Indian bourses continue to languish into negative territory

Indian equity benchmarks continued to languish into negative territory in morning session as selling momentum in the equities persisted following weakness in global peers. The mood on the street remained cautious amid continuous foreign fund outflows from the capital markets and largely muted earnings from corporates so far. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,228.08 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Traders overlooked RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that any concern regarding a 'slowdown' in festive demand this season is outweighed by positive cues from the economy, and the macroeconomic indicators may be giving 'mixed signals. Traders also paid no heed towards the finance ministry’s statement that favourable agricultural conditions coupled with expectations of a better harvest will likely push rural demand up in the coming months. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as traders prepared for the US election and key economic data that will set the stage for the next Federal Reserve decision.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79606.39, down by 398.65 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 79467.37 and 80104.59. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.43%, while Small cap index was down by 0.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.37%, Capital Goods up by 0.33%, Industrials up by 0.25%, PSU up by 0.11% and Utilities up by 0.01%, while Auto down by 1.92%, Telecom down by 1.56%, Healthcare down by 1.41%, TECK down by 1.39% and Oil & Gas down by 1.17% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.92%, ICICI Bank up by 1.44%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.08%, SBI up by 0.44% and HDFC Bank up by 0.40%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.43%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.38%, Indusind Bank down by 2.31%, Sun Pharma down by 1.81% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said an entity seeking authorisation or recognition as a Central Counterparty (CCP) should have a minimum net worth of Rs 300 crore at the time of submitting its application. CCP means a system provider by way of novation interposes between system participants in the transactions admitted for settlement. CCP becomes the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer for the purpose of effecting settlement of their transactions. The central bank updated its June 2019 norms for Central Counterparties.

According to the revised directions, every authorised CCP has to submit an audited net worth certificate as at close of financial year from the statutory auditor within six months of the closure of the financial year. Further, the authorised CCP should be a public company limited by shares. the RBI said “The shares of an authorised CCP shall be held by persons who are users of the authorised CCP. If a person ceases to be a user, the CCP shall ensure that the person's shares are divested'.

The central banks said a foreign CCP should apply to the RBI for approval as a recognised CCP for its operations including clearing and settlement in India. Also, every authorised CCP should constitute a regulatory compliance committee chaired by an independent director.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24205.05, down by 134.10 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 24158.25 and 24378.65. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 1.83%, NTPC up by 1.81%, ICICI Bank up by 1.44%, Grasim Industries up by 1.06% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.03%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.54%, Cipla down by 3.20%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.91%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.50% and Indusind Bank down by 2.45% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 435.07 points or 1.88% to 22,763.00, Hang Seng declined 6.02 points or 0.03% to 20,593.34, KOSPI dropped 9.89 points or 0.38% to 2,602.54, Straits Times fell 10.85 points or 0.3% to 3,573.23, Jakarta Composite plunged 16.92 points or 0.22% to 7,617.71 and Shanghai Composite weakened 21.68 points or 0.66% to 3,300.52.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 surged 216.7 points or 0.56% to 38,822.23.