Benchmarks continue to trade choppy in noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade choppy in noon deals owing to weak cues from global markets. Traders failed to get any sense of relief with Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant’s statement that India needs to grow at ten percent to become ten trillion dollar economy and eliminate poverty by 2032. He also said a growth rate of ten percent would also help in creation of 175 million jobs by 2032. Depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened sentiments. The rupee depreciated by 16 paise to trade at 66.55 against the US dollar in noon deals due to fresh buying of the American currency by banks and importers.

On the global front, Asian shares slid from a 5 1/2-month high on Friday as disappointing earnings from US blue-chip companies poured cold water on the rally that took off in March. Back home, shares of public sector undertaking (PSU) banks were trading higher for third straight trading session with the Nifty PSU Bank index hitting three-month high. As per a report on Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) trimmed the list of debt-laden companies for loan provisioning in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2016. Lower provisioning would help reduce credit cost burden thereby easing pressure on profitability.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25867.55, down by 12.83 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 25771.88 and 25922.02. There were 16 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.27%, while Small cap index up by 0.24%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.92%, PSU up by 0.78%, Bankex up by 0.42%, Power up by 0.35% and Oil & Gas up by 0.32%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.97%, FMCG down by 0.21%, IT down by 0.12%, TECK down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.76%, SBI up by 2.42%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.75%, NTPC up by 1.49% and ONGC up by 1.34%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.80%, Asian Paints down by 1.45%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.14%, BHEL down by 1.08% and Sun Pharma down by 1.08% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, more than 1 crore LPG consumers have stopped using subsidised cooking gas ,since Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a call to the well-heeled to give up their cooking gas subsidies. About 1, 00, 06,303 LPG consumers have given up their cooking gas subsidies in one year helping the exchequer save a few thousand crores of rupees in doles, as per oil ministry data. The surrendered subsidy is used by the government to provide cooking gas connection to the poor in rural households free of cost.

Giving up subsidised LPG will help cut the government's subsidy bill, which was at Rs 30,000 crore on the fuel last fiscal. These gas cylinders surrendered would be transferred to the poor who use wood for cooking. Consumers who have decided to give up their subsidies have to buy the product at the market price. At present, consumers are currently entitled to 12 cylinders of 14.2 kg each or 34 bottles of 5 kg each in a year at subsidised rates. A subsidised 14.2-kg cylinder is currently available at Rs 419.13 per bottle in Delhi while the 5-kg pack costs Rs 155. Market-priced LPG is available at Rs 509.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

On March 27, 2015, Modi had launched the 'Give-it-Up' campaign, urging the well-off to surrender their LPG subsidy so that it can be targeted for the needy. The aim is also to bring down the country's dependence on energy imports by 10 percent by 2022.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7911.00, down by 1.05 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 7873.35 and 7923.35. There were 29 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 2.82%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.62%, SBI up by 2.47%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.05%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.00%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.79%, Asian Paints down by 1.59%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34%, Sun Pharma down by 1.10% and BHEL down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 172.18 points or 0.8% to 21,450.07, Taiwan Weighted slipped 32.9 points or 0.38% to 8,535.75, KOSPI Index shed 6.61 points or 0.33% to 2,015.49, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 4.8 points or 0.28% to 1,716.67, Shanghai Composite fell 3.55 points or 0.12% to 2,949.34 and Jakarta Composite was down by 2.71 points or 0.06% to 4,900.38. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 was up by 208.87 points or 1.2% to 17,572.49.