Indian bourses continue to trade in positive territory

Key benchmark indices continued to trade in positive territory in the afternoon deals, as investors took comfort from positive macroeconomic data. The consumer price index (CPI) inflation eased to 2.99 per cent in the first month of the new financial year compared with 3.89 per cent in March and 5.47 per cent in the year earlier. Also, the inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) slipped to a four-month low of 3.85 percent in April as both food articles and manufactured items showed cooling in prices. Some support also came with the private report indicated that trustees of retirement fund body EPFO are likely to raise the investment limit in exchange traded funds (ETFs) to 15% of the investible deposits, from 10% at present, in the current fiscal. Moreover, the rupee appreciating by another 21 paise to 64.10 against the dollar in early trade sent out positive vibes to the stock markets. In scrip specific development, Talbros Automotive Components was up by over eight percent after receiving an order under the forgings division for supply of parts to a large German Luxury Car manufacturer.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green despite North Korea launching a ballistic missile over the weekend. The missile, which reached an altitude of more than 2,000km (1,200 miles), travelled a distance of around 700km before falling in the Sea of Japan. Investors also shrugged off a global cyber-attack which affected some 200,000 computers in 150 countries, with the UK's National Health Service being one of the worst-affected bodies.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 30307.25, up by 119.10 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 30273.62 and 30357.96. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.82%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.14%, Basic Materials up by 1.66%, Healthcare up by 1.06%, Bankex up by 0.98% and PSU up by 0.83%, while Telecom down by 1.13%, Consumer Durables down by 0.97%, TECK down by 0.75% and IT down by 0.74% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.63%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.76%, Lupin up by 1.90%, ICICI Bank up by 1.82% and SBI up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.34%, TCS down by 0.79%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.73%, Wipro down by 0.45% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with a new 2011-12 base year, the inflation in the country on wholesale level softened to a four-month low in the month of April on the back of cooling food and manufactured items prices. According to the latest data released by the government, the wholesale price inflation (WPI) stood at 3.85% in April as against 5.29% in the previous month and (-) 1.09% during the corresponding month of the previous year.  Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was (-) 0.18% compared to a build up rate of 1.21% in the corresponding period of the previous year. 

Component wise, primary articles index, having revised weight of 22.62%, witnessed a rise of 0.4 per cent to 128.4 (provisional) from 127.9 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group rose by 0.6 percent to 139.4 (provisional) from 138.5 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group declined by 0.3 percent to 121.2 (provisional) from 121.6 (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index having revised weight of  13.15% decreased by 1.9 per cent to 92.8 (provisional) from 94.6 (provisional) for the previous month owing to lower prices of petrol & high speed diesel and Manufactured Products index having revised weight of 64.23% remained unchanged at its previous month’s level of 112.1 (provisional). The index for ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 127.3 (provisional) from 127.4 (provisional) for the previous month. The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group decreased from 5.50% in March, 2017 to 2.90% in April, 2017.

Under the new series of WPI, the government has made changes in weights, number of items and quotations between WPI 2004-05 & WPI 2011-12 to get a more accurate picture of output and price trend. Now, the index basket has a total of 697 items, including 117 for primary articles, 16 for fuel and power and 564 for manufactured products, with increase in number of quotations from 5482 to 8331.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9438.25, up by 37.35 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 9423.10 and 9448.10. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.70%, Hindalco up by 3.64%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.97%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.05% and ICICI Bank up by 2.01%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.33%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.25%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.12%, BPCL down by 0.94% and Aurobindo Pharma down by 0.87% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 4.63 points or 0.2% to 2,290.65, Shanghai Composite surged 4.84 points or 0.16% to 3,088.36, Taiwan Weighted was up by 50 points or 0.5% to 10,036.82 and Hang Seng rose 174.24 points or 0.69% to 25,330.58.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 14.29 points or 0.25% to 5,660.92, Nikkei 225 was down by 14.05 points or 0.07% to 19,869.85 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 1.41 points or 0.08% to 1,774.46.