Sensex, Nifty grapple in weakness

Indian equity benchmarks grappled in weakness, as both Sensex and Nifty continued to trade in red terrain, on the back of heavy selling at Realty and Banking counters. Weak cues from other Asian markets also impacted domestic sentiments. Traders remained pessimistic, amid a private report stating that India's central bank could restart its rate increases if Brent crude oil rises and stays above $110 per barrel, widening the country's current account deficit and hurting the rupee.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after Indonesia's economic growth weakened to a two-year low in the third quarter on falling government spending and exports. Statistics Indonesia reported that gross domestic product grew 4.94 percent year-on-year in the third quarter but slower than the 5.17 percent expansion posted in the second quarter. 

Back home, steel sector stocks were in watch, as steel Secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha said that India's steel capacity has crossed 161 million tones, comprising 67 MT by blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BoF) route, 36 MT by electric arc furnace (EAF) and 58 MT by induction furnace (IF) route. He also noted that the steel sector in India is poised for continued growth. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 64750.09, down by 208.60 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 64638.10 and 65021.29. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.29%, Healthcare up by 1.10%, Energy up by 0.81%, PSU up by 0.77% and Metal up by 0.46%, while Realty down by 1.48%, Bankex down by 0.52%, Power down by 0.11%, Telecom down by 0.11% and TECK down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.78%, NTPC up by 1.06%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.50%, Tata Steel up by 0.46% and JSW Steel up by 0.42%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.35%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.26%, HDFC Bank down by 0.88%, Power Grid Corp down by 0.82% and Bajaj Finserv down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, stressing on the intermittent nature of energy supply through renewable sources, Union Power Minister R K Singh has said that conventional thermal power capacity will continue to play an important role till roundtheclock renewable power is available. He said there will be no compromise on providing roundtheclock power supply to people in the country. He also said that there will be more renewable energy capacity addition than conventional power (thermal coal or lignite based). 

The minister drew attention towards rising power demand which grew by over 20 per cent in August, September and October as well. He said power demand has been at 221 GW level in the first week of November. He was of the view that amid rising demand, it is necessary to run power plants to their full capacity to achieve the goal of 24hour electricity supply in a day. 

He noted that average daily power supply in rural areas at present is for 22 and a half hours, while in cities it is 23 and a half hours. He said that states have been asked to run power plants to their full capacity and also import coal for six per cent blending. He said perday shortage of coal at thermal power plants is around 2.5 lakh tonnes and suggested blending of imported coal is important.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19363.45, down by 48.30 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 19329.10 and 19410.00. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 2.47%, ONGC up by 1.91%, Sun Pharma up by 1.70%, BPCL up by 1.28% and Hindalco up by 1.16%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.42%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.32%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.03%, HDFC Bank down by 0.87% and Power Grid down by 0.86% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 263.91 points or 1.47% to 17,702.68, Jakarta Composite plunged 65.28 points or 0.95% to 6,813.56, Straits Times fell 13.9 points or 0.44% to 3,166.63, Shanghai Composite weakened 1.14 points or 0.04% to 3,057.27, KOSPI dropped 58.41 points or 2.39% to 2,443.96 and Nikkei 225 slipped 436.66 points or 1.35% to 32,271.82, while Taiwan Weighted added 35.59 points or 0.21% to 16,684.95.