 points or 1.01% to 28,267.00, Nikkei 225 surged 137.22 points or 0.57% to 24,001.78 and KOSPI rose 17.38 points or 0.78% to 2,257.07.

On the other hand, Straits Times trembled 0.38 points or 0.01% to 3,246.79, Jakarta Composite lost 6.69 points or 0.11% to 6,231.46 and Shanghai Composite declined 7.11 points or 0.23% to 3,045.03.