Indian bourses continue to trade in positive territory

Key benchmark indices continued to trade in positive territory in the afternoon session, driven by a rally in banking stocks after the Cabinet approved a new policy to deal with non-performing assets (NPAs). Sentiments remained positive with Asian Development Bank’s report that the Indian economy will grow 7.4 per cent this fiscal and 7.6 per cent in the next as the bankruptcy and GST laws will help create a more business-friendly environment. However, there was some cautiousness too with a private survey showing that growth in India's dominant services industry came close to stalling in April, as new orders slowed to a trickle, forcing companies to spend more on aggressive advertising campaigns as they fought for business. The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index slumped to a three-month low of 50.2 in April from March's 51.5, only slightly above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction. In scrip specific development, Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) was trading in green after bagging repeat export order for supply of Steel wheels for EU Caravan market.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged overnight as expected, but signaled another rate hike is imminent despite recent economic weakness.

Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 30020.62, up by 125.82 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 30017.87 and 30098.82. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.26%, while Small cap index was up by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.76%, Consumer Durables up by 0.89%, Capital Goods up by 0.39%, PSU up by 0.27% and FMCG up by 0.11%, while Metal down by 1.45%, Realty down by 1.29%, Oil & Gas down by 0.61%, IT down by 0.56% and TECK down by 0.53% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 8.41%, Axis Bank up by 3.44%, SBI up by 1.88%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.69% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.94%, ONGC down by 1.10%, HDFC Bank down by 1.03%, TCS down by 0.80% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.75% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to boost processing of marine and agriculture produce, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a new Central Scheme- ‘Scheme For Agro-Marine Processing And Development Of Agro-Processing Clusters’ (SAMPADA) for the 2016-20 period, with an allocation of Rs. 6,000 crore. The scheme also aims to integrate current and new schemes in food processing sector for reducing food wastage and doubling farmers’ income.

The scheme will leverage investment of Rs. 31,400 crore and ensure handling of 334 lakh million tonnes  agro-produce valuing Rs. 1,04,125 crore. It is also expected to benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate 5,30,500 direct and indirect employment in the country by the year 2019-20. During 2015-16, the food processing sector constituted as much as 9.1 and 8.6 per cent of GVA in Manufacturing and Agriculture sector respectively.

An umbrella scheme ‘SAMPADA’ is a comprehensive package to give a renewed thrust to the food processing sector in the country and will incorporate ongoing schemes of the Ministry like Mega Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure and others. Besides, the implementation of SAMPADA will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9332.45, up by 20.50 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 9332.35 and 9361.40. There were 18 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 8.45%, Axis Bank up by 3.62%, Grasim Industries up by 2.32%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.93% and SBI up by 1.86%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.89%, HCL Tech. down by 2.25%, Tata Motors down by 1.85%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.36% and BPCL down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 82.18 points or 0.33% to 24,613.95, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 15.6 points or 0.88% to 1,756.91 and Shanghai Composite dipped 7.44 points or 0.24% to 3,127.90. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 4.53 points or 0.08% to 5,651.90 and Taiwan Weighted surged 12.31 points or 0.12% to 9,967.64.