Benchmarks trade in fine fettle in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals on Tuesday ahead of March-quarter earnings results. Buying in oil and gas counters too aided sentiments on report that India’s fuel demand fell 0.6 percent in March compared with the same month last year. Sales of petrol, were 2.9 percent higher from a year earlier at 2.11 million tonnes. Cooking gas sales increased 1.9 percent to 1.89 million tonnes, while naphtha sales surged 1.8 percent to 1.15 million tones. However, gains remained capped with report that the government stating there is no proposal under its consideration to review the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the multi-brand retail sector. Moreover, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 716.19 crore on April 10, 2017.

Weak opening in Asian counters and rising geopolitical tensions too dampened sentiments. Most of the Asian counters were trading in red at this point of time, as Chinese shares slumped and the yen weighed on Japanese equities. The US markets managed a modestly positive close in last session despite a lackluster day of trade. There was nothing much on economic front and traders were eyeing reports on retail sales, producer and consumer prices, and import and export prices later this week. Back home, broader markets too were trading in line with benchmarks and the market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong, with 1,476 shares gaining and 619 shares declining, while a total of 87 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29695.63, up by 119.89 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 29570.58 and 29700.90. There were 23 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.66%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.94%, Oil & Gas up by 0.87%, PSU up by 0.79%, Power up by 0.67% and IT up by 0.61%, while Metal down by 1.67% and Basic Materials was down by 0.45% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.52%, Reliance Industries up by 1.21%, ICICI Bank up by 1.13%, SBI up by 1.12% and GAIL India up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.73%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.63%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.50% and Power Grid down by 0.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, citing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on sharp rise in use of digital payments, Niti Aayog has said that the government's massive currency culling exercise in November has given “extra boost” towards the movement of digital finance. Niti Aayog’s officer on Special Duty and Head of Economics, Finance and Commerce Dhiraj Nayyar said that apart from the government's initiative to boost digital payments, the industry, as well as various app (mobile application) innovators have given it a massive boost.

He said that the move led to very limited cash in hand for individuals that paved the way for greater use of digital payments and added that a unique public private partnership will not only play a crucial role for digital innovation, but will also lay the foundation for the financial economy.

He further said that the four pillars -- biometric-based identification Aadhaar, Jan Dhan Yojna, usage of smartphones, mobile applications, wallets and cost of digital connectivity -- will be the foundation on which digital finance, and financial data inclusion will be built in the next five years. Besides, in a bid to fight black money and terror financing, the government in November 2016, had scrapped high-value Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Thereafter, new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes were also introduced.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9206.10, up by 24.65 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 9172.85 and 9207.90. There were 29 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 2.24%, Infosys up by 1.47%, BPCL up by 1.26%, Reliance Industries up by 1.22% and ICICI Bank was up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.44%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.09%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.75%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.70% and Hindalco was down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 207.79 points or 0.86% to 24,054.39, Nikkei 225 declined 108.6 points or 0.58% to 18,689.28, Taiwan Weighted shed 48.76 points or 0.49% to 9,833.78, Shanghai Composite fell 15.16 points or 0.46% to 3,254.24, KOSPI Index dropped 11.78 points or 0.55% to 2,121.54 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 5.57 points or 0.32% to 1,733.95.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 12.18 points or 0.22% to 5,656.48.