Benchmarks trade lower in early deals; Sensex breaches 30,000 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have made a pessimistic start to new F&O series and are trading lower with a cut of one third of a percent, with Sensex breaching its crucial 30,000 mark. Traders failed to get any relief with the International Monetary Fund Managing Director’s statement that the Goods and Services Tax to be implemented from July 1 would help raise India's medium-term growth to above eight per cent, as it will enhance production and the movement of goods and services across Indian states.

Weak global cues too dampened sentiments with Asian markets trading mostly in red at this point of time, as geopolitical concerns lingered and investors assessed corporate earnings before a report on growth in the world’s largest economy. The US markets managed mostly a positive close in last session, though the trade remained lackluster, as traders digested the latest batch of earnings news.

Back home, stocks related to gems and jewellary space remained on buyers’ radar on report that Exports of gems and jewellery from the country increased by about 10 per cent in FY2017 to $43.156 billion from $39.286 billion in FY2016. Aviation stocks i.e. Spicejet and Jet Airways flied higher after Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off the first UDAN flight under regional connectivity scheme (RCS), a scheme launched in order to make air travel accessible to citizens in regionally important cities. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong, with 1105 shares gaining and 915 shares declining, while a total of 89 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29921.71, down by 108.03 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 29908.16 and 30067.64. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.44%, Basic Materials up by 0.50%, Energy up by 0.47%, PSU up by 0.43% and Consumer Disc up by 0.23%, while Realty down by 2.03%, Telecom down by 0.90%, FMCG down by 0.71%, TECK down by 0.62% and IT down by 0.56% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.06%, Tata Steel up by 1.51%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.38%, Asian Paints up by 1.05% and Coal India up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.83%, ITC down by 1.51%, HDFC down by 1.41%, TCS down by 1.22% and HDFC Bank down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in an aim to shift towards energy self-sufficiency, India the world's third-biggest coal importer is in the process of throwing open commercial coal mining to private firms for the first time in four decades. The Coal Secretary Susheel Kumar has said that the opening up of commercial coal mining to private companies will lead to the competition in the coal sector and reduce power tariff. He also said that commercial coal mining is a very big reform in the coal sector and the idea is to bring in competition for the monopoly coal miner, a public sector company, Coal India.

The Coal Secretary explaining further said that this is the intervention which the government wants to bring in and what they wish to achieve ultimately in the coal sector is to reduce the prices of coal so that their ultimate end-use consumer who is a power consumer gets power at cheaper rates. He also said that the government wants to convey to potential investors that sustainable and efficient mining, not revenue maximization, is the idea behind commercial coal auction.

He added that they hope to achieve through commercial mining is these mines will attract efficient power sector players who will invest in a big way and bring in that efficiency, ultimately reducing the prices. Meanwhile, the government is planning to auction four blocks under commercial mining in the first phase. As per the Coal Mines Special Provision Act of 2015, the government can open up commercial coal mining for private players.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9307.95, down by 34.20 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 9300.05 and 9342.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.40%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.96%, Tata Steel up by 1.59%, Grasim Industries up by 1.45% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 1.37%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.63%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.58%, HDFC down by 1.37%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.27% and TCS was down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 110.21 points or 0.45% to 24,588.27, Nikkei 225 dropped 41.82 points or 0.22% to 19,210.05, Shanghai Composite shed 10.64 points or 0.34% to 3,141.55, Jakarta Composite dipped 6.8 points or 0.12% to 5,700.22, Taiwan Weighted slipped 4.83 points or 0.05% to 9,855.79 and KOSPI Index was down by 2.69 points or 0.12% to 2,206.77.

On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.79 points or 0.04% to 1,768.71.