Benchmarks continue firm trade; Consumer Durables, Bankex lead

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade hovering near the highest point of the day in the late afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Investors however maintained cautious approach ahead of quarterly corporate results and an expected government announcement on who would take over as the country’s next central bank chief. Traders were seen piling position in Consumer Durables, Bankex and PSU stocks while selling was witnessed in IT and TECK sector stocks. In scrip specific development, hectic buying activity was witnessed in jewellery stocks like Titan Company, Tara Jewels, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, PC Jeweller, Shree Ganesh Jewellery, Gitanjali Gems and Rajesh Exports on government’s move to relax excise duty norms on gold jewellery sales. SRF was trading in green as the Finance Ministry has imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on an inert gas which is used primarily as a high temperature refrigerant for domestic refrigeration and automobile air-conditioners.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green while the European markets were trading on optimistic note. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 8,500 and 27,800 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1525:1037 while 170 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27891.36, up by 76.18 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 27763.15 and 27907.61. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.69%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.62%, Bankex up by 1.40%, PSU up by 1.00%, Capital Goods up by 0.73% and Power up by 0.51% while, IT down by 0.22% and TECK down by 0.09% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.43%, SBI up by 2.31%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.03%, GAIL India up by 1.77% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.55%.

On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.83%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.62%, Sun Pharma down by 1.13%, Infosys down by 1.03% and Wipro down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has imposed an anti-dumping duty of $1.22 per kilogram on import of refrigerant '1,1,1,2 - Tetrafluoroethane' or 'R-134a' from China for a period of five years till July 10, 2021, as it hurt domestic producers. 'R-134a' is primarily used as a high temperature refrigerant for domestic refrigeration and automobile air-conditioners.

SRF Limited the sole domestic producer of ‘R-134a’ has filed the petition seeking anti-dumping duty on 1,1,1,2 Tetrafluoroethane or R-134a imports from China, whereas an investigation was held for the same by the Directorate General of Anti- Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) and they found that there is continued dumping of the subject goods from the subject company.

DGAD further stated that, imports from China were significantly undercutting the prices of the domestic industry and depressing the domestic prices. Also, the financial performance of the domestic industry has deteriorated and the dumped imports from China continue to cause injury to the domestic industry.

Based on the DGAD findings, Revenue Department imposed fresh anti-dumping duty which it said will be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier). The department's notice is to be published in the Federal Register on Friday. India had earlier imposed anti-dumping duty on the compound commonly used in home refrigerators and automotive air conditioning in July 2011.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8546.05, up by 26.55 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 8500.70 and 8550.95. There were 36 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 3.81%, Grasim Industries up by 2.75%, ICICI Bank up by 2.43%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.08% and SBI up by 2.02%.

On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.75%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.60%, Sun Pharma down by 1.39%, Infosys down by 1.15% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.98% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 3.22 points or 0.16% to 2,008.77, Taiwan Weighted increased 8.61 points or 0.1% to 8,866.36, Nikkei 225 increased 154.46 points or 0.95% to 16,385.89 and Hang Seng increased 238.69 points or 1.12% to 21,561.06.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite decreased 47.74 points or 0.93% to 5,086.20, Shanghai Composite decreased 6.67 points or 0.22% to 3,054.02 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 6.13 points or 0.37% to 1,654.26.

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 55.49 points or 0.83% to 6,725.89, France’s CAC increased 52.72 points or 1.22% to 4,387.98 and Germany’s DAX increased 149.06 points or 1.5% to 10,079.77.