Benchmarks trade firm near highest point of the day

Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains and were trading near the highest point of the day in late morning session as investors await the March-quarter earnings results. Investors took note of a report that India’s oil consumption fell for the third straight month in March as the demand growth in diesel, petrol and other products came to a crawl. The oil demand fell by 0.65% in March to 17,358 thousand metric tonnes (TMT). The country consumed 6,805 TMT of diesel in March, compared with 6,783 TMT in the year-ago period. Demand for petrol was 2,106 TMT as against 2,047 TMT in March 2016. Meanwhile, a government official said that India is likely to rely on the effective tax rate currently applicable on a commodity to get a fix on the GST slab, allowing most goods to make it to the lower bracket. A number of goods such as cosmetics, shaving creams, shampoo, toothpaste, soap, plastics, paints and some consumer durables could become cheaper under the proposed goods and services tax (GST) regime as most items are likely to be subject to the rate of 18% rather than the higher one of 28%. Traders were seen piling position in FMCG, Telecom and IT stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal and Basic Materials sector stocks. In scrip specific development, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) was trading in green after it announced that it operated 900 flights on April 7, the ‘highest ever’ in a single day by any Indian airline. Now, the company is excited to reach the 1,000 flights milestone.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading in red, as concerns over geopolitical tensions continue to build. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank is aiming for a moderate acceleration of inflation driven by increases in wages and corporate earnings. He said wages have not increased as much as hoped for despite a tightening job market. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above the psychological 9,200 and 29,700 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1689:698, while 102 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29774.47, up by 198.73 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 29570.58 and 29787.05. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.74%, while Small cap index was up by 0.80%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.00%, Telecom up by 0.97%, IT up by 0.87%, Capital Goods up by 0.87% and PSU up by 0.84%, while Metal down by 1.42% and Basic Materials down by 0.06% were the only losers on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.92%, Infosys up by 1.48%, HDFC up by 0.99%, ICICI Bank up by 0.97% and Asian Paints up by 0.92%.

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.11%, NTPC down by 0.90%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.71%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.55% and Cipla down by 0.40% 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 9235.65, up by 54.20 points or 0.59% after trading in a range of 9172.85 and 9237.60. There were 37 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Power up by 3.45%, ITC up by 1.90%, Infosys up by 1.45%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.37% and BPCL up by 1.27%.

On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 1.75%, Tata Steel down by 1.13%, NTPC down by 1.05%, Cipla down by 0.62% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.60% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 207.12 points or 0.85% to 24,055.06, Nikkei 225 decreased 99.82 points or 0.53% to 18,698.06, Taiwan Weighted decreased 55.82 points or 0.56% to 9,826.72, Shanghai Composite decreased 15.19 points or 0.46% to 3,254.20, KOSPI Index decreased 8.14 points or 0.38% to 2,125.18, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.15 points or 0.3% to 1,734.37 and Jakarta Composite decreased 0.14 points or 0% to 5,644.16.