Benchmarks trade modestly in red in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks were trading on lackluster note slightly in red in the late morning session on account of profit booking in frontline blue chip counters. The downside was however limited since Indian rupee continued upward movement as well and opened up against the US dollar as banks and exporters took to selling of American currency. The American currency dropped after the economic data released showed that the chances of US Federal Reserve going for a rate hike is dim. Investors took note of reports that the government has begun the groundwork for creation of a secretariat to cater to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, which will be constituted after Presidential assent for the Constitution Amendment Bill enabling implementation of the proposed tax. The government wants the institutional arrangements ready so that the GST Council can start deliberating the nuances of the law quickly. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at the Economist India Summit hailed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a long-standing reform in indirect taxation. He also stressed that the GST will stabilize tax rates and even bring the rates down. The minister also added that the government has set a stiff target, running against time to implement GST. Traders were seen piling position in Realty, Metal and IT stocks, while selling was witnessed in Power, Oil & Gas and Capital Goods sector stocks. In scrip specific development, NBCC (India) was trading in green on executing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with University Grant Commission, (UGC) whereby the company has been assigned work for construction of New UGC Building Complex at JNU Campus, New Delhi amounting approximately Rs 270.00 crore.

On the global front, Asian shares traded mostly in green; after surprisingly weak US services sector activity lowered the odds of a September rate hike. The Bank of Japan’s nine board members are split over how to stimulate the economy, or whether to stimulate it at all, as they prepare for a review of the central bank’s ultra-loose monetary policy. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading below the psychological 8,950 and 29,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1229:957, while 108 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28967.97, down by 10.05 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 28928.10 and 29067.84. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.22%, Metal up by 0.93%, IT up by 0.65%, TECK up by 0.44% and FMCG up by 0.31%, while Power down by 0.43%, Oil & Gas down by 0.15%, Capital Goods down by 0.13% and Consumer Durables down by 0.05% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.85%, Infosys up by 0.80%, Wipro up by 0.74%, SBI up by 0.73% and GAIL India up by 0.65%.

On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.67%, HDFC down by 1.54%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.26%, NTPC down by 1.07% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to encourage innovation and to look after new ideas in the energy sector, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has recommended the public sector undertakings (PSUs) to create startup funds on the lines of private sector.  He said that with the start up funds they can create a synergy in innovation; biggest oil PSU ONGC has already offered Rs 100 crore for startups.

Minister said that methanol-based economy is a case of proven technology. It can create a lot of employment and entrepreneurship. He further said that the raw material (for producing methanol) should be coming from the Indian market. If they could monetize the agriculture waste and bio waste in urban areas to energy then there will be two benefits - Sizeable reduction of health expenditure and economy can be multi-fold. Recently, NITI Aayog has signed a Statement of Intent with the Methanol Institute of the US to further work on the technology.

Dharmendra Pradhan said that now India is importing Rs 4.5 lakh crore worth of hydrocarbons. Technology is there and blending of 85 per cent of ethanol in transportation fuel is possible. To reduce import dependency ministry is ready to offer Rs 1 lakh crore business to scientific community. Further, NITI Aayog has constituted an Expert Group to develop a roadmap for India to adopt ‘Methanol Economy’ after realizing the potential of methanol and DME (dimethyl ether) as a transportation fuel in road, shipping and rail. The group will explore various techno commercial angles to enhance production of methanol through natural gas, high ash content coal and through bio, agri and municipal solid waste.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8937.40, down by 5.60 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 8919.60 and 8968.70. There were 25 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 1.88%, Hindalco up by 1.86%, HCL Tech up by 1.72%, Indusind Bank up by 1.61% and Bank of Baroda up by 1.53%.

On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.28%, Asian Paints down by 2.17%, HDFC down by 1.80%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 1.33% and Idea Cellular down by 1.30% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.16 points or 0.01% to 1,690.08, Jakarta Composite increased 5.22 points or 0.1% to 5,377.32, Shanghai Composite increased 11.48 points or 0.37% to 3,102.20 and Taiwan Weighted increased 83.13 points or 0.91% to 9,264.98.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 decreased 116.48 points or 0.68% to 16,965.50, Hang Seng decreased 64.59 points or 0.27% to 23,723.09 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.2 points or 0.01% to 2,066.33.