Benchmarks add losses; Nifty plunges below 5,300 mark

Indian equity markets added losses to continue weak trade hovering near the lowest point of the day in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters and taking cues from weak global counterparts. The sentiments were on pessimistic mood on fresh selling pressure due to sharp fall in rupee value which tumbled to an all-time intra-day low of 65.94 per dollar coupled with capital outflows by foreign funds. Investors are also concerned that the implementation of the food security bill will weigh on country’s fiscal and current account deficits, raising fears of a sovereign rating downgrade. Traders were seen piling position in IT and TECK stocks while selling was witnessed in Bankex, Capital Goods and FMCG sector stocks. In scrip specific development, IDFC was trading in red after touching more than four-year low following MSCI's removal of the stock from its Standard and Large Cap indices. Idea Cellular was trading in red after foreign brokerage firm CLSA has recommended a sell rating on the stock. According to the brokerage house, demand for excess spectrum fee is a key risk for the company.

On the global front, all the Asian markets were trading in red barring Shanghai Composite while the European markets were too trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 5,300 and 18,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 634:1422, while 125 scrips remain unchanged. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17969.75, down by 588.38 points or 3.17% after trading in a range of 18,460.72 and 17,955.54. There were only 6 stocks advancing against 24 declines on the index.

The broader indices too continued to bleed; the BSE Mid cap and Small cap index were trading lower by 2.03% and 1.39% respectively.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 0.91% and TECK up by 0.28% while, Bankex down by 5.24%, Capital Goods down by 4.81%, FMCG down by 3.58%, PSU down by 3.57% and Power down by 3.40% were the top losers indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were, Sesa Goa up by 1.73%, TCS up by 1.31%, Infosys up by 0.94%, Wipro up by 0.18% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.16%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 9.83%, HDFC Bank down by 8.12%, BHEL down by 8.04%, L&T down by 5.63% and NTPC down by 5.56% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a move to boost the infrastructure development in the country and to enhance business sentiment in a slowing economy, the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has set a 60- day deadline for ministries to clear 36 mega infrastructure projects including 28 power plants that were stuck due to delay in sanctions.

The government had set up the CCI, to clear the bottlenecks holding back big infrastructure projects. Recently, the CCI cleared the proposal of setting up two hydro power projects in Arunachal Pradesh. The panel has so far cleared 171 projects worth Rs 1.69 lakh crore.

Further, in order to speed up the implementation of infrastructure projects, the government has also set up special cell, special project monitoring group, which is meant to supplement CCI's efforts and has been tasked with monitoring the progress of projects cleared earlier by CCI.

Further, a web-based information system has also been put in place wherein firms can provide details of their project as well as the issues that are restraining smooth implementation of projects. Meanwhile, for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), the government has set the $1-trillion investment target for the infrastructure sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,295.30, down by 181.20 points or 3.31% after trading in a range of 5,427.40 and 5,287.60. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Sesa Goa up by 1.55%, TCS up by 1.52%, HCL Technologies up by 1.11%, Infosys up by 1.08% and Gail India up by 0.42%. On the flip side, IDFC down by 14.04%, HDFC down by 9.85%, BHEL down by 8.60%, HDFC Bank down by 8.38% and NTPC down by 6.57% were the major losers on the index.

All the Asian equity indices were trading in red barring Shanghai Composite which was up by 0.34% was the sole gainer amongst Asian pack while Straits Times down by 1.68%, KLSE Composite down by 1.13%, Taiwan Weighted down by 0.94%, Seoul Composite down by 0.11%, Hang Seng down by 0.59%, Nikkei 225 was down by 0.69% and Jakarta Composite down by 3.74%.

The European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC 40 was down 1.37%, Germany’s DAX slipped 1.53% and UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.88%.