Sensex down; Adani Power, Reliance Comm lead early gainers

Moneycontrol Bureau

Benchmark indices were down in early trade Wednesday, on likely profit taking after the rise in the last three sessions. Large caps were under pressure, with shares from the FMCG, oil & gas, and auto among the key laggards.

The Sensex was down 50 points at 18990, and the Nifty down 12 points at 5735.

Power shares were up, led by Adani Power (up 9 percent) after the company got a favourable ruling from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Adani Power had been seeking a hike in power tariffs due to escalation in price of imported coal and scarcity of domestic coal. According to a report in the Mint newspaper, CERC has allowed a variable compensatory tariff to be offered to Adani Power till the fuel situation stabilizes.

Other power shares too rose, as the judgement is expected to strengthen the case for higher power tariffs for other imported coal-based projects of companies like Tata Power(+4 percent) and Reliance Power(+2 percent).

Reliance Communications shares were up around 6 percent to Rs 67, even as most experts think the Rs 1220 crore-deal with Reliance Jio will not help much in improving the company’s balance sheet.

Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS sees the Nifty declining to 5400-5500 near term due to disappointing macro data and weak corporate earnings.

Arindam Ghosh of Blackridge Capital Advisors feels corporate earnings may have bottomed out for now. However, he expects the recovery in the broader market to be gradual and does not see market sentiment improving meaningfully near term.