Benchmarks trade choppy in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks are trading choppy in noon deals as investors remained worried due to fresh selling in FMCG, PSU and metal stocks. However, some support came in with report of Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian-led panel recommending standard GST rate of 18 percent and lower rate of 12 percent on specified goods. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided sentiments. Rupee recovered slightly in noon deals to quote at 66.62, appreciating by 8 paise, after it slumped to its 2-year low on Friday. Meanwhile, shares of logistics companies were trading higher as they would directly benefit if the GST bill gets passed in the Parliament.

On the global front, Asian equity indices were trading in green terrain at this point of time after Wall Street welcomed an upbeat US jobs report that suggested the world’s biggest economy was well placed to handle an expected first increase in interest rates in almost a decade. Back home, on the sectoral front, healthcare, realty and consumer durables witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while fast moving consumer goods, energy and metal remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices however, were outperforming benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1,460 shares on the gaining side against 1,011 shares on the losing side while 154 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25611.07, down by 27.04 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 25584.98 and 25785.53. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.21%, while Small cap index up by 0.44%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.90%, Realty up by 0.75%, Consumer Durables up by 0.51%, IT up by 0.41% and Bankex up by 0.41%, while FMCG down by 1.82%, Energy down by 0.69%, Metal down by 0.52%, PSU down by 0.52% and Auto down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.07%, Tata Steel up by 1.52%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.13%, Lupin up by 1.12% and Vedanta up by 1.09%. On the flip side, ITC down by 4.74%, Coal India down by 2.22%, ONGC down by 1.69%, NTPC down by 1.45% and Reliance Industries down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha has said that government is working on universal health insurance scheme, similar to other social security scheme. Emphasising that the low cost of transaction is key to success of digital financial inclusion goal he said “One of the apps that the government is thinking about right now is health insurance then they have got national crop insurance and the government is working on that as well.” Sinha said that the government is working towards completely cashless digital economy.

Sinha further asserted that the government is solving access problem with social security open architecture and it can now load whole host of other applications on the top of the platform that they are building. Besides, he said that other applications can be put on that platform and it can also allow state government to put their schemes on that platform.

Currently, General insurance product Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Suraksha Bima Yojna while life insurance product Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is being provided through banks at a very low cost premium to all bank account holders including Jan Dhan account holders.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7787.55, up by 5.65 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 7776.00 and 7825.40. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.24%, Asian Paints up by 3.02%, Grasim Industries up by 1.54%, Tata Steel up by 1.46% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.41%. On the flip side, ITC down by 4.84%, Cairn India down by 2.44%, Coal India down by 2.34%, ONGC down by 1.61% and NTPC down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 6.05 points or 0.36% to 1,673.92, Shanghai Composite rose 7.34 points or 0.21% to 3,532.33, Jakarta Composite surged 41.42 points or 0.92% to 4,549.87, Hang Seng gained 44.84 points or 0.2% to 22,280.73, Taiwan Weighted added 55.67 points or 0.66% to 8,454.27 and Nikkei 225 was up by 193.67 points or 0.99% to 19,698.15. On the flip side, KOSPI Index was down by 10.73 points or 0.54% to 1,963.67.