Benchmarks trim some losses; Nifty continues to hold above 5850 bastion

Benchmark equity indices have recovered some of their losses on back of lower level buying amidst mixed global cues.  However, the trend at D-street continues to remain downbeat as most of the traders preferred to book profits ahead of the weekend. Benchmark 30 share index, Sensex is oscillating above the 19350 level, while Nifty is trading below the crucial 5900 level with loss of close to half a percent. On the global front, Asian shares were trading mixed, while European shares too have got a mixed start. Closer home, across the board selling pressure is being witnessed; Information Technology, Banking and Oil & Gas counters are amongst the most badgered space. The overall market breadth on BSE is in the favour of declines which have thumped advances in the ratio of 1196:848, while 122 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19339.66, down by 67.19 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 19384.95 and 19309.97. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap indices were trading lower by 0.32% and 0.14% respectively

While there were no gainers on BSE sectoral front, Information Technology down by 1.15%, Bankex down by 1.12%, Oil & Gas down by 0.68%, Fast Moving Consumer Goods down by 0.56% and Health Care down by 0.55% were the top losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.66%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.15%, HDFC up by 1.74%, GAIL India up by 1.51% and Tata Power up by 0.95%.

On the flip side, Jindal Steel down by 2.87%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.36%, RIL and TCS were down by 1.93% and HUL down by 1.74% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has blamed problems including land acquisition, shifting of utilities, environmental and forest clearance, funding crunches as well as manpower and economic slowdown for the slow progress of construction of National Highways in the country.

The government has set the ambitious 8800 km road project target for this financial year, though, the road ministry has achieved only one-tenth of it. Around 20 major highways projects entailing investment of Rs 27,000 crore have been blocked for long due to various reasons including delays in environment clearances and financial challenges.

However, in order to expedite implementation of the projects, the government has set up special land acquisition units to speed up the process. The Ministry of State for Road Transport and Highways has also sought suggestions from different stakeholders regarding the setting up of a much-needed road sector regulator.

Recently, environmental clearance has been delinked from forest clearance, which will speed up the green clearances for various road projects. Further, Reserve Bank of India has given dispensation to treat the loan to the toll projects as secured loan. Earlier the road sector loans was treated as unsecured, as land in road projects is publicly owned and loans taken for them cannot be backed by assets, which makes the borrowing cost higher for the road projects.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,884.05, down by 32.25 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 5,907.05 and 5,877.85. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 declines on the index and one remained unchanged.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.99%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.06%, Gail up by 1.63%, Asian Paints up by 1.52% and NTPC up by 1.48%.

On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 3.99%, Jindal Steel down by 2.98%, IndusInd Bank down by 2.55%, M&M down by 2.38% and Grasim Industries down by 2.15%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Hang Seng surged by 0.86%, Jakarta Composite increased 0.01%, KLSE Composite rose 0.50%, Straits Times added 0.27% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.31 points.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 0.87%, Nikkei 225 declined 0.30% and KOSPI Composite down by 0.36%.