Markets slip to the day’s low on profit booking

Markets continue to trade in red, consolidating near the lows of the day in absence of any supportive cues. Most of the regional markets too have turned lower, weighing down the sentiments of the local bourses. The early gains on the back of weak US nonfarm payroll data that strengthened the hopes of delayed Fed tapering, fizzled out on profit booking and traders went on to cash their gains. Rupee that made a strong start tailing the emerging market peers, though was trading in green but has pared most of its early gains. The PSU banking stocks kept on buzzing after the Finance Ministry finalized the bank-wise capital infusion plan aggregating Rs 14,000 crore by March next year. However, the IT stocks are reeling in red as the rupee strengthened, while there were some spillover effects of sharp plunge in IT major Wipro after it reported results for the quarter ended September 30, though it reported a decent profit numbers but its revenue performance lagged to the top tier players. The broader indices were once again outperforming their peers and were managing to hold their head above water.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20720.42, down by 144.55 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 20922.32 and 20714.49. There were only 8 stocks advancing against 22 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trying to keep themselves in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.07%, while Small cap index gained 0.02%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.45%, Consumer Durables up by 0.32% and PSU up by 0.20%. On the other hand Realty down by 1.46%, Auto down by 1.21%, IT down by 1.14%, TECK down by 1.01% and Power down by 0.71% were the major losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Gaial India up by 4.74%, SBI up by 2.49%, Cipla up by 1.33%, Tata Power up by 1.10% and SSLT up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 4.54%, Tata Motors down by 2.29%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.93%, Dr Reddy’s down by 1.70% and Sun Pharma down by 1.69% were the major losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the inter-ministerial group (IMG) on coal blocks which is scheduled to meet this week is likely to review the status of mine awarded to Mahanadi Coalfields, Neyveli Lignite Corp and Hindalco Industries. There are more than 40 coal blocks, including the Talabira II situated in Jasukuda district of Odisha awarded to Hindalco and others, which recently came in lime light with CBI filing a case for alleged conspiracy to award the block.

The government had formed the IMG last year to review the progress of coal blocks allocated to firms for captive use and recommend action, including de-allocation. The panel under the chairmanship of the additional secretary in the coal ministry also has members from the steel and power ministries.

The review panel does not scrutinise the allocation procedure. Rather, it watches whether the block owners are exploring the mine according to the set milestones. If a company is found delaying developing a block, it will first be issued a show-cause notice seeking explanation and if the explanation is found invalid, it will recommend to the Coal Minister to deduct the bank guarantee of the company or de-allocate the block. Most of the blocks under review figure in the CBI's Coalgate probe and on October 24 and 25, the panel will take a call on all the 30 coal blocks which were issued show cause notices a couple of months back.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,161.10 down by 41.70 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 6,217.95 and 6,154.40. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were GAIL up by 4.79%, Bank of Baroda up by 3.29%, SBI up by 3.02%, PNB up by 1.95%, Cipla up by 1.375. On the flip side, Wipro down by 4.51%, DLF down by 2.95%, JP Associates down by 2.73%, Tata Motors down by 2.17% and Cairn down by 2.01% were the major losers on the index

Majority of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite plunged by 1.28%, Hang Seng lost 0.34%, Nikkei 225 slumped by 1.95%, Seoul Composite declined 0.99% and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.29%.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite surged by 1.10%, KLSE Composite added 0.68% and Straits Times was up modestly by 0.06%.