Sensex, Nifty remain under pressure

Indian equity bourses remained under pressure in late afternoon session, on the back of weak cues from European markets. Heavy selling at Realty, Energy and Auto counters kept the markets down. Sentiments remained pessimistic, as rating agency ICRA in its latest report stated that the performance of India Inc. continued to weaken under multiple headwinds during Q3 FY2020. The growth in revenue dipped to the lowest in more than sixteen quarters, due to continued weakness in consumer sentiments, benign commodity prices and general slowdown in the economy.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as France industrial production declined at the fastest pace in nearly two years in December. The data published by the statistical office Insee revealed that industrial production decreased 2.8 percent on a monthly basis in December, after staying flat in November. Asian markets were also trading in red, after Malaysia's industrial production grew at a softer pace in December driven by a fall in mining. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that Industrial production climbed 1.3 percent year-on-year in December, after a 2.1 percent increase in November.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41157.43, down by 148.60 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 41073.36 and 41394.41. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.42%, while Small cap index was up by 0.78%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.59%, Consumer Durables up by 1.26%, Metal up by 0.61%, IT up by 0.58% and TECK up by 0.45%, while Realty down by 1.82%, Energy down by 1.01%, Auto down by 0.96%, Capital Goods down by 0.78% and Telecom down by 0.74% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.08%, ONGC up by 2.14%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.37%, Axis Bank up by 1.30% and Titan up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.20%, Indusind Bank down by 2.17%, Reliance Industries down by 1.74%, Power Grid down by 1.48% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, describing agriculture as the core of India’s developmental goals, Commerce Secretary, Anup Wadhawan has said that the states and union territories should focus on both quantity and quality of agri produce to promote exports of agricultural goods. He emphasized that the best agronomic practices in all the sectors of agriculture must be followed in the State agri export policy (AEP) because quality of India’s agri products should never be compromised.

Besides, Commerce Secretary stressed that the States/ Union Territories (UTs) will have to strengthen their institutional mechanisms for putting in place the AEP and development of clusters. He also said that this is an opportunity for the States/ UTs to formulate a comprehensive plan, covering all key areas of the AEP, across all sectors in agriculture like horticulture, fisheries, animal husbandry, dairying, food processing, floriculture and water shed development.

Wadhawan added that the institutional framework of the AEP must be outcome oriented and all States/ UTs must provide a budget for it. He further said that the AEP must have a decentralised focus that is built up from the cluster level to the district and the state level plan and the policy must link up with all schemes of Government of India across all Ministries and Departments and project the vision for the agriculture sector for the next five years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12104.65, down by 33.30 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 12073.95 and 12154.70. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 4.58%, NTPC up by 2.99%, ONGC up by 2.19%, Hindalco up by 2.06% and Coal India up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.90%, Tata Motors down by 2.49%, Indusind Bank down by 2.29%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.97% and Reliance Industries down by 1.68% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 179.34 points or 0.65% to 27,314.36, Taiwan Weighted dropped 136.87 points or 1.16% to 11,612.81, Nikkei 225 slipped 45.61 points or 0.19% to 23,827.98, Straits Times trembled 43.66 points or 1.35% to 3,187.89, KOSPI fell 15.99 points or 0.72% to 2,211.95 and Shanghai Composite was down by 2.59 points or 0.09% to 2,863.92. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 9.14 points or 0.15% to 5,996.29.

European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 lost 19.68 points or 0.26% to 7,485.11 and Germany’s DAX fell by 37.59 points or 0.28% to 13,537.23, while France’s CAC was up by 1.74 points or 0.03% to 6,039.92.