Markets continue to trade in red in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red in afternoon session amid weak Asian cues and selling witnessed in IT, teck and metal stocks. However, markets losses remain capped amid gains in realty, capital goods and oil and gas stocks. Sentiments got some support as Finance Minister P Chidambaram asserted that India’s CAD will be contained at less than $40 billion this fiscal year and domestic economy is presently more stable position compared to 18 months ago. Telecom stocks were trading higher, as the Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that operationalisation of the model code of conduct would delay spectrum sharing and trading by three to four months though the government had in principle approved the concept. While, IT stocks were witnessing selling as rupee has gained strength against the dollar over the past few days.  

On stock specific movement, Infotech Enterprises was trading higher by 3% at around Rs 353 after the company has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Infotech Enterprises America, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Softential, Inc. HCL Infosystems has surged 20% to around Rs 34.10 on back multiple bulk deals on the NSE and BSE. Reliance Industries (RIL), extending its previous session 6% rally, has surged nearly 4% to around Rs 902, on reports that the government is coming out with a notification on higher gas price this month.

On global front, Asian equity indices were trading in red with Nikkei 225 down by 1.01% and Hang Seng down by 1.75% as disappointing Chinese trade data and uncertainty over the crisis in Ukraine dented investors’ sentiments. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 6,500 and 21,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,436 stocks traded, 1,220 stocks advanced, while 1,066 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21,878.55 down by 41.24 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 22,005.54 and 21,805.22. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.36%, while Small cap index up by 0.49%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.05%, Capital Goods up by 1.98%, Bankex up by 1.20%, Oil and Gas up by 0.78%, and Power up by 0.72%. While, IT down by 1.45%, Teck down by 0.86%, Metal down by 0.82%, Healthcare down by 0.78% and Auto down by 0.55% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.99%, BHEL up by 2.75%, L&T up by 2.21%, RIL up by 1.83% and M&M up by 1.46%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.44%, Hindalco Inds down by 2.13%, TCS down by 2.02%, Sun Pharma down by 1.61% and Infosys down by 1.55%.

Meanwhile, buoyant over the better than expected current account deficit data for Q3 FY14, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has asserted that India’s CAD will be contained at less than $40 billion this fiscal year, well below the record level at $87.8 billion in 2012-13.

CAD for the third quarter of the current financial year narrowed sharply to $4.2 billion (0.9% of GDP) as compared to $5.2 billion (1.2% of GDP) in Q2 FY14 mainly driven by a sharp decline in the trade deficit as merchandise exports picked up and imports moderated, particularly gold imports. During the April-December FY14, CAD stands at $31.1 billion (2.3% of GDP) versus $69.8 billion (5.2% of GDP) reported in the same period of previous fiscal year.

Finance Minister also expressed confidence to contain the fiscal deficit at the revised fiscal deficit target of 4.6% of GDP during 2013-14. In the previous fiscal, country’s fiscal deficit widened to 4.9% of GDP. Referring to the economic growth, Chidambaram stressed that the domestic economy is presently more stable compared to 18 months ago and economy’s strength is reflected through the strengthening of the rupee and increasing foreign investment. Indian economy’s growth had slowed to a decade low at 4.5 percent in FY13.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,515.65 down by 11 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 6,548.75 and 6,487.35. There were only 24 stocks advancing against 26 declining on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.42%, JP Associates up by 3.34%, IDFC up by 3.33%, SBI up by 2.85% and BHEL up by 2.41%. On the flip side, Ranbaxy down by 2.79%, Tata Motors down by 2.51%, HCL Tech down by 2.40%, TCS down by 2.22% and Hindalco Inds down by 2.13% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading in red; Nikkei 225 down by 153.93 points or 1.01% to 15,120.14, Hang Seng down by 396.96 points or 1.75% to 22,263.53, Straits Times was down by 15.42 points or 0.47% to 3,121.39, Shanghai Composite down by 44.65 points or 2.16% to 2,012.68, Jakarta Composite down by 3.29 points or around 0.07% to 4,682.60 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.56% to 8665.24.