Benchmarks trade near intra-day low level in late morning

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade near intra-day low level on account of Profit booking in frontline blue chip stocks after a recent rally. Sentiment weakened further as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 84.13 crore on May 26, 2014. Traders were seen piling positions in IT, Teck and Healthcare stocks while selling was witnessed in Realty, Power and PSU sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Gail India was trading lower by 6% after reporting a lower than expected net profit at Rs 972 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014. Moreover, Jaypee Infratech has slipped by 10% after net profit slumped 91.12% to Rs 13.19 crore in Q4 March 2014 over Q4 March 2013. However, Sonata Software has rallied 13% after reporting over three-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 23.57 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014.  On the global front, the Asian markets were trading mostly lower as tensions flared between China and Vietnam though hopes for further monetary easing in Europe helped push Japan's benchmark to its highest level in six weeks. However, European shares had ended higher as investors reacted to the results of European parliament elections and presidential elections in Ukraine. Back home, Indian rupee was trading lower against the US dollar at Rs 58.96 tracking weakness in equities. Moreover, Bharat Forge, Bombay Dyeing, Dish TV India, Jindal Hotels and JSW Steel will be in focus on account of March quarter earnings announcement. The market breadth on BSE was negative, out of 2271 stocks traded, 745 stocks advanced, while 1450 stocks declined on the BSE. The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24513.61 down by 203.27 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 24777.31 and 24505.07. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.57%, while Small cap index down by 1.52%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were, IT up by 1.32%, Teck up by 0.78%, Healthcare up by 0.41% and FMCG up by 0.07%, while Realty down by 3.60%, Power down by 3.11%, PSU down by 3.08%, Oil & Gas down by 2.55% and Metal down by 2.09% were the top losers on the sectoral index. The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.10%, Infosys up by 1.70%, Dr Reddys Lab up by 0.49%, TCS up by 0.43% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Gail India was down by 6.87%,  BHEL was down by 4.61%, SSLT was down by 4.37%, ONGC was down by 3.15% and NTPC was down by 3.07% were the top losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened merger rules for non-banking finance companies, requiring them to obtain the RBI’s written permission to acquire or merge with any similar entity, in order to ensure their fit and proper management. Previously, only deposit-taking non-bank finance companies required approval for a takeover or merger. But, this directive, to be known as 'Non-Banking Financial Companies (Approval of Acquisition or Transfer of Control) Directions, 2014, would be applicable to every non-banking financial company, i.e. deposit taking or a non-deposit taking NBFC. According to the RBI, any merger or amalgamation of an NBFC with another entity or an entity with an NBFC that would give the acquirer or another entity control of the NBFC will need its written approval, before the permissions of court or tribunal for mergers or amalgamations with other companies or NBFCs. However, RBI clarified that its prior approval would not be required in case where NBFC is acquiring less than 10% of another entity. Further, it also brought to the notice of the prospective acquirers of NBFCs that acquisition of shares/ takeover of an NBFC without its prior approval shall result in adverse regulatory action by the Reserve Bank, including, cancellation of Certificate of Registration of the concerned NBFC. The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7,300.30 down by 58.75 points or 0.80% after trading in a range of 7,372.95 and 7,298.45. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 declining on the index. The top gainers of the Nifty were HCL Tech up by 2.51%, Wipro up by 1.78%, Infosys up by 1.69 %, UltraTech Cement up by 1.61% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Gail down by 7.01%, BHEL down by 4.94%, SSLT down by 4.64%, IDFC down by 4.10% and ONGC down by 3.52% were the top losers on the index. Most of the Asian equity indices were trading in red; Shanghai Composite slipped 0.25%, Hang Seng dropped by 0.20%, Jakarta Composite tumbled 0.18%, Straits Times shed by 0.17% and Straits Composite was down by 0.17%. On the flip side, KLSE Composite gained 0.16%, Nikkei 225 spurted by 0.79% and Taiwan Weighted was up by 0.16%.