Weak trade persists over Dalal Street

Weak trade continued over the Dalal Street in late morning deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading below their neutral lines. Negative cues from other Asian markets impacted sentiments over the street. Traders remained negative, amid a  private report stating that the current pandemic is likely to shape consumer thinking and consequently impact shopping behaviour, and the overall consumption growth is likely to get delayed by up to two years. It also said that the household consumption is going to be negatively impacted over 2020 and 2021.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after overall consumer prices in Japan were down 0.9 percent on year in November. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that was roughly in line with expectations following the 0.4 percent decline in October. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, also sank an annual 0.9 percent - again roughly matching forecasts following the 0.7 percent drop in the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overall inflation was down 0.4 percent and core CPI was down 0.1 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 46762.28, down by 128.06 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 46630.31 and 47026.02. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.47%, while Small cap index was down by 0.41%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.86%, TECK up by 1.50%, Consumer Durables up by 1.16%, Basic Materials up by 0.16% and Capital Goods up by 0.15%, while Telecom down by 1.10%, Oil & Gas down by 1.08%, PSU down by 0.89%, Bankex down by 0.88% and Energy down by 0.84% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.38%, HCL Tech up by 1.98%, TCS up by 1.87%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.82% and Titan Company up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.00%, HDFC down by 2.19%, ONGC down by 2.02%, HDFC Bank down by 1.86% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.35% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to improve gas infrastructure, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government has planned a $60-billion investment for creating gas infrastructure in the country till 2024, and gas' share in the energy mix is expected to rise to 15 percent by 2030. Currently, gas accounts for 6 percent in the country's total energy mix. He said ‘on the investments front, we have envisaged a $60 billion spend in creating gas infrastructure till 2024, including for pipelines, LNG terminals and CGD (city gas distribution) networks. We are ushering a gas-based economy by increasing the share of natural gas in India's primary energy mix from 6.2 percent to 15 percent by year 2030’.

The minister added that India's first automated national-level gas trading platform was launched in June this year to promote and sustain an efficient and robust gas market and foster gas trading in the country. Coverage of CGD projects are being expanded to 232 geographical areas spread over 400 districts, with potential to cover about 53 percent of the country's geography and 70 percent of population. He also said ‘We are adopting clean mobility solutions with greater use of LNG (liquefied natural gas) as a transportation fuel, including long haul trucking. We plan to have 1,000 LNG fuel stations across the country. Last month, foundation stone was laid for the nation's first 50 LNG fuel stations’.

This year, India has achieved the milestone of completely filling all the strategic petroleum reserves with a total capacity of 5.33 MT (million tonnes) constructed at Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru and Padur. He said ‘We have initiated the process of establishing another 6.5 MT commercial-cum-strategic petroleum storage facilities at two locations, Chandikol and Padur, under the public-private partnership model’. About the pandemic, he noted that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to inhibit conduct of normal activity. He said ‘We also have clear indications of improvements and a gradual increase in activity across all states and sectors of our economy. You are already reworking the traditional strategies, not just to mitigate the effects of the pandemic but to build back better’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 13704.35, down by 36.35 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 13658.60 and 13771.45. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 2.40%, HCL Tech up by 2.01%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.88%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.86% and TCS up by 1.80%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.07%, ONGC down by 2.12%, HDFC down by 2.06%, HDFC Bank down by 1.88% and Coal India down by 1.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 178.48 points or 0.67% to 26,499.90, Nikkei 225 slipped 34.96 points or 0.13% to 26,771.71, Taiwan Weighted dropped 6.59 points or 0.05% to 14,252.34 and Straits Times trembled 3.86 points or 0.14% to 2,854.16. On the flip side, KOSPI rose 3.10 points or 0.11% to 2,773.53, Shanghai Composite gained 4.44 points or 0.13% to 3,409.31 and Jakarta Composite soared 5.30 points or 0.09% to 6,118.68.