Markets consolidate with a flat but positive start

Indian markets made a flat but positive start after a big rally of last session. Traders are taking a breather waiting for further cues to get direction. Though, there is some cautiousness in the markets tailing the sluggishness in the global markets as some of the regional indices giving up their gains are trading in red. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued a circular asking the stock exchanges to monitor the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosures being made by corporate. Back on street, the Banking gauge that surged in last session and remained most jubilant, is trying to hold its gains despite the credit rating agency Moody’s turning negative towards India and its banking system. The non sectoral aviation pack too was in jubilant mood on report that the domestic airlines flew 50.08 lakh passengers in October this year, up by almost 10 percent increase over the 45.55 lakh passengers carried by them in the same period last year. Jet Airways, Spicejet and the defunct Kingfisher, all were up by over 3% in early trade.  

The broader indices too were trading with traction, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 739 shares on the gaining side against 444 shares on the losing side while 56 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex opened at 20870.16; about 20 points higher compared to its previous closing of 20850.74, and has touched a high and a low of 20934.40 and 20852.87 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 20897.43, up by 46.69points or 0.22%. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 declines on the index.

The overall market breadth has made a strong start with 59.64% stocks advancing against 35.84% declines. The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index up was by 0.57% and Small cap gained 0.24%. 

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, Metal up by 1.05%, Capital Goods up by 0.79%, Oil & Gas up by 0.75%, Realty up by 0.74% and Healthcare up by 0.42%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.27%, FMCG down by 0.24%, Power down by 0.11% and IT down by 0.10% were the top losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco Industries up by 3.66%, Jindal Steel up by 2.76%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.70%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.25% and L&T up by 1.23%. On the flip side, BHEL was down by 0.86%, TCS was down by 0.86%, Bajaj Auto was down by 0.64%, ITC was down by 0.60% and NTPC was down by 0.58% were the top losers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, in a move to improve the quality of information to shareholders by removing large-scale discrepancies found in the mandatory financial and other corporate disclosures made by listed companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is likely to issue guidelines soon on corporate disclosure requirements, which require timely disclosure of corporate governance reports such as shareholding data and other financial information.

A majority of the firms have been found to be non-compliant on multiple fronts with around 1,150 listed companies found to be violating model regulations for disclosing key details such as quarterly and annual financial results, while over 1,000 companies failed to comply with disclosure rules related to shareholding pattern.

Meanwhile, SEBI is taking a lot of measures to develop Indian financial markets. SEBI is planning to issue new set of guidelines soon to amend the present stock exchange listing agreement, following the recent changes made to the Companies Act. It will also soon notify new regulations for listing of start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SME) on stock exchanges without making an initial public offer (IPO) to develop fund-raising capabilities of such companies by providing better visibility, wider investor base and easier exit options for entities such as Angel Investors, Venture Capital Funds and Private Equities. Furthermore, the market regulator has also relaxed the norms for primary issuance of debt securities by companies.

The CNX Nifty opened at 6,197.25; about 8 points higher as compared to its previous closing of 6,189.00, and has touched a high and a low of 6,210.40 and 6,186.15 respectively.

The index is currently trading at 6,200.45, up by 11.45 points or 0.19%. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 declines on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco up by 3.57%, Jindal Steel up by 2.74%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.59%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.32% and Grasim up by 1.19%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 0.89%, TCS down by 0.81%, Kotak Bank down by 0.79%, NTPC down by 0.77% and ITC down by 0.74% were the top losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite was marginally down by 1.75 points or 0.08% to 2,195.46, Jakarta Composite was down by 20.47 points or 0.47% to 4,370.98, Nikkei 225 plunged by 110.32 points or 0.73% to 15,053.98, Straits Times lost 3.38 points or 0.11% to 3,198.98.

On the other hand Hang Seng gained 71.49 points or 0.30% to 23,731.55, KLSE Composite added 15.02 points or 0.84% to 1,807.41, Seoul Composite gained 16.05 points or 0.80% to 2,026.86 and Taiwan Weighted gained 46.16 points or 0.56% to 8,237.62.