Weakness persist in equity markets ahead of reporting season

Indian equity markets continued weak trade in the late morning session on Thursday with several blue chip stocks reeling under selling pressure. Investors remained cautious on concerns over near term economic outlook ahead of the reporting season. The Nifty is down by 0.86%, while Sensex fell by 142.84 points. Weak global cues and continued capital outflows dampened market sentiments. In currency markets, rupee continued trading lower against dollar on the back of increased demand for greenback from importers. On the sectoral front, realty and information technology stocks were among the most prominent losers. Bank, consumer durables, capital goods and metal stocks were struggling as well. However, several stocks from auto and healthcare segments were trading up. On the global front, Asian shares were trading mostly lower on worries over the US economy. Meanwhile, Japanese stocks rallied as the yen slipped more than 1% against the dollar and the euro after the Bank of Japan took strong easing steps on April 04. Back home, the market breadth was favoring negative trend; there were 725 shares on the gaining side against 1,467 shares on the losing side while 113 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,658.80, down by 142.84 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 18,733.62 and 18,612.32. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.98% and Small cap index was down by 1.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.34% and Health Care up by 0.01%, while Realty down by 1.91%, IT down by 1.81%, TECK down by 1.51%, Metal down by 1.33% and Bankex down by 1.23% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr Reddys Lab up by 2.79%, Tata Motors up by 1.63%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.85% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.61%.

On the flip side, Sterlite Industries was down by 2.54%, Tata Steel was down by 2.22%, Infosys was down by 2.14%, TCS was down by 1.99%, HDFC was down by 1.75%, were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, citing Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) vital for driving the country’s economic growth further, President Pranab Mukherjee said, MSMEs need to get more institutional credit and we must direct our efforts at increasing the competitiveness of this sector by enhancing the availability of institutional credit. These enterprises contribute around 8% of the country's GDP, 45% of the manufactured output and 40% of the total country’s exports.

As per Mukherjee these enterprises are perhaps the most crucial link between India's economic growth and socio-economic transformation. The growth potential of the MSME units should not be impeded by lack of access to financial resources.

He also expressed the need to increase the reach and coverage of financial institutions by expanding branch network to locations near industrial clusters. Moreover, with the adequate financial support, MSME sector would investment more for innovation and technology, skill development and for adequate industrial infrastructure development.

Regarding the technology development in the MSME sector, Mukherjee said India's future economic progress would be determined largely by the level of technology and innovation that the industry is using. Innovation and technology provided the competitive edge that the industrial sector at large and the MSME sector in particular should not be deprived of. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,623.85 down by 49.05 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 5,643.45 and 5,606.80. There were 12 stocks advancing against 37 declines and one remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Dr Reddy's Laboratories up by 2.57%, Tata Motors up by 1.87%, M&M up by 0.97%, HUL up by 0.91% and GAIL up by 0.80%.

On the flip side, JP Associate down by 3.52%, UltraTech Cement down by 3.36%, HCL Tech down by 2.84%, Sesa Goa down by 2.55% and Indusind Bank down by 2.37% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Jakarta Composite declined 0.77%, Straits Times dipped 0.20%, KLSE Composite tumbled 0.01% and KOSPI Composite was down 1.20%.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was up 2.20%.

Markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan remained shut for the trade today.