Markets continue to trade flat in afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade near the neutral line in afternoon session as the gains in consumer durables and FMCG stocks were offset by the selling witnessed in metal and power stocks. Investors also remained cautious ahead of the major macro economic data such as Indian Industrial Production (IIP) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers scheduled to be announced later in the day. Profit booking at higher levels also dragged the major indices down, moreover weak global cues amid expectation that the US interest rates will rise sooner than estimated also weighed on the sentiments. However, markets’ losses remained capped as sharp buying witnessed in some blue chip stocks such as Cipla, ITC and Bharti Airtel among others has provided support to the domestic benchmarks. However, broader indices continued to outperform the major indices as both mid cap and small cap indices were trading in green territories.

Shares of Snowman Logistics have listed at Rs 76, a huge 62% premium against its issue price of Rs 47 per share. Shares of Atul Auto was trading higher by 3% at Rs 413 after the stock was quoted ex-stock split from today. On the other hand, shares of NCC were down over 3% at around Rs 67 after a foreign fund sold nearly 80 lakh shares of the company through block deals. 

On global front, Asian markets were trading mixed with Jakarta Composite up by 0.18% while, Taiwan Weighted down 1.07%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 8,050 and 27,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,730 stocks traded, 1,452 stocks advanced, while 1,191 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27012.10, up by 16.23 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 26966.96 and 27065.02. There were 12 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.08%, while Small cap index up by 0.40%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.11%, FMCG up by 0.61%, Auto up by 0.40% and Realty up by 0.22%. On the other hand, while, Power down by 0.75%, Metal down by 0.56%, IT down by 0.24%, PSU down by 0.23% and Bankex down by 0.17% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 2.80%, ITC up by 1.30%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.22%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.03% and GAIL India up by 0.83%. On the flip side,  Hindalco down by 2.35%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 1.57%, NTPC down by 1.04%, Coal India down by 0.76% and Wipro down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to attract high investment in inland waterways sector, government is planning to take various policy initiatives to make the sector economically viable for business. Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has stated that, in order to build terminals, water ports and seaports, the government will provide all facilities, concessions to make waterways sector attractive for investors.

A waterway is a shipping route consists of one or several waterways include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. Waterways are a fuel-efficient mode of transport with barely 55 paise a km charge for transportation as against Rs 1.5 on highways. Freight transportation by waterways is highly under-utilised in India compared to other large countries and geographic areas like the United States, China and the European Union. Waterways sector accounts for around 0.5 percent of total freight movement in the country whereas in China waterways contribute 20 percent of the total traffic in the country.

Nitin Gadkari further asserted that the government will give more importance to the waterways sector which will provide impetus to Indian economy. The government has earlier suggested utilising the entire potential of the Ganga by using it as a waterway from Gangotri to Kanpur, and Kanpur to Patna for transportation. The government is also planning to set up a Waterport Authority of India to facilitate plying of seaplanes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8085.60, down by 0.10 points or 0.00% after trading in a range of 8072.75 and 8102.95. There were 19 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.93%, Lupin up by 1.83%, Asian Paints up by 1.49%, ITC up by 1.30% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.16%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.69%, Power Grid Corp down by 1.74%, Sun Pharma Inds down by 1.61%, NTPC down by 1.11% and HCL Tech down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, Straits Times up by 2.28 points or 0.07% to 3,349.56, Nikkei 225 up by 5.78 points or 0.04% to 15,914.98, KOSPI Index up by 7.7 points or 0.38% to 2,041.86, Shanghai Composite up by 8.8 points or 0.38% to 2,320.48, Jakarta Composite up by 9.42 points or 0.18% to 5,142.46. While, Taiwan Weighted down 99.77 points or 1.07% to 9,223.18 and Hang Seng down 78.94 points or 0.32% to 24,583.70