Markets at day's low on incremental selling pressure

Continuing their negative momentum, the local equity markets were now trading at day’s low points in afternoon session, weighed down by weak global sentiment owing to coronavirus outbreak. The mood on the street remained cautious with Care Ratings’ report that performance of companies during the quarter ended December of the financial year 2019-20 was weak with contraction in revenue and moderation in the growth rate of net profits. Moreover, a depreciating rupee, which slipped 13 paise to quote at 71.45 against the dollar in early trade, also kept investors nervous. Traders overlooked a US-based think tank World Population Review report showing that India emerged as the world's fifth largest economy by overtaking the UK and France in 2019. It added that India is developing into an open-market economy from its previous autarkic policies. On the sectoral front, Airline stocks were trading in red despite the latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation shows domestic airlines flew 1.28 crore passengers in January this year registering a growth of 2.20 percent over the 1.25 crore passengers flown in January 2019. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, amid growing concerns over the economic impact of coronavirus epidemic. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40654.16, down by 401.53 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 40649.58 and 41042.46. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.42%, while Small cap index was down by 1.40%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom down by 3.79%, Power down by 2.90%, Metal down by 2.58%, Utilities down by 2.16% and Basic Materials down by 2.03%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 0.11% and Infosys up by 0.09%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 4.76%, Indusind Bank down by 4.33%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.27%, Tata Steel down by 2.98% and ONGC down by 2.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the share of foreign portfolio investments (FPI) in domestic capital markets through participatory notes (P-notes) continue to decline and hit a nearly 11-year low of Rs 64,537 crore till the end of December 2019. P-notes are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly after going through a due diligence process.

According to the latest data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the cumulative value of P-note investments in the domestic markets -- equity, debt, and derivatives -- fell to Rs 64,537 crore till December-end from Rs 69,670 crore in November-end. Out of the total investments made till the end of December, Rs 52,486 crore was invested in the equities segment, Rs 11,415 crore in debt and Rs 636 crore in the derivatives market.  A total investment of Rs 76,773 crore was registered at the end of October. This was first gain after a continuous decline since June.

Earlier in September, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) simplified KYC requirements and registration process for FPIs. Besides, the regulator broad-based the classification of such investors. Under the new rules, FPIs have been divided into two categories and around 80 percent falls under Category-I and investors planning to set up shop as Category-I is required a simple application form. Earlier, such investors were slotted into three categories -- I, II and III.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11916.90, down by 128.90 points or 1.07% after trading in a range of 11916.00 and 12030.75. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 1.25%, BPCL up by 0.38%, GAIL India up by 0.34%, Cipla up by 0.28% and TCS up by 0.12%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.94%, Bharti Infratel down by 6.26%, NTPC down by 5.17%, Tata Motors down by 4.73% and Indusind Bank down by 4.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 370.34 points or 1.32% to 27,589.26, Nikkei 225 slipped 329.44 points or 1.4% to 23,193.80, Taiwan Weighted dropped 114.53 points or 0.97% to 11,648.98, KOSPI fell 33.29 points or 1.48% to 2,208.88, Straits Times trembled 12.49 points or 0.39% to 3,200.51 and Shanghai Composite declined 7.99 points or 0.27% to 2,975.63.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 29.94 points or 0.51% to 5,897.46.