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Bourses trade in red terrain
Feb-20-2020

Indian equity bourses were trading in red terrain in late afternoon deals, tracking weak opening of European markets. Heavy selling at Realty, Energy and FMCG counters dragged the key indices down, while Asian Paints performed the worst among the major industry leaders on the BSE. Sentiments remained lackluster, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that the coronavirus outbreak will have a limited impact on India but the global GDP and trade will definitely get affected due to the large size of the Chinese economy.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as Germany's consumer confidence is set to ease slightly in March, as a modest gain in economic expectations were offset by moderate losses in income outlook and the propensity to buy. The forward-looking GfK consumer confidence index fell to 9.8 points for March from 9.9 in February.  Asian markets were also trading in red, after Singapore wholesale trade declined in the fourth quarter. At current prices, domestic wholesale sales declined a seasonally adjusted 8.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter, following a 0.2 percent fall in the previous quarter.

Back home, auto stocks were in watch, as Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said that passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales in January declined 4.61 per cent to 2,90,879 units as compared to same month last year, hit by tepid response by end customers.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41270.95, down by 52.05 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 41220.81 and 41399.93. 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 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 0.59%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.06%, Telecom up by 1.03%, Bankex up by 0.55%, PSU up by 0.52% and Healthcare up by 0.47%, while Realty down by 0.63%, Energy down by 0.51%, FMCG down by 0.50%, Consumer Durables down by 0.49% and Oil & Gas down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.59%, Tata Steel up by 2.78%, SBI up by 2.11%, ONGC up by 1.67% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.03%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.90%, Nestle down by 1.27%, TCS down by 1.17% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, underlining the telecom crisis in India is not limited to adjusted gross revenue (AGR) related issues, Former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has said the government should offer a one-time settlement scheme to the telecom companies to pay the principal due amount as per the AGR definition and waive the penal interest and penalties.

Subhash Chandra Garg also noted that the telecom business -- both voice and data -- is headed towards becoming a duopoly (Jio and Airtel) with the remaining two players, Vodafone Idea and BSNL-MTNL, hurtling towards eventual shutdown, which might as well be an abrupt collapse.

Former Finance Secretary also wondered whether the proposal of the government to put in billions of dollars (over Rs 70,000 crore) to revive BSNL-MTNL is advisable or not as the country is facing massive economic slowdown.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court last week rejected a plea by telecom firms including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for extension in the payment schedule and asked them to deposit an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues for spectrum and licenses by March 17.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12109.65, down by 16.25 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 12092.80 and 12152.00. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.40%, Tata Steel up by 2.69%, SBI up by 2.09%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.06% and ONGC up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.11%, Asian Paints down by 2.02%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.85%, IOC down by 1.53% and Nestle down by 1.34% were the top losers.

All European markets were trading in red, UK’s FTSE 100 lost 3.58 points or 0.05% to 7,453.44, France’s CAC fell 5.20 points or 0.09% to 6,106.04 and Germany’s DAX was down by 31.22 points or 0.23% to 13,757.78.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 53.29 points or 0.19% to 27,602.52, Taiwan Weighted dropped 33.75 points or 0.29% to 11,725.09, KOSPI fell 14.84 points or 0.67% to 2,195.50 and Straits Times trembled 13.54 points or 0.42% to 3,200.17. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 7.92 points or 0.13% to 5,936.71, Shanghai Composite gained 43.39 points or 1.46% to 3,018.79 and Nikkei 225 surged 78.45 points or 0.34% to 23,479.15.
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