WEAK TRADE

Indian equities continued weak trade in the late morning session, though there were some recovery attempt but the profit booking is keeping the markets under pressure. On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, as investor sentiment got dampened after Japan downgraded its economic assessment for the first time in 10 months amid slowing growth in China. Back home, traders were seen piling up position in IT, TECk and Power sector, while selling was witnessed in Metal, CD and CG sector. Tata Steel, Coal India, Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel and Hindalco Industries from Metal sector were trading in red exerting pressure on the market, while CD majors Titan Industries, Videocon Industries, Rajesh Exports and Gitanjali Gems too were pressurizing the markets. On the other hand, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and HCL Tech from IT pack were seen trading firm in green, holding up the markets from dipping further.

In the scrip specific development, IL&FS Engineering jumped on bagging 3 projects worth Rs 330.69 crore from WBSECL .TCS soared on being recognized as one of the Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces, while RIL declined on maintenance plans at Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat. The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were managing to hold their psychological 5300 and 17600 levels respectively.

The market breadth on BSE was negative, in the ratio of 686:1355.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 17654.74 down by 24.07 points or 0.14% after touching a high of 17712.35 and low of 17632.60. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 declines on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.77%, while Small cap index was down by 0.68%.

On the BSE sectoral space, IT up by 0.81%, TECk up by 0.47%, Power up by 0.31% and FMCG up by 0.30% were the gainers while Metal down by 1.80%, CD down by 1.40%, CG down by 0.87%, Bankex down by 0.71% and Auto down by 0.58% were the losers on the index.

Tata Power up by 2.64%, NTPC up by 1.36%, Infosys up by 1.06%, TCS up by 1.06%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.70% were the major gainers on the Sensex, while Sterlite Industries down by 3.31%, Jindal Steel down by 3.16%, Tata Steel down by 1.75%, Coal India down by 1.54% and Hindalco Industries down by 1.32% were the major losers on the index.  

Meanwhile, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has released an Information Memorandum (IM) on the auction of second-generation spectrum, with Delhi being the most expensive at a reserve price of Rs 693.06 crore per block of 1.25 MHz and Rs 900 crore for GSM and CDMA respectively. Delhi includes local areas served by Delhi, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida, and Gurgaon telephone exchanges.

Mumbai is not far behind either, as the reserve price for Mumbai is the second highest at Rs 678.45 crore (per 1.25 MHz) and Rs 900 crore for GSM and CDMA respectively. Mumbai means local areas served by Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan telephone exchanges.

As per IM, block size shall be 1.25MHz (Paired), while a minimum of 8 blocks each of 1.25MHz (10MHz) will be put to auction in all service areas. Although the existing operators will be permitted to take maximum two blocks of 1.25MHz each in every service area, new entrants will be required to bid for minimum of 4 blocks each of 1.25 MHz in each service area. Additionally, new entrants will also be allowed to bid for one additional block of 1.25MHz in each service area.

DoT is expected to issue a notice inviting applications on September 28, while the last date of submission of application, as detailed in IM, would be October 19. Meanwhile, the final list of bidders is expected to be released on November 6. This will be followed by a mock auction on November 7 and 8 and thereafter the e-auction of 1,800 MHz band will take place on November 12.

Further, DoT has also fixed the earnest money, a deposit a buyer makes to the seller to show its faith in a transaction, for pan-India bidding at Rs 442 crore for 2G spectrum in the 1,800 Mhz band across the country, while the base price pegged for acquiring pan-India spectrum was fixed at Rs 14,000 crore for 5 Mhz in the 1,800 Mhz band and 1.3 times higher for the 800 Mhz band.

The S&P CNX Nifty is currently trading at 5,338.65, down by 11.60 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 5,359.25 and 5,331.80. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 declines on the index.

The top gainers on the Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.38%, NTPC up by 1.21%, Power Grid up by 1.10%, Infosys by 1.09% and TCS up by 1.06%. While, Sterlite Industries down by 3.67%, Jindal Steel by 3.38%, Sesa Goa down by 2.45%, Tata Steel  down by 1.88% and Axis Bank down by 1.88% were the top losers on the index.

Asian indices were trading  in red ; Kospi Composite Index down by 1.33%, Nikkei 225 down by 0.84%, KLSE Composite down by 0.03%, Taiwan Weighted down by 1.33%, Straits Times down by 0.01%, Jakarta Composite  down by 0.13% and Hang Seng index down by 0.18% while  Shanghai Composite up  by 0.03% was only the gainer.