Benchmarks continue weak trade; Nifty below 6,100 mark

Indian equity markets pare losses in the late afternoon session on account of selling in front line blue chip counters. The market may remain volatile today i.e. May 30, 2013, as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near-month May 2013 series to next month June 2013 series. The May 2013 derivatives contracts expire today i.e. May 30, 2013. The sentiments on the street were also on cautious note ahead of quarterly economic growth data which will be the next big trigger for market. Traders were seen piling position in Auto, FMCG and Power stocks while selling was witnessed in Realty, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods sector stocks.  In the scrip specific development, Bharti Airtel was trading in red on news that the Department of telecommunications (DoT) is likely to impose a fine of Rs 650 crore on the company for violating licence norms in a 2003 case. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was trading in red after the company reported a 40% drop in its March quarter net profit.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in red while the European markets were trading on a mixed note.  Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 6,100 and 20,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 926:1266, while 138 scrips remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20,132.94, down by 14.70 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 20,182.93 and 20,066.14. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 declines on the index.

The broader indices too continued to reel under pressure; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index was down by 0.05% and 0.32% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.61%, FMCG up by 1.16%, Power up 0.18% and IT up by 0.02% while Realty down by 3.04%, Oil & Gas down by 1.17%, Capital Goods down by 0.81%, Metal down by 0.80% and Consumer Durables down by 0.74% were the top losers on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.02%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.09%, ITC up by 2.28%, HDFC up by 1.62% and Tata Power up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 3.93%, ICICI Bank down by 3.35%, Tata Steel down by 2.66%, Hindalco Industries down by 2.00% and L&T down by 1.66% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, pitching for merging oversight functions of market, commodity, insurance and pension regulators, Chairman of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) B N said, India needs a drastic and complete overhaul of the existing financial regulatory structure to become a $30-40 trillion economy by 2025. Srikrishna also pitched for making Reserve Bank of India (RBI) more accountable so that it can help the government for better administering and governing.

The FSLRC was set up to rewrite financial sector laws and to bring them in tune with current requirements. The commission had recommended the creation of a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that would determine the policy interest rate. It has also suggested creation of the Unified Financial Agency (UFA) that would subsume the functions of key agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, the Forward Markets Commission and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.  

Moreover, the FSLRC had also suggested other financial measure to the government including setting up of a debt management office (DMO) for raising resources for the government expense and doing away with the multiple agency architecture for scanning foreign capital inflows. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,096.35, down by 7.95 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 6,111.30 and 6,072.15. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.97%, NMDC up by 3.47%, M&M up by 3.05%, ITC up by 2.19% and IndusInd Bank up by 2.18%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 4.10%, JP Associate down by 3.97%, ICICI Bank down by 3.30%, DLF down by 3.23% and Tata Steel down by 2.78% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite dipped 0.27%, Hang Seng declined 0.31%, Jakarta Composite tumbled 1.54%, KLSE Composite contracted 0.37%, Nikkei 225 crumbled 5.15%, Straits Times dropped 1.14%, KOSPI Composite was down by 0.05% and Taiwan Weighted inched lower by 1.13%.

The European markets were trading on a mixed note; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.27%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.08% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 edged higher by 0.18%.