Benchmarks continue to trade in red; IT, FMCG drags

Indian equity markets trimmed losses in the late afternoon session on account of value buying in front line blue chip counters. Though, the trend at D-street continues to remain downbeat as most of the traders preferred to book profits ahead of the weekend and monetary policy review by RBI scheduled on May 3, which will further provide direction for the markets. Traders were seen piling position in Auto and Capital Goods stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT, FMCG and Oil & Gas sector stock. In scrip specific development, Maruti Suzuki was trading firm after stunning the street with an 80% year on year increase in net profit at Rs 1,150 crore for the fourth quarter. The sales grew 9.4% and stood at Rs 12,566.6 crore from the year-ago period. Idea Cellular rallied to touch a new 52-week high after it reported a strong set of fourth quarter numbers. Jindal Steel and Power was trading in red after touching 52-week low level as the company’s consolidated net profit fell by nearly 35% for the quarter ended March 31. Vijaya Bank was trading in green as the bank’s fourth quarter net profit grew 24% year-on-year to Rs 224 crore, driven by a tax write-back of Rs 41 crore and a spike in other income component that surged from Rs 138 crore to Rs 277 crore.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mixed, while the European markets were trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 5,900 and 19,400 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 975:1221, while 124 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 19,358.46, down by 48.39 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 19,384.95 and 19,279.96. 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 0.16% respectively.

The top gainers on BSE sectoral front were Auto up by 1.13% and Capital goods up 0.27% while Information Technology (IT) down by 1.47%, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) down by 1.07%, Oil & Gas down by 1.00%, Health Care down by 0.71% and Power down 0.68% were the top losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 5.55%, Bharti Airtel up by 4.65%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.02%, GAIL India up by 1.60% and HDFC up by 1.52%.

On the flip side, HUL down by 2.93%, Jindal Steel down by 2.90%, TCS down 2.43%, RIL down by 2.27% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.94% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, expressing confidence that India’s economy will get back to its potential growth rate, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the country would be able to return to the 7 to 8 percent growth level in the next two to three years on the back of measures taken by the government. 

Mukherjee said that India's strategy of inclusive economic growth has shown positive results and we have to make economic growth work for the betterment of our people, especially those at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid.

Emphasizing the need for innovation, president said that India lags behind major economies in terms of innovation, while, the country's economic progress will depend on its capability to innovate.

Regarding the deteriorating education quality, he said that it is matter of concern that no Indian university is ranked within the top 200 universities in the world. Therefore, there is the need for developing Indian universities to meet global benchmarks by the way of innovative teaching and improving education infrastructure. He also said that our academic environment must be conducive for promotion of research.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,887.50, down by 28.80 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 5,907.05 and 5,868.25. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 declines while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 5.40%, Bharti Airtel up by 4.81%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.01%, GAIL India up by 1.86% and HDFC up by 1.40%.

On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 5.14%, Jindal Steel down by 3.04%, HUL down by 2.90%, Reliance Industries down by 2.65% and TCS down by 2.59%, were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading on a mixed note; Hang Seng surged by 0.65%, KLSE Composite rose 0.43%, Straits Times added 0.24% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.31 points.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite descended 0.13 points, Shanghai Composite declined 0.97%, Nikkei 225 declined 0.30% and KOSPI Composite down by 0.36%.

The European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC 40 lost 1.05%, Germany’s DAX declined 0.38% and United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 edged lower by 0.34%.