Benchmarks add losses; Capital Goods, Bankex drag

Indian equities added losses to continue weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters and taking cues from weak global counterparts. The market took note of Fitch Rating’s report which underscored India’s difficulty in transition, reflected in sharp depreciation of Indian currency, following an extended period of low growth, high inflation and a widening in the current account deficit. Traders were seen selling in Capital Goods, Bankex and IT sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Future Retail was trading in red after National Stock Exchange stated that it would exclude the company from its derivatives segment with effect from January 31, 2014. SKS Microfinance was trading in green after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) classified the company as non-banking financial company-micro finance institution (NBFC-MFI).

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in red barring Nikkei 225 while the European markets were too trading on pessimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 6,050 and 20,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 821:1407 while 142 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20299.60, down by 335.53 points or 1.63% after trading in a range of 20,579.26 and 20286.00. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 declining on stocks on the index.

The broader indices continued to reel under pressure; with BSE Midcap and Small cap indices trading lower by 0.61% and 0.68% respectively.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods down by 1.93%, Bankex down by 1.80%, IT down by 1.61%, TECK down by 1.57% and FMCG down by 1.53% while, there were no gaining indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Gail India up by 0.58%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.28% and Hindalco Industries up by 0.12%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.99%, L&T down by 2.52%, ITC down by 2.43%, NTPC down by 2.37% and SSLT down by 2.33%.

Meanwhile, road ministry has decided to fast track the implementation of few expressway projects in order to provide boost to the industry activities. These expressway projects include Mumbai-Vadodara expressway, the eastern & western peripheral expressways and Delhi-Jaipur expressway. Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Oscar Fernandes has said that these expressways will provide enough opportunity for Indian industry to grow.

Further, the minister also announced plans to introduce electronic tolling at tollgates along highways which will considerably reduce the long time being spent by motorists to pay the toll charges. Through this technology, motorists can now pay toll charged through mobile phones as they approach the tolling station from around a kilometer away will be able to establish contact with the toll gate. The project is under testing and is likely to be implemented within the next three months, he added.

The government has been taking measure to speed up the implementation of road projects. Recently, in order to attract road developers and to revive country’s highway sector, the government had approved a policy that allows infrastructure developers to exit highway projects by divesting their entire stake. The government was of the view that new policy will help to expedite implementation of road infrastructure in the country and insulate the highways authority from heavy financial claims and unnecessary disputes. Further the ministry would like to make provisions in the public-private partnerships (PPPs) contracts that allow re-negotiations as PPPs are long-term partnerships spread over 20-25 years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,022.35, down by 100.55 points or 1.64% after trading in a range of 6,097.35 and 6,017.00. There were 3 stocks advancing against 47 declining stocks on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Hindalco Industries up by 0.50%, Gail India up by 0.49% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.33%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.22%, HDFC down by 3.11%, IndusInd Bank down by 2.90%, Kotak Bank down by 2.74% and L&T down by 2.70% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite declined by 0.04%, Taiwan Weighted slid 1.28%, Seoul Composite plunged by 1.16%, KLSE Composite lost 0.32%, Straits Times down by 0.32%, Jakarta Composite shrank by 0.92% and Hang Seng shed 0.51%. While, Nikkei 225 up by 1.92% was the lone gainer amongst Asian pack.

The European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.97%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.74% and UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.41%.