Benchmarks slip into negative territory; Nifty below 5,550 level

Indian equity markets erased early gains and slipped into negative territory in the late morning session on Monday, amid alternate bouts of buying and selling. Investors were not keen on making strong positions; instead they were pressing sales even at small rallies. The Nifty fell below 5,550 level after losing 170 points last week, while Sensex down by 32.76 points. Meanwhile, as per the RBI Chief’s statement that India's current account deficit is unsustainable at its present level of about 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) and a deficit of about 2.5% of GDP will be sustainable, hints that central bank will not change key policy rates in the next monitory policy, also weighed on market sentiments. In currency markets, rupee appreciated against greenback amid dollar selling by some banks and exporters.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower on Monday, taking cues from Wall Street, which ended weak on Friday following a disappointing jobs data, amid a lack of positive triggers from the region. However, Japan's Nikkei extended its rally after last week's Bank of Japan stimulus that sent the yen to its lowest level in almost four years against the dollar. Back home, the market breadth was favoring positive trend; there were 959 shares on the gaining side against 817 shares on the losing side while 94 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 18,417.47, down by 32.76 points or 0.18 after trading in a range of 18,504.48 and 18,406.44. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.07% and Small cap index was down by 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.67%, Oil & Gas up by 0.51%, Health Care up by 0.46%, PSU up by 0.21%, Power up by 0.20%, while Capital Goods down by 0.81%, IT down by 0.81%, FMCG down by 0.49%, TECk down 0.36% and Metal down by 0.20% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.01%, Cipla up by 1.73%, Tata Motors up by 1.45%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.13% and HDFC up by 0.84%.

On the flip side, ITC was down by 1.65%, TCS was down by 1.30%, Maruti Suzuki was down by 1.27%, L&T was down by 1.09% and Wipro was down by 1.07% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a bid to further simplify the foreign investment regime, the government on April 06 came out with the revised consolidated guidelines on FDI. The changes have been made in the sixth edition of the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular, a ready reckoner on foreign investment-related regulations that is effective from April 5.

The guidelines incorporated changes with regard to inflows in multi brand retail and allowing Pakistan nationals and companies to invest in the country. Now, a Pakistani citizen or an entity can invest in the country under the government approval route. The revised list of FDI guidelines also incorporates policy changes in sectors like single brand retail, asset reconstruction companies, power exchanges, civil aviation, broadcasting and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).

With regard to issue price of shares, where a non-residents including NRIs are making investments in an Indian firm in compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, by way of subscription to its Memorandum of Association, such investments may be made at face value subject to their eligibility to invest under the FDI scheme.

The policy has also listed as many as eight mandatory conditions and one optional clause with regard to conversion of a company with FDI into a Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) firm.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,542.20 down by 11.05 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 5,569.20 and 5,537.10. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Reliance Infrastructure up by 2.58%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.50%, Ambuja Cements up by 2.06%, Cipla up by 1.59% and Hindalco up by 1.11%.

On the flip side, Ranbaxy down by 2.28%, HCL Tech down by 2.07%, Cairn down by 1.66%, Sesa Goa down by 1.57% and Jindal Steel & Power down by 1.45% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite declined 0.69%, Jakarta Composite dropped 0.54%, Straits Times slipped 0.17%, KOSPI Composite declined 0.44% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 2.39%.

On the flip side, Hang Seng rose 0.03%, KLSE Composite increased 0.10% and Nikkei 225 was up by 2.80%.