Sensex, Nifty hold firm trade

Holding their earlier gains, Indian equity benchmarks traded higher in late afternoon session on positive global cues along with the encouraging monsoon rains. India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the seasonal monsoon rains have covered most of India and the amount of precipitation so far is within expectations, raising hopes for higher farm output after increased sowing of rice and soybean crops. Investors remained upbeat with Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia’s statement that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will help bring down the inflation by one to two percent by the end of this year and added that the government has tried to keep items frequently used by the consumers under the lower tax bracket. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley exhorted financial institutions, including Nabard and banks to focus on funding the unfunded so that employment in the unorganised sector goes up.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, following a trend of gains across the US and Asia, as investors kept a close on eye on oil prices and looked ahead to a new earnings season. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, IndusInd Bank traded in green after the bank reported 26.49% rise in its net profit at Rs 836.55 crore for first quarter ended June 30, 2017, as compared to Rs 661.38 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the Bank increased by 21.52% at Rs 5302.77 crore for Q1FY18 as compared Rs 4363.57 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31829.76, up by 114.12 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 31744.27 and 31885.11. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.18%, Auto up by 1.16%, Power up by 0.84%, TECK up by 0.76% and Industrials up by 0.70%, while Realty down by 0.84%, Telecom down by 0.53%, Consumer Durables down by 0.32%, FMCG down by 0.21% and Bankex down by 0.10% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.22%, NTPC up by 2.47%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.07%, Infosys up by 1.80% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.62%, Wipro down by 1.34%, Coal India down by 1.27%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.84% and ONGC down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to protect the domestic steel industry against cheap imports, the government is likely to impose countervailing duty of 18.95 per cent on imports of certain kind of flat steel products exported from China.

The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) which is an investigative arm of the commerce ministry, in its final findings, said that the domestic industry has lost sales opportunities despite sufficient demand in the country and capacities, due to the subsidised imports from China. Jindal Stainless along with Jindal Stainless (Hisar) had filed the application for initiation of anti-subsidy/countervailing duty investigation.

DGAD further in order to remove the injury to the domestic industry has suggested that the duty should be the difference between the quantum of countervailing duty proposed (which is 18.95 per cent) and anti-dumping duty payable, if any pointing that there is a significant difference between the prices offered by the domestic industry and foreign producers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9812.10, up by 41.05 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 9783.75 and 9830.05. There were 32 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.15%, NTPC up by 2.53%, BPCL up by 2.28%, Hindalco up by 2.25% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Bank of Baroda down by 1.95%, Cipla down by 1.54%, Wipro down by 1.27%, Coal India down by 1.26% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite increased 2.28 points or 0.04% to 5,773.79, KOSPI Index increased 13.9 points or 0.58% to 2,396.00, Nikkei 225 increased 114.5 points or 0.57% to 20,195.48, Taiwan Weighted increased 125.66 points or 1.22% to 10,415.57 and Hang Seng increased 377.58 points or 1.48% to 25,877.64. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 9.59 points or 0.3% to 3,203.04 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 2.03 points or 0.12% to 1,755.10.

European Markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 0.27 points or 0.01% to 5,165.91 and Germany’s DAX increased 25.27 points or 0.2% to 12,471.19. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 37.36 points or 0.51% to 7,332.67.