Benchmarks continue weak trade in late afternoon session

Indian equities added losses to continue their weak trade in the late afternoon session on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments were on pessimistic note despite India’s trade deficit recorded its steepest fall since September 2013 in the month of February to $8.13 billion from $14.12 billion in the year ago period and $9.92 in January, helped by sharp decline in oil and non-oil imports. Traders were seen piling positions in Realty, Power and IT stocks while selling was witnessed in Metal, HealthCare and FMCG sector stocks. In scrip specific development, hectic activity was witnessed in Ranbaxy Laboratories following news of a second recall of its cholesterol-busting generic drug. On the global front, the Asian markets were trading in green, while the European markets were too trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below their psychological 6,550 and 21,900 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1162:1472 while 172 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 21829.98 down by 104.85 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 22,018.52 and 21,811.54. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.11% while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.57%, Power up by 1.05%, IT up by 0.43% and TECK up by 0.31%. While, Metal down by 2.69%, HealthCare down by 0.90%, FMCG down by 0.87%, Oil & Gas down by 0.54% and Consumer Durables down by 0.49% were the losing indices on BSE.   

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 3.61%, BHEL up by 2.47%, Axis Bank up by 1.10%, Tata Motors was up by 0.93% and Infosys up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Hindalco Industries down by 4.18%, Tata Steel down by 4.05%, Sun Pharma down by 2.99%, SSLT down by 2.90% and M&M down by 2.39%.

Meanwhile, the government is planning to build nearly 200 low-cost airports in the next 20 years to expand connectivity to Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation G Ashok Kumar has asserted that the idea to expand low cost airports to meet the demand for air travel.

G Ashok Kumar further added that non-metro airports presently account for only about 30% of the total air traffic, which is expected to increase to 45% in the next few years. Referring to current issues to Indian aviation industry, Joint Secretary asserted that the industry is facing multiple challenges including high Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) costs, VAT, high landing and other operational costs and falling tariffs. The state governments are not reducing the Value Added Tax (VAT) and other rates on ATF, he added. Ashok Kumar also announced the fourth edition of the international exhibition and conference on Civil Aviation-India Aviation 2014. The five-day event, with the theme of enhancing air connectivity of India, will held on March 12, jointly organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Indian aviation industry, after witnessing constant fall in the past two years, showed some improvement in air passenger traffic in current fiscal. Domestic passenger traffic accounts for more than 70 per cent of the total air passenger traffic. During April-December 2013, Indian airports handled 126.2 million passengers as against 117.5 million passengers carried in the corresponding period a year ago, reflecting a healthy growth of 7.4 percent. The improvement over recent months was inconsistent with continued weakness in the economy and could be attributed to fare discounting by industry players such as Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Indigo.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 6,514.85, down by 22.40 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 6,562.85 and 6,504.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 declining ones on the index.

The top gainers of the Nifty were DLF up 6.35%, IDFC up by 3.43%, Tata Power up by 3.35%, Grasim Industries up by 2.16% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.92%. On the flip side, Hindalco Industries down by 4.06%, Tata Steel down by 4.05%, Sun Pharma down by 3.11%, SSLT down by 2.80% and NMDC down by 2.65% were the major losers on the index.

Asian equity indices were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 0.69%, Hang Seng up by 0.02%, Straits Times advanced 0.12%, Jakarta Composite rose 0.44%, Taiwan Weighted gained 0.43%, Shanghai Composite added 0.10%, KLSE Composite gained 0.19% and KOSPI Composite inched higher by 0.48%.

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up 0.06%, Germany’s DAX added 0.18% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.04%.