Indian benchmarks continue to trade in red in noon session

In an extremely range-bound session of trade, Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red in noon session as investors turned cautious ahead of macroeconomic data - industrial production numbers for March and inflation data for April based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) - to be announced later in the day. The government will release the new series of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) as well as Wholesale Price Index (WPI), with 2011-12 as the base year, so as to map economic activities more accurately. Also, there was some profit taking in the high fliers of the recent rally that once led Sensex slip below the crucial level of 30,200, but despite the rallies losing fizz, downside remains capped with SBI Research’s Ecowrap report, indicating that the easing of crude oil prices will have positive effect not only on inflation but also on GDP growth. It said that average crude oil prices will be around $ 45 for the next half of this year and this, coupled with positive macro fundamentals, could translate into better growth numbers for the country. Meanwhile, metal stocks edged higher on the report that India has imposed anti-dumping duty on 47 steel products, reinforcing New Delhi’s tough stance despite complaints from some of the targeted countries. Between April 2016 and January, India’s steel imports fell 38 per cent year-on-year, data from a government body showed, primarily due to the slew of protection measures announced by the government.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher on Friday, hobbled by a downbeat day on Wall Street but still on track for weekly rises, while oil prices extended gains on hopes for output cuts.  US stocks fell on Thursday after several large department stores reported worse-than-expected sales drops while Macy’s released results for a dismal quarter, and political drama in Washington continued to unsettle investors. Further, Japanese shares declined from near 1-1/2-year highs as the market took a breather from its rally since mid-April, while trading was also influenced by a mixed bag of earnings with Nissan Motor rising on a surprise dividend hike.

Back home, stocks from IT, Teck and Metal counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Healthcare, Telecom and Consumer Disc counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Reliance Infrastructure gained after the company won Rs 2,950 crore arbitration award against Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the alleged breach by the latter of the agreement on the Airport Express line. On the other hand, Igarashi Motors India declined after the company reported a fall of 3.61% in its net profit at Rs 17.88 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as compared to Rs 18.55 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The market breadth remained pessimistic, as there were 858 shares on the gaining side against 1563 shares on the losing side, while 145 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 30190.65, down by 60.33 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 30152.23 and 30299.74. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.53%, while Small cap index down by 0.44%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.75%, TECK up by 0.32%, Metal up by 0.13%, PSU up by 0.09% and Energy up by 0.07%, while Healthcare down by 0.82%, Telecom down by 0.71%, Consumer Disc down by 0.55%, Bankex down by 0.47% and Basic Materials down by 0.45% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.72%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.25%, Cipla up by 1.07%, ONGC up by 0.87% and Coal India up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.01%, GAIL India down by 1.47%, ICICI Bank down by 1.17%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.00% and HDFC down by 0.97% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal has said that the government will come out with a very robust electric vehicle (EV) policy in the current fiscal for promotion of electric vehicles in order to make India a global leader in the segment.

The minister has said that government think-tank NITI Aayog has drawn up certain ideas but the project is being looked after by the Heavy Industries Ministry. He also said that “we have made a policy decision within the three ministries that all the ministerial vehicles and the vehicles used by our PSUs in and around Delhi will be replaced by the electric vehicles”. He also believes that they will have all discussions and come up with a robust policy in order to boost domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles.

Goyal further said that the government wants to encourage research and development in the electric mobility sector and aspires to be a leader in the world. He also highlighted that the country is looking at having an all-electric car fleet by 2030 with an express objective of lowering the fuel import bill and running cost of vehicles. Earlier, he had said that initially the government can handhold the electric vehicle industry for 2-3 years to help it stabilize. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9396.25, down by 26.15 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 9384.05 and 9437.75. There were 19 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 1.68%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.38%, ONGC up by 1.23%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.04% and Coal India up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 2.94%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.78%, ACC down by 1.76%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.63% and Indiabulls Housing down by 1.54% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly higher, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 0.06%, Shanghai Composite gained 0.88%, Hang Seng was higher by 0.18% and Jakarta Composite added 0.47%. On the other hand, Nikkei 225 declined by 0.39%, Taiwan Weighted was lower by 0.15% and KOSPI Index decreased by 0.42%.