Benchmarks added losses in late afternoon session

Indian equities added losses to continue its weak trade in red in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline counters. The sentiments were on pessimistic mood despite slight improvement in the Services PMI which posted 47.2 in November compared to 47.1 in October. Traders were seen piling position in Metal, Power and Consumer Durables stocks while selling was witnessed in Capital Goods, Realty and Auto sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Wockhardt was trading under pressure as it has been failing to meet health regulators’ standards. In a latest report, the US Federal Drug Administration (USFDA) has stated that management of the drug major company has deleted key trial data from hard drive. It raises concerns about integrity of data the company has generated. Infosys was trading in green after foreign brokerage firm maintained a buy rating on the stock. Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India was trading in green after the Mahindra group company divested investment in two subsidiaries in Austria - BAH Hotelanlagen AG and MHR Hotel Management GmbH.

On the global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in red while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 6,200 and 20,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1198:1105 while 168 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20791.17 down by 63.75 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 20863.37 and 20781.99. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.64%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.82%, Power up by 0.66%, Consumer Durables up by 0.62%, TECK up by 0.57% and IT up by 0.57%. While, Capital Goods down by 0.86%, Realty down by 0.80%, Auto down by 0.67%, Bankex down by 0.67% and FMCG down by 0.57% were losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 2.50%, Wipro up by 2.24%, SSLT up by 2.07%, Jindal Steel up by 1.38% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.32%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.90%, L&T down by 1.50%, Tata Motors down by 1.40%, Hindalco Industries down by 1.17% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.12%.

Meanwhile, India’s services sector activity after showing a good jump in October from a four-and-a-half year low, has improved a bit more in the month of November. The HSBC Business Activity Index posted 47.2 in November compared to 47.1 in October. Though, there was improvement for the second consecutive month but the numbers remained sub-50.0 level for the fifth time in as many months and indicated a solid rate of output contraction across the Indian service economy.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Composite Output Index too remained below the 50.0 no-change mark for the fifth month running in November. However, up from 47.5 in October to 48.5, as manufacturing production rose in the latest month. The decline in service sector activity pointed to the weakest rate of contraction in this sequence.

The latest fall in the Indian Services sector was triggered by the fifth consecutive monthly drop in new work. Five of the six broad sectors covered by the survey recorded lower business activity, the exception being Post & Telecommunication, while for the third successive month; the sharpest drop was noted at Hotels & Restaurants.

The November data further indicated that the outstanding business in the Indian private sector rose for the first time in four months. On the same time there was moderate drop in new orders placed at private sector companies. Average purchase costs at Indian services firms rose further in November, although the weakest in four months, the overall rate of input price inflation remained robust. Going forward the Indian services companies optimism had hit a a three-month high and they anticipate higher business activity in the coming year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,187.25 down by 14.60 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 6,209.15 and 6,180.05. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.56%, Wipro up by 2.22%, SSLT up by 2.18%, NMDC up by 2.00% and JP Associates up by 1.85%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.64%, L&T down by 1.46%, Ranbaxy Laboratories down by 1.43%, Tata Motors down by 1.40% and IDFC down by 1.25% were the major losers on the index.

Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Nikkei 225 down by 2.17%, Straits Times down by 1.02%, Hang Seng down by 0.76%, Seoul Composite down by 1.12% and Jakarta Composite down by 0.77%, while Taiwan Weighted up by 0.30%, KLSE Composite up by 0.08% and Shanghai Composite up by 1.31%.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.32%, Germany’s DAX added 0.20% and UK’s FTSE 100 inched higher 0.01%.