Benchmarks trim losses; Nifty above 6000 mark

Indian equities trimmed losses, in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline counters at lower levels, and clawed back some crucial psychological levels albeit trading in the red. Investor sentiments remained cautious as foreign investors have sold net Rs 3,053 core worth of shares over the last four trading sessions. Further, the activity in India’s services sector remained subdued for the seventh straight month at 48.3 in January below 50 mark that separates growth from contraction added pressure on the street. Traders were seen piling positions in FMCG, Metal and PSU stocks while selling was witnessed in Realty, Capital Goods and IT sector stocks. Hectic activity was witnessed in IT stocks after the global rival Cognizant Technology Solutions forecasted its 2014 revenue below expectations. In scrip specific development, Jet Airways was trading firm after Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways got Competition Commission of India’s nod for the purchase of 50.1% stake in Jet Privilege, a customer loyalty programme unit of the company.

On the global front, the Asian markets barring Nikkei 225 were trading in green, while the European markets were too trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,000 and 20,200 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1111:1252 while 149 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 20216.35, down by 44.68 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 20,358.19 and 20079.82. There were 12 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices continued trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.67%, Metal up by 0.52%, PSU up 0.45% and Auto up by 0.34%. While, Realty down by 1.55%, Capital Goods down by 0.93%, IT down by 0.63%, Bankex down by 0.52% and TECK down by 0.42% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 4.00%, Tata Power up by 2.33%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.24%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.82% and Hindalco Industries up by 1.53%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.71%, Gail India down by 1.60%, ICICI Bank down by 1.57%, Axis Bank down by 1.43% and HDFC down by 1.25%.

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision making body of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), approved the proposed amendments in the EPS-1995 scheme in order to provide a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000. The move will benefit about EPFO’s 28 lakh pensioners. As per the EPFO, Labour Ministry will soon move proposal to Union Cabinet for approval.

The CBT meeting, chaired by the Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes, also decided to raise the monthly wage ceiling to Rs 15,000 from Rs 6,500 through amending EPF scheme, 1952. At present, workers in India are getting basic wages, including basic pay and DA, of up to Rs 6,500 covering under the ambit of EPFO. Furthermore, the board also decided to reduce administrative charges paid by the employers from 1.10 percent of the basic wage, including basic pay and dearness allowance to 0.85 percent. The burden would increase with the increase in wage ceiling. Besides this, the CBT also approved the proposed change in the methodology of computing the pensionable salary on the basis of average salary of the last 60 months instead of 12 months as provided in the EPS-95.

The EPFO is presently running social security programmes include Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme 1952, Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) 1995 and Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme 1976.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,004.30 down by 18.10 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 6,048.35 and 5,965.40. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 declining while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Coal India up by 4.04%, NMDC up by 2.50%, Tata Power up by 2.19%, HUL up by 2.11% and Cairn India up by 1.88%. On the flip side, JP Associates down by 3.47%, BHEL down by 2.74%, PNB down by 2.45%, DLF down by 2.35% and Axis Bank down by 1.88% were the major losers on the index.

The Asian equity indices were trading in green; Seoul Composite up by 0.88%, Straits Times up by 0.99%, KLSE Composite up by 0.68%, Jakarta Composite up by 0.74%, Hang Seng up by 0.72% and Taiwan Weighted up by 0.56%.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 down by 0.18% was the only loser amongst Asian pack. Markets in Shanghai remained closed on account of trading holiday.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.31%, Germany’s DAX added 0.41% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.22%.