Benchmarks continue weak trade in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks were trading at their intra-day low level in the afternoon session on account of high selling pressure witnessed in frontline blue chip stocks including SSLT, BHEL and Tata steel among others. Sentiments were dampened as US Federal Reserve announced plans to scale back its bond purchases by another $10 billion to $65 billion-a-month. Market sentiments were down as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan termed inflation as both monetary and political issue, pressing the need for political establishment to understand the importance of curbing rising prices. The governor's latest statement has erased hopes of rate cuts. All indices on BSE were trading in red with realty as a top loser down by around 2.65%. Banking shares continue under pressure in six straight trading sessions with bankex down by 2.13%. On stock specific movement, Bharti Airtel, Gail India and Tata Motors were trading up by over 0.90%, while, SSLT, BHEL and Tata Steel were trading down by 2.70% on BSE.

Crompton Greaves was trading higher by about 4% at nearly Rs 106 after reporting a consolidated net profit at Rs 62 crore for Q3FY14 on back of higher sales. TVS Motor Company, extending its previous day’s 5% rally, was trading higher by 2.5% at Rs 72.65, after reporting a healthy 31% y-o-y growth its net profit at Rs 68.80 crore for Q3FY14. On the other hand, Titan Company was trading lower by 3% at Rs 208 on reporting 19% y-o-y decline in net profit at Rs 166 crore for Q3FY14 on account of extremely poor retail sales during the quarter.

On global front, Asian shares were trading in red with Jakarta Composite down by 0.68% and Shanghai Composite down by 0.54% amid rising fears over the US Fed tapering. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 6,100 and 20,500 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2,070 stocks traded, 567 stocks advanced, while 1,397 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20,425.22 down by 222.08 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 20,501.92 and 20,399.24. There were only 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.28%, while Small cap index down by 1.36%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 2.65%, Metal down by 2.27%, Bankex down by 2.13%, FMCG down by 1.74% and Power down by 1.22%. While, there were no gaining indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.49%, Gail India up by 2.24%, Tata Motors up by 0.90%, M&M up by 0.16% and ONGC up by 0.05%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 4.13%, BHEL down by 2.99%, Tata Steel down by 2.77%, Hero Moto Corp down by 2.70% and Hindalco Inds down by 2.55%.

Meanwhile, as per the United Nation report, foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew by 17 percent in 2013 to $28 billion in spite of unexpected capital outflows in the middle of the year. However, India's FDI ranking has slipped by one notch to 16th position in 2013 among the top 20 global economies receiving FDI. The report further added that risks related to the US Fed tapering of quantitative easing and uneven levels of growth, fragility and unpredictability in a number of economies could dampen the FDI recovery.

Referring to global growth in FDI, the United Nation report highlighted that foreign investment across the world rose to highest levels since the start of the global economic crisis in 2008. Global FDI increased by 11 percent in 2013 to an estimated $1.46 trillion, with the major share going to developing countries. FDI flows to developing economies reached to a new high of $759 billion dollars, which account for around 52 percent in the reported period. Among the developing nations, the BRICS - Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa continued to be strong performers in attracting FDI with a 22 percent share of global FDI, which was twice that of their pre-crisis level. Further, total inflows to these five leading emerging economies reached $322 billion in 2013, 21 percent higher than 2012. South Africa outperformed other emerging countries within the group, with FDI inflows rising by 126 percent in the reported period. China again ranked second in the world for FDI inflow with estimated foreign investment at $127 billion, including both financial and non-financial Sectors.

On the other hand, FDI inflows to developed countries increased by 12 percent to $576 billion, however with around 39 percent share, developed countries remained at an historical-low for the second consecutive year. Among developed nations, some European nations witnessed positive signs of recovery.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,053.30 down by 66.95 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 6,072.95 and 6,044.40. There were only 7 stocks advancing against 43 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 2.45%, Gail up by 2.38%, Lupin up by 1.77%, Tata Motors up by 0.92% and M&M up by 0.18%. On the flip side, SSLT down by 4.08%, Asian Paints down by 3.74%, Bank of Baroda down by 3.70%, DLF down by 3.30% and Ranbaxy down by 3.11% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in red; Jakarta Composite down by 0.68%, Shanghai Composite down by 0.54% and Nikkei 225 down by 2.45%, Straits Times down by 0.01%.