Weak trade persist; Metal, IT and Auto exerts pressure

Indian equities added losses to continue its weak trade in the late afternoon session on back of selling in frontline counters and taking cues from subdued European counterparts. The sentiments in the market were dampening as worries over the coming fiscal cliff in the US continued to weigh on investors. Traders were seen piling position in Consumer Durables (CD), Realty and Power sectors while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT and Auto sectors. In the scrip specific development, HCL Technologies was trading firm on reports that the software services exporter is well placed to win deals in the infrastructure sector. Shriram City Union Finance was trading in green after CRISIL Research came out with its report that the company’s Q2FY13 results exceeded its expectations due to higher-than-expected growth in assets under management. REI Agro was trading in green in weak market since the profit after tax of the company increased 79 percent year-on-year to Rs 137 crore in the July-September quarter of current financial year on account of foreign exchange gain of Rs 22.2 crore.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red barring Nikkei 225 while the European markets were too trading on pessimistic note. Finance ministers of the euro area are scheduled to meet on November 20 for finalization of the next tranche of the Greek loans. General strikes across Europe have paralyzed the region with unions in Spain and Portugal protesting against the austerity measures. Greece, Italy and France too contemplated strikes against the fresh austerity measures. Besides, seasonally adjusted industrial production fell 2.5% in the euro area in September compared with August and by 2.3% in the EU27, according to estimates released by Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 5,650 and 18,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 983:1670 while 103 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,452.97, down by 165.90 points or 0.89% after trading in a range of 18,593.54 and 18,408.69. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 declines on the index.

The broader indices were too trading in red; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices were trading lower by 0.29% and 0.10% respectively.

The only gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Consumer Durables (CD) up by 1.30%, Realty up by 0.42% and Power up 0.01%. While, Metal down by 1.59%, IT down by 1.58%, Auto down by 1.36%, FMCG down by 1.07% and Health Care down by 1.07% were top losers on the index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.15%, HUL up by 0.96%, BHEL up by 0.90%, Gail India up by 0.64% and Coal India up by 0.59%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.61%, Tata Steel down by 2.45%, Tata Motors down by 2.45%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.36% and Wipro down by 2.22% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, realizing the difficulty of achieving a target of $360 billion exports, is planning to meet Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, seeking subsidy on loans for certain sectors to boost industrial production and exports. However, minister also expressed concerns over the contraction in the industrial production measured on IIP in September.

Discussions has been made on adding more sectors under the interest subvention (scheme), like all the SMEs have been given interest subvention of two percent. Though, exports are on decline since May and contracted by 1.63 percent last month, the trade deficit widened and rose to record $21 billion in October. Further, there has been decline in demand from the traditional markets of the US and Europe, Sharma added. He further said that the government is in constant touch with all stakeholders including the industry chambers.

Amid continuing decline in overseas shipments, the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is reviewing performance of different aspects of the exporting sectors and is likely to complete the exercise in a couple of days. Merely after that, the government may come out with some support measures for the sector to arrest the decline.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,619.15, down by 47.80 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 5,651.65 and 5,603.55. There were 14 stocks advancing against 36 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Kotak Bank up by 2.97%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.92%, HCL Tech up by 2.09%, Cairn India up by 1.81% and BHEL up by 1.45%.

On the other hand, Ultra-Tech Cement down by 4.29%, Jindal Steel down by 2.62%, Grasim Industries down by 2.52%, Tata Steel down by 2.51% and Tata Motors down by 2.50% were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian indices were trading in red barring Nikkei 225 which was up by 1.90%; Shanghai Composite declined 1.22%, Hang Seng plunged 1.55%, Straits Times was plummeted 1.07%, Kospi Composite declined by 1.23%, Taiwan Weighted slid 0.22%.

Jakarta Composite is closed today on occasion of ‘Islamic New Year’.

The European markets were trading in red with, France’s CAC 40 lost 0.27%, Germany’s DAX dropped 0.48% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 descended 0.41%.