Markets continue to trade marginally in red in early noon session

The Indian equity bourses continued to trade marginally in red in early noon session due to some selling by investors in the front line blue chips stocks. Investors remained cautious ahead of GDP data for the March quarter and fiscal deficit data for the month of March slated to be released later today.  India's GDP growth for the fourth quarter of 2015-16 is likely to be around 7.1 per cent, but slow private sector capital expenditure (capex) spending and stressed banking sector will weigh on the economy's growth potential this year. However, investors got some support with the private report that the Indian economy is expected to witness a growth of 7.8 percent in the current fiscal year on account of a likely recovery in agriculture and private consumption.  Investors also got some encouragement with the former Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s statement that India is a beacon of hope and has the potential to drive the world economy for the next 10 years, amid concerns of slowing global growth. Meanwhile, some Jewellery stocks were trading higher on report that the government has rolled back its decision to apply 1 percent tax collection at source (TCS) on cash purchase of gold jewellery.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher, after Japan reported better-than-expected data for April. Japanese market also buoyed by expectations that a 2017 sales tax hike will be delayed until 2019, and by a weakening in the Japanese yen. Back home, in scrip specific development, share of Monsanto India was trading higher after the company reported a net profit of Rs 24.1 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 compared to a loss of Rs 8.3 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26676.30, down by 49.30 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 26608.52 and 26837.20. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.14%, while Small cap index lost 0.23%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.91%, Realty up by 1.24%, Metal up by 1.02%, Bankex up by 0.21% and PSU up by 0.02%, while IT down by 1.27%, TECK down by 1.14%, Consumer Durables down by 1.08%, Capital Goods down by 0.41% and Power down by 0.37% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 7.93%, Tata Steel up by 1.80%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.28%, BHEL up by 1.24% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 5.66%, GAIL India down by 2.42%, TCS down by 1.62%, Infosys down by 1.56% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a morale booster for the domestic aviation industry, the global airlines’ association, International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its global passenger traffic results for April, has said that India's domestic passenger traffic grew by 21.8 per cent in April.

It was the 13th consecutive month that the domestic air passenger traffic growth out performed major aviation markets, as the number of fliers grew 21.8 per cent in April as against a global average of 4.1 per cent during the month. According to IATA, “India’s domestic traffic soared 21.8 per cent, marking the 20th month of double-digit traffic growth and the 13th consecutive month it has led the domestic markets.”

As per IATA’s report demand for domestic travel climbed 4.1 per cent in April compared to April 2015, while capacity increased 3.8 per cent, causing load factor to rise 0.3 percentage points to 81.4 per cent. The air passenger traffic stood at 79.32 lakh passengers -- up from 65.59 lakh in the corresponding month last year. The data further pointed out that India's domestic capacity in the month under review rose by 21.3 per cent.

According to IATA's April traffic results, India’s domestic passenger traffic grew the fastest amongst the seven major aviation markets of the world. India's domestic passenger traffic growth was followed by that of China at 9.5 per cent, the US and Australia at 2.4 per cent each, the Russian Federation at 1.9 per cent and Japan at 0.7 per cent. However, Brazil reported a decline in their domestic passenger traffic at -12.1 per cent. International passenger demand, however, rose 4.8 per cent in April this year compared to April 2015, the slowest pace in two years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8166.80, down by 11.70 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 8144.90 and 8213.60. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors - DVR up by 9.40%, Tata Motors up by 7.80%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 3.96%, Hindalco up by 3.69% and Tata Steel up by 2.08%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 5.60%, GAIL India down by 2.50%, Infosys down by 2.00%, TCS down by 1.62% and Tata Power down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; KOSPI Index increased 16.27 points or 0.83% to 1,983.40, Shanghai Composite increased 86.46 points or 3.06% to 2,908.92, Nikkei 225 increased 166.96 points or 0.98% to 17,234.98 and Hang Seng increased 292.95 points or 1.42% to 20,922.34, while Jakarta Composite decreased 21.93 points or 0.45% to 4,814.10, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.56 points or 0.22% to 1,626.31 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.28 points or 0% to 8,535.59.