Markets show some recovery in late afternoon session

After paring some of their gains in early noon session, Indian equity benchmarks showed some recovery in late afternoon session and continued their trade in green with gain of around quarter of a percent. Sentiments remained upbeat as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council cleared all legislations required for marking a big step forward in India's plans for a countrywide rollout of the new tax regime from July 1. Traders took some encouragement with the Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das’s statement that the Indian economy is strong enough to absorb the impact of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike. Meanwhile, global rating agency Crisil blamed divergent growth dataprints for WPI-CPI variance. It said the main reason for the faster growth in manufacturing GDP is that growth in the value of inputs used for production has been slower than the value of the final output. Furthermore, stocks of some cigarette companies were trading in green after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Thursday cleared a proposal to cap the cess on tobacco and cigarettes.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red as they took a bit of a breather after hitting record highs during Thursday's trading and investors also awaited euro zone trade figures and a G20 finance ministers meeting in Germany. However, Asian markets were trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Trent traded higher after the company redeemed Commercial Paper amounting Rs 50 crore on March 14, 2017. The said Commercial Papers were issued on September 15, 2016.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29681.71, up by 95.86 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 29627.62 and 29824.62. There were 11 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.20%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 3.01%, IT up by 0.66%, TECK up by 0.16% and Realty up by 0.13%, while Telecom down by 2.07%, PSU down by 0.69%, Bankex down by 0.51%, Capital Goods down by 0.49% and Utilities down by 0.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 6.17%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.17%, Wipro up by 0.99%, TCS up by 0.80% and Infosys up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.62%, SBI down by 1.68%, Tata Motors down by 1.23%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.15% and ICICI Bank down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, riding on the back of revival of demand in the US, India’s engineering exports are expected to maintain uptrend. Union minister for commerce and industry Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the country's engineering exports are likely to reach over $60 billion during the current financial year after touching $50.87 billion during April-January period of 2016-17, exceeding the total shipments of $ 49 billion in the entire financial year of 2015-16.

In order to boost engineering exports, Sitharaman has said that the department of commerce is engaged in a key initiative for technology upgradation of engineering manufacturers and added that this is being attempted by bridging the gap between leading R&D labs and industry for the development of cutting-edge, export-oriented technologies. She also noted that the ministry has identified important industrial clusters where it is interacting with stakeholders to identify technology gaps and that can be filled by research labs and academic institutions.

She further stated that there is enormous potential to enhance bilateral trade with Russia, which presently stands at $6.62 billion and the ministry has discussed with the Russian minister about the International North South Transport Corridor that would cut time and cost for transportation of goods between both countries.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9166.90, up by 13.20 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 9147.60 and 9218.40. There were 17 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 6.23%, Wipro up by 1.59%, Tata Power up by 1.52%, Infosys up by 1.39% and HCL Tech up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 3.50%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.73%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.96%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.90% and SBI down by 1.58% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 11.15 points or 0.64% to 1,748.29, KOSPI Index increased 14.5 points or 0.67% to 2,164.58, Hang Seng increased 21.65 points or 0.09% to 24,309.93 and Taiwan Weighted increased 70.86 points or 0.72% to 9,908.69. On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 68.55 points or 0.35% to 19,521.59, Shanghai Composite decreased 31.49 points or 0.96% to 3,237.45 and Jakarta Composite decreased 16.19 points or 0.29% to 5,502.05.

European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 51.36 points or 0.43% to 12,031.82 and France’s CAC decreased 5.06 points or 0.1% to 5,008.32. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 5.12 points or 0.07% to 7,421.07.