Markets pare losses but remain in red

Indian equity benchmarks pared losses but continued their sluggish trade in late afternoon session with Nifty hovering around 9,400 mark.  Sentiments remained pessimistic with India Ratings and Research’s (Ind-Ra) latest report stating that Goods & Service Tax (GST) implementation will affect the working capital cycle of business in the initial phase owing to the lock up of input credit. It noted that easy liquidity in the system is essential to minimise the magnitude of such disruption at the earliest and to absorb the sudden changes in requirement of short term finance. Investors also took cues from the global markets which were mostly trading lower post the explosion, at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester. However, the markets trimmed losses as select index pivotal recovered from intraday lows. On the sectoral front, shares of some steel companies were trading higher with the report that India has surpassed Japan to become the second leading steel producer in the world. According to data released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), the country has registered a growth of about 9 per cent, making 3.32 million tonnes of steel in 2016 as against 3 million tonnes in 2015.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green as investors digested fresh economic data in the euro zone after waking up to news of another suspected terrorist incident in the U.K. However, Asian markets were trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, NIIT Technologies edged higher after the company entered into partnership with Arago, to integrate Arago's general Al technology HIRO into its automation offering TRON Smart Automation.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 30517.45, down by 53.52 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 30377.77 and 30610.64. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.81%, while Small cap index was lower by 1.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.79%, Metal up by 0.34%, Bankex up by 0.29%, IT up by 0.21% and TECK up by 0.05%, while Healthcare down by 2.33%, Utilities down by 1.25%, Power down by 1.04%, Capital Goods down by 0.94% and Industrials down by 0.90% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.91%, Tata Steel up by 1.61%, Wipro up by 1.11% and ICICI Bank up by 0.87%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 4.02%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 4.02%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.84%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.21% and Coal India down by 1.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, supported by the government’s various initiatives, India has surpassed Japan to become the second leading steel producer in the world. According to data released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), the country has registered a growth of about 9 per cent, making 3.32 million tonnes of steel in 2016 as against 3 million tonnes in 2015. China remained the world’s leading producer, while the U.S. ranked fourth in production at 2.48 million tonnes.  

Praising the great development of the industry, the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA), India's apex stainless steel industry association said that country’s sustained efforts in collaboration with industry has made this possible and has urged the government to continue the policy support to take the Indian stainless steel industry to newer heights.

ISSDA has further expressed optimism over recently launched National Steel Policy, noting that it will give impetus for long term benefits. It added that several government initiatives like 'Make in India', smart cities, focus on improving sanitation and waste management facilities, building new infrastructure etc is likely to give a strong push to the stainless-steel industry in future.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9428.95, down by 9.30 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 9374.20 and 9448.05. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.62%, Eicher Motors up by 2.46%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.96%, Hindalco up by 1.92% and Tata Steel up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Aurobindo Pharma down by 5.03%, Cipla down by 4.47%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 3.95%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 3.22% and Bajaj Auto down by 2.23% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 65 points or 0.33% to 19,613.28, Jakarta Composite decreased 52.39 points or 0.91% to 5,697.06, Shanghai Composite decreased 13.73 points or 0.45% to 3,061.95 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 6.16 points or 0.35% to 1,768.79. On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 7.71 points or 0.33% to 2,311.74, Taiwan Weighted increased 10.58 points or 0.11% to 10,007.84 and Hang Seng increased 11.81 points or 0.05% to 25,403.15.

All the major European Markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 17.65 points or 0.24% to 7,513.99, France’s CAC increased 37.06 points or 0.7% to 5,359.94 and Germany’s DAX was higher by 67.18 points or 0.53% to 12,686.64.