Sensex, Nifty continue lackluster trade; Midcap down too

Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in late morning session due to profit-booking by funds and retail investors amid mixed Asian markets. The broader markets also caught in bear grip, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down 0.18 percent and 0.65 percent, respectively. Disappointing earnings by the Tata Consultancy Services, also contributed to the losses. The company’s quarterly profit fell 10 percent sequentially, while revenues declined 0.2 percent.  Investors shrugged off Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the new tax regime would help the work of making country’s economy strong, successful and honest. Meanwhile, markets regulator SEBI relaxed restrictions on 32 entities against whom it had taken action in case of alleged misuse of the stock market platform for tax evasion and suspected money-laundering activities.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed as investors awaited a raft of corporate earnings due out next week. Back home, in scrip specific development, Infosys was trading higher after the company reported 7.39% jump in its net profit at Rs 3,415 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2017, as compared to Rs 3,180 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. The total income of the company increased by 3.38% at Rs 15,694 crore for Q1FY18 as compared Rs 15,181 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31955.20, down by 82.18 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 31897.87 and 32109.75. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.18%, while Small cap index down by 0.65%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.91%, Telecom up by 0.65%, Energy up by 0.13%, Oil & Gas up by 0.10% and Consumer Durables up by 0.06%, while Realty down by 0.99%, Capital Goods down by 0.74%, Industrials down by 0.61%, IT down by 0.50% and Consumer Disc down by 0.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Cipla up by 1.13%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.07%, Sun Pharma up by 0.98%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.92% and Infosys up by 0.62%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.92%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.29%, Coal India down by 0.89%, HDFC down by 0.83% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India is ranked 116th out of 157 nations on a sustainable development goal (SDG) index, with a score of 58.1, behind countries such as Nepal, Iran, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and China. The new SDG Index, which was launched by Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann Stiftung illustrated that world leaders need to strengthen their joint efforts to realise the 17 global goals. The report further stated that not only does a rising trend of nationalism and protectionism impede the implementation of the goals, but industrialized countries are not serving as role models.

As per the report, the countries which are closest to fulfilling the goals are not the biggest economies but comparably small, developed countries. Sweden tops the chart and is followed by Denmark and Finland. These are the top three performing countries. Among the G7 countries, Germany and the UK are the only G7 countries to be found among the top ten performers. The United States ranks 42nd on the Index, while Russia and China rank 62nd and 71st respectively.

According to the report, one of the greatest obstacles to achieving the global goals for high-income countries are poor performances regarding sustainable consumption and production. It added that all countries that score lowest on electronic-waste generation, for example, are high-income countries.

The SDG Index ranks countries based on their performance across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including economic development, environmental sustainability, social inclusion, underpinned by good governance. The index collected available data for 157 countries to assess where each country stands in 2017 with regard to achieving the SDGs. It helps countries identify priorities for early actions and shows that every country faces major challenges in achieving these ambitious goals.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9862.25, down by 29.45 points or 0.30% after trading in a range of 9845.45 and 9913.30. There were 19 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 4.09%, ACC up by 1.11%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.03%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.01% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.98%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.08%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.54%, Yes Bank down by 1.22%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.11% and Eicher Motors down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI Index increased 3.38 points or 0.14% to 2,412.87, Hang Seng increased 11.79 points or 0.04% to 26,357.96 and Nikkei 225 increased 33.64 points or 0.17% to 20,133.45.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 17.97 points or 0.31% to 5,812.08, Taiwan Weighted decreased 3.9 points or 0.04% to 10,456.25, Shanghai Composite decreased 2.27 points or 0.07% to 3,215.89 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.9 points or 0.05% to 1,752.88.