Benchmarks continue to trade in narrow range with negative bias

Indian bourses continued to trade in red in late morning session in absence of positive triggers which could take the markets higher amid profit booking in frontline line blue-chip stocks. Besides, weakness in rupee against the US dollar also weighed on sentiment. Indian rupee depreciated by 5 paise to 67.25 against the US dollar in early trade due to sustained demand for the American currency from importers and banks. However, market participants got some comfort with the report that foreign direct investment during October 2014 and May 2016 grew by 46 percent to $ 61.58 billion after the launch of Make in India programme. The initiative was launched in September 2014 with an aim to promote India as an important investment destination and a global hub for manufacturing, design and innovation.  Some support also came with the private report indicating Inflation in India to fall to 4.5 per cent by next March, giving the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) space to cut key policy rates by 50 basis points in the current fiscal. Meanwhile, Energy shares witnessed buying, tracking overnight gains in the crude oil, while Metal stocks were weak on report that the government under pressure from exporting countries and Indian small scale industries is planning to prune the list of steel products covered by the Minimum Import Price.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green on Thursday as inventors turned optimistic  after positive earnings surprises drove US equities to a fresh record, while the yen and New Zealand’s dollar slid to six-week lows on increasing prospects for stimulus. Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is eyeing a package of at least 20 trillion yen to kick start the economy from years of slumber and light a fire under torpid inflation, about double the size initially expected. 

Back home, stocks from Oil & Gas, PSU and FMCG counters were supporting the market, while those from Power, Capital Goods and information technology (IT) counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) rallied 10% to Rs 1,233, after the company announced that its board recommended issue of bonus shares in the ratio of two for every one held. Further, Wipro gained after the company won a contract from Greater Toronto Airports Authority for Futuristic IT and Business Transformation.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27893.49, down by 22.40 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 27861.97 and 27988.76. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.65%, while Small cap index was up by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.52%, PSU up by 0.55%, FMCG up by 0.42%, Consumer Durables up by 0.38% and Auto up by 0.30%, while Power down by 0.44%, Capital Goods down by 0.37%, IT down by 0.31%, TECK down by 0.26% and Metal down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 1.28%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 1.07%, ONGC up by 1.01%, Tata Motors up by 0.78% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.93%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.42%, Reliance Industries down by 0.78%, Power Grid down by 0.77% and TCS down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has started the process of setting up a national committee which will be chaired by cabinet secretary and will coordinate and implement the WTO’s trade facilitation agreement (TFA). This committee will assist the ease of doing trade through effective cooperation between custom authorities and relevant stakeholders.

The TFA will help in simplification of trade procedures and also help in promoting cross-border trade, bring greater predictability to traders and reduce transaction costs. With the trade facilitation agreement, WTO members are encouraged to share information on best practices in managing customs compliance.Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India has maintained that in the WTO negotiations first the agenda of Doha round of trade negotiations should be completed.

Sitharaman further said that the government has taken various steps to track the trade restrictive measures of other countries through various mechanisms such as regular interaction, organizing workshops on important issues like standards and monitoring of draft notifications of member countries.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8565.00, down by 0.85 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 8553.65 and 8585.25. There were 29 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ACC up by 3.57%, BPCL up by 2.25%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.81%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.59% and Cipla up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.91%, BHEL down by 1.39%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.26%, HCL Tech. down by 1.17% and Power Grid down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 0.76%, Jakarta Composite gained 0.28%, Taiwan Weighted added 0.39%, Hang Seng strengthened 0.69% and Nikkei 225 was up by 0.49%.On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.41% and KOSPI Index was down by 0.36%.