Indian bourses continue to trade in negative terrain; Healthcare drag

Indian bourses continued their trade in negative terrain in the afternoon session, tracking weak global cues. At present, both Sensex and Nifty were trading below the crucial 30,450 and 9,400 levels, respectively. Market failed to draw any support with report by rating agency CRISIL which enlightened that even though steps taken by the Modi Government have not accelerated growth, they will benefit over the medium term, and bank NPAs and job creation demand greater focus of the administration now on. Besides, depreciation in rupee value against the dollar, too affected the market sentiment. Indian rupee was trading lower by 17 paise at 64.72 against the dollar at this point of time on sustained foreign fund outflows amid increased demand for the US currency from importers. In scrip specific development, Sun Pharma was down by around five percent to its lowest since November 2016, as its subsidiary Taro Pharmaceutical Industries reported a 25.9% fall in net sales for the March quarter and while decline in gross profit by $80.4 million to $143.8 million.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as investors took a cautious approach amid the latest reports on the Trump administration and a suspected terrorist attack in the UK. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 30405.54, down by 165.43 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 30377.77 and 30610.64. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.64%, while Small cap index was down by 2.12%.

The two gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.53% and Metal up by 0.02%, while Healthcare down by 2.99%, Utilities down by 2.18%, Power down by 1.91%, Realty down by 1.87% and PSU down by 1.55% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.31%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.76%, Tata Steel up by 1.33%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.07% and Tata Motors up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 5.24%, GAIL India down by 4.38%, Cipla down by 3.81%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.29% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 2.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has set the country’s textile and clothing export target at $45 billion for the fiscal year 2017-18, lower than the initial target of $48.5 billion set for the previous fiscal which was missed by a huge margin. During 2015-16, the overall exports of textiles and clothing stood at $40 billion, primarily due to less demand from major markets such as the US, EU and China, and stiff competition from countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, which enjoy an edge over India.

The Union Textiles Minister, Smriti Irani has said that her ministry is planning to unveil a special package for the knitwear industry, which is grappling with enormous financial stress due to lack of automation leading to much lower productivity than countries like China.  She also said that road shows have been held in six countries including the UK, US, China, Russia, South Korea and UAE to attract the industry and potential investors for the textiles India event.

The minister pointed that funds to the tune of over Rs 1,900 crore have been given to the apparel industry under the rebate of state levies to boost exports from the sector. She also said that over 4 lakh workers have registered themselves for provident fund, under the Pradhan Mantri Paridhan Rozgar Protsahan Yojana (PMPRPY).

The government in June last year had approved the special package of Rs 6,006 crore for textiles and apparel sector, aiming to create one crore new jobs in 3 years, attracting investments of $11 billion and generating $30 billion in exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9390.20, down by 48.05 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 9374.20 and 9448.05. There were 17 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.21%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.65%, Eicher Motors up by 1.49%, Tata Steel up by 1.33% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 5.26%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 5.16%, Cipla down by 4.46%, GAIL India down by 4.05% and Adani Ports &SEZ down by 2.50% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 65 points or 0.33% to 19,613.28, Hang Seng shed 15.45 points or 0.06% to 25,375.89, Shanghai Composite was down by 13.73 points or 0.45% to 3,061.95, Jakarta Composite declined 10.2 points or 0.18% to 5,739.24 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 5.93 points or 0.33% to 1,769.02.

On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 7.71 points or 0.33% to 2,311.74 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 10.58 points or 0.11% to 10,007.84.