Market May Remain Under Pressure
A benchmark index of Indian equities markets ended lower amid profit taking after hitting new highs for two consecutive days due to profit-booking and worries over new norms on P-Notes and ITC witnessed selling pressure in late trades amid reports on ban of sale of loose cigarettes. The Sensex closed 161.49 points lower i.e. (0.57%) at 28,338.05 points, while the Nifty fell 67.05 points i.e. (0.79%) to end at 8,463.10 points. In the broader market, both BSE mid cap and small cap indices declined sharply and closed down by 1.4% and 2.4% each. Shares of mid and small sized companies were under pressure on account of profit booking after sharp gains in the previous few sessions.
In a clarification issued on Monday evening, Sebi said that a foreign portfolio investor or FPI can issue offshore derivative instruments (ODIs), which predominantly comprises of P-notes, only to those subscribers that do not have an opaque structure. Sebi regulation defines "opaque structure" as one in which the details of the ultimate beneficial owners are not accessible or where the beneficial owners are ring fenced from each other or where the beneficial owners are ring fenced with regard to enforcement.
As for the global markets, US markets traded in a narrow range, falling in and out of negative territory after a mixture of economic data highlighted by a surprise dip in consumer confidence. The S&P 500 index fell 2.38 points to 2,067.03. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 2.96 points to 17,814.94, while the Nasdaq composite gained 3.36 points to 4,758.25. Energy companies 1.6% as crude oil slipped 2.2% to settle at USD 74.09 a barrel. The oil producing nations were meeting head of OPEC's Thursday meeting.
The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence declined to 88.7 in November from 94.1 the prior month. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 3.9% annualized rate, up from an initial estimate of 3.5%, Commerce Department figures showed. After the 4.6% increase in the second quarter, it marked the biggest back-to- back advance since late 2003.
In Europe, France's CAC 40 was also flat while Germany's DAX was ahead after economic data confirming it avoided recession with 0.1% growth in the third quarter, driven by a sharp rise in private consumption. Market babble on yesterday morning also involved the possibility of quantitative easing by the ECB with its governing council set to meet in the latter part of next week.
Tokyo stocks opened in red and now currently the Nikkei 225 index is trading at 0.07% in negative. Shanghai 0.3% higher Chinese stocks rose to a new three-year peak for the fourth consecutive session as cheer from the central bank's interest rate cut on Friday continued to support sentiment. The SGX Nifty is open in red and currently decline by 28 points. Today we expect Indian equities open in negative and it may remain under pressure due to new norms on P-Notes and ahead of F&O expiry.