Markets extend early losses amid lackluster trade

Indian equity markets extended early losses amid lackluster trade in the late morning session on Friday on the back of increasing selling pressure. Investors’ stayed on the sidelines, amid lack of major trigger on the local front. Nifty broke the crucial 5,550 level on the downside, while the Sensex lost over 100 points. In currency markets, rupee appreciated against dollar due to increased selling of the US currency by exporters. Meanwhile, caution over growth concerns amid political uncertainty and capital outflows by foreign investors, also weighed on the market sentiments. On the sectoral front, FMCG and power stocks were among the notable losers. Bank, capital goods, healthcare and information technology stocks were also trading lower. However, Oil stocks moved higher. Select PSU and automobile stocks were also trading in positive territory on modest support. On the global front, Asian shares were trading mostly lower on worries over the US economy but Japan’s market hit highs not seen in nearly five years as the yen slumped after the Bank of Japan surprised investors with a vast plan to boost the economy. Back home, the market breadth was favoring positive trend; there were 1,135 shares on the gaining side against 1,037 shares on the losing side while 130 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,406.80, down by 102.90 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 18,518.16 and 18,404.72. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.10 points and Small cap index was up by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.92%, PSU up by 0.16% and Auto up by 0.05%, while FMCG down by 1.55%, Power down by 0.88%, Consumer Durables down 0.71%, Bankex down 0.66% and Capital Goods down by 0.64% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.79%, Gail up by 2.21%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.65%, ONGC up by 1.46% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.44%.

On the flip side, HDFC was down by 3.15%, NTPC was down by 2.74%, ITC was down by 2.57%, ICICI Bank was down by 1.65% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 1.15% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, India's domestic air traffic registered a fall of over 9.1% in February compared to the same month last year, as on average over a quarter of seats remained unoccupied on flights during this period. As per the global airlines’ body International Air Transport Association (IATA), the overall passenger load factor declined to 74.5%, meaning that on an average only so much of seats in an airplane in India were filled up.

This fall in domestic air traffic occurred even when the global passenger demand surged 3.7% compared to February last year. Apart from slowing economy, Indian carriers have been reducing capacity from the previously unsustainable levels, which declined 7.5% in February.

However, this decline seemed to be an exception, especially since the global traffic results showed that the demand growth was accelerating due to stronger business confidence, mainly in emerging regions. Global passenger demand has been growing since October last year at an annualized rate of 9%, almost double the growth trend over the first nine months of 2012.

On the international front, Asia-Pacific carriers recorded an increase of 4.5% during the same period mainly on the back of continuing improvements in China’s economy and growth in intra-Asian trade. Further, as per the IATA, with this robust performance, demand associated with Asia-Pacific’s emerging markets has been a major driver of the stronger growth in international traffic seen recently.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,546.20 down by 28.55 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 5,577.30 and 5,546.20. There were 23 stocks advancing against 25 declines and two remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.94%, GAIL up by 2.37%, HCL Tech up by 2.03%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.71% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.61%.

On the flip side, NMDC down by 3.10%, HDFC down by 2.98%, NTPC down by 2.97%, Ambuja Cement down by 2.74%, and ITC down by 2.62%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Hang Seng tumbled 2.60%, KLSE Composite declined 0.32%, Straits Times slipped 0.27% and KOSPI Composite was down by 1.64%.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite rose 0.26% and Nikkei 225 was up by 1.58%.

Markets in China and Taiwan remained shut for the trade today.