Benchmarks trade slightly in green; Nifty holds 8400 mark

In an extremely range-bound session of trade, Indian benchmark indices were trading flat with bit of positive bias as investors remained on sidelines and refrained from any buying activity ahead of goods and services tax (GST) Council meeting and Wholesale Price index-based inflation data due later in the day. The all-powerful GST Council, headed by Jaitley, will meet for the ninth time today. The last four meetings ended in a deadlock with states seeking sole powers to control assessee with annual turnover of up to Rs 1.5 crore.  Sentiments got some support with report that exports jumped for the fourth month to 5.7 per cent in December to $23.8 billion, the highest since March 2015. As many as 18 of the 30 exporting sectors registered growth.  Furthermore, investors got some confidence after Moody's Investors Service and its Indian affiliate ICRA said India will remain one of the fastest growing major economies globally in 2017, although GDP growth will moderate in the first half of the year, as the economy adjusts after demonetisation.  The rating agency also believes that the government will likely achieve its fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of GDP for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2017. Meanwhile, Realty stocks jumped after market regulator SEBI said Indian mutual funds will be allowed to invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs), while Oil marketing companies such as IOC, BPCL and HPCL gained after they hiked petrol prices by 42 paise a litre on Sunday, the fourth increase in 6 weeks, and diesel rate by Rs 1.03 a litre, the second hike in a fortnight. Also, public sector banks (PSBs) too came into limelight on report that the Finance Ministry is likely to finalise capital infusion plan for PSBs this week.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower on Monday amid worries about Britain's exit from the European Union. Japan's Nikkei share average slipped as investors locked in gains, bracing for more detail on the Trump Administration's trade policies, with steelmakers and shippers leading the losses. Meanwhile, US stocks ended mixed on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index outperforming peers to post its sixth lifetime high in the last seven trading sessions.

Back home, stocks from Realty, Consumer Durables and Metal counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from IT, Teck and Oil & Gas counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Sical Logistics gained after the company received a Letter of Award dated for excavation of overburden at Jhingurdah OCP of Northern Coal Fields at Madhya Pradesh. Furthermore, Alankit rose after the company entered into an agreement with NSDL e-Gov to act as a facilitation centre (TWFC) for collecting and forwarding specified data required for CDRS, established on behalf of the NHDC, Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India (MOT).

The market breadth remained optimistic as there were 1457 shares on the gaining side against 901 shares on the losing side, while 139 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27276.77, up by 38.71 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 27172.68 and 27301.38. 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 0.39%, while Small cap index up by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.30%, Consumer Durables up by 1.46%, Metal up by 1.14%, Power up by 0.66% and PSU up by 0.48%, while IT down by 0.84%, TECK down by 0.56%, Oil & Gas down by 0.17% and FMCG down by 0.07% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.42%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 2.06%, Tata Motors up by 1.72%, Axis Bank up by 1.15% and SBI up by 1.04%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.51%, Reliance Industries down by 0.73%, GAIL India down by 0.72%, ONGC down by 0.65% and Sun Pharma down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s exports continued its uptrend for the fourth straight month in December 2016 and registered a growth of 5.72% to $23.88 billion as compared to $22.59 billion in December 2015. In rupee term the exports was higher by 7.79% to Rs 162179.89 crore as compared to Rs 150461.57 crore in December 2015. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-December 2016-17 was $198.80 billion as against $197.33 billion, registering a positive growth of 0.75% over the same period last year. In Rupee term it was up by 4.37% to Rs 1333913.57 crore from Rs 1278004.37 crore.

Imports during December 2016, increased marginally by 0.46% to $34.25 billion as compared to $34.09 billion in December 2015, while in rupee terms it was 2.43% higher to Rs 232588.18 crore from Rs 227067.28 crore in December 2015. However, cumulative value of imports for the period April-December 2016-17 was $275.35 billion as against $297.41 billion, registering a negative growth of 7.42% over the same period last year. In Rupee term the cumulative imports was of Rs 1848099.10 crore, down by 4.05% from Rs 1926024.55 crore in the same period last year.

The trade deficit for April-December, 2016-17 was estimated at $76.54 billion, which was 23.51% lower than the deficit of $100.07 billion during April-December, 2015-16. Overall trade deficit for April- December 2016-17 is estimated at $33.74 billion, which is 36.78% lower in Dollar terms than the level of $53.37 billion during April-December 2015-16.

Oil imports during December 2016, were valued at $7.64 billion which was 14.61% higher than oil imports valued at $6.67 billion in the corresponding period last year. Oil imports during April-December, 2016-17 were valued at $60.92 billion which was 10.76% lower than the oil imports of $68.26 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Non-oil imports during December, 2016 were estimated at $26.60 billion which was 2.98% lower than non-oil imports of $27.42 billion in December, 2015. Non-oil imports during April-December 2016-17 were valued at $214.43 billion which was 6.42% lower than the level of such imports valued at $229.14 billion in April-December, 2015-16.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8405.75, up by 5.40 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 8374.40 and 8414.95. There were 32 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 2.50%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.11%, Idea Cellular up by 1.74%, Tata Motors up by 1.66% and Zee Entertainment up by 1.35%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 1.85%, Eicher Motors down by 1.72%, Infosys down by 1.61%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.92% and ONGC down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 1.02%, Nikkei 225 dropped 0.82%, Taiwan Weighted decreased 0.92%, Shanghai Composite fell 0.63%, KOSPI Index shed 0.53% and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.34%. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 0.08%.