Indian markets witness consolidation in early deals

Indian equity markets have witnessed consolidation in early deals, after a sharp sell-off of about two percent in previous session. Both the frontline indices managed to keep their head above water as sentiments got some boost from Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s statement that there is no need for any kind of nervousness. He said the Indian markets should read the situation correctly rather than be influenced by something elsewhere. Global cues remain mixed as the US markets despite coming off their early lows, ended marginally in red overnight, while most of the Asian equity indices made some pull back in early trade with Japanese stocks climbing over a per cent, after suffering an eye-watering 7.3 per cent drop in a vicious turnaround from a 5-1/2 year peak, as financials and real estate shares regained ground.

Back home, on the sectoral front, metal witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by oil and gas and capital goods while, healthcare, auto and software remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were struggling to get some traction while, the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 610 shares on the gaining side against 663 shares on the losing side while 68 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 19,765.32; about 90 points higher compared to its previous closing of 19,674.33, and has touched a high and a low of 19,833.14 and 19,642.38 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 19,676.43, up by 2.10 points or 0.01%. There were 14 stocks advancing against 15 declines, while one stock remains unchanged on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a weak start with 45.49% stocks advancing against 49.44% declines. The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap indices down by 0.09% and Small cap indices down 0.01%. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 1.17%, Oil & Gas up by 0.76%, Capital Goods up by 0.53%, Power up by 0.26% and PSU up by 0.25% while, Health Care down by 1.22%, Auto down by 0.84%, IT down by 0.38%, Consumer Durables down by 0.30% and Teck down by 0.29% were the only losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.81%, NTPC up by 1.68%, ICICI Bank up by 1.30%, L&T up by 1.08% and Jindal Steel up by 1.00%.

On the flip side, Sun Pharma was down by 3.33%, BHEL was down by 1.69%, Cipla was down by 1.40%, Maruti Suzuki was down by 1.24% and Bajaj Auto was down by 1.16% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is likely to allow highway builders to fully exit the project or partially divest equity in the road project after approval from the stakeholders. After the CCEA’s authorization, the project would be constructed by the company which specializes in road building and can then be taken over by the one whose expertise is operation and maintenance.

The exit however, can only be allowed if there is another willing company to take up the project. Further, it may also allow exit of consortium member or sole bidder from contract who cannot be salvaged and also facilitate divestment of equity three-month post commercial operation date (CoD). Though, this can be done after getting approval from NHAI and consortium of lenders.

In other development in the road sector, CCEA is also expected to approve the four-laning of the Dimapur-Kohima highway in Nagaland estimated at Rs 2,000 crore. The project was delayed due to setback in land acquisition process in the state. Meanwhile, major highways projects in the country have been blocked for long due to various reasons including delays in environment clearances and financial challenges.

However, the government is doing all efforts to boost progress of construction of national highways in the country. Further, the Reserve Bank of India has given dispensation to treat the loan to the toll projects as secured loan.

The CNX Nifty opened at 6,010.70; about 43 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 5,967.05, and has touched a high and a low of 6,015.30 and 5,957.50 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 5,976.05, down by 9.00 points or 0.15%. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.67%, BPCL up by 2.76%, Lupin up by 2.39%, Cairn up by 1.96% and NTPC up by 1.62%.

On the flip side, Sun Pharmaceuticals down by 3.08%, Cipla down by 1.81%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.41%, Bajaj-Auto down by 1.30% and BHEL down by 1.20%, were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in green; Shanghai Composite rose 2.17 points or 0.10% to 2,277.84, Jakarta Composite strengthened 44.77 points or 0.87% to 5,166.18, Nikkei 225 surged 165.57 points or 1.14% to 14,649.55 and KOSPI Composite was up by 1.13 points or 0.06% to 1,970.32.

On the flip side, Hang Seng was down by 45.47 points or 0.20% to 22,624.21.

Stock markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan remained shut for the trade today for a public holiday.