Indian bourses pare gains but trade continues in green

Indian equities pared most of their early gains but managed to trade in green in the afternoon session, on account of buying by fund and retail investors in the blue-chip counters. Sentiments remained positive with the private report stating that strong import growth in June points to continued recovery in India's domestic demand and also indicating that economic expansion will accelerate from the April-June quarter. Investors' sentiments also got some support with the sound earnings performance by Reliance Industries (up 1.8 percent) and Wipro (up 5 percent). Meanwhile, the rupee recovered 10 paise to 64.33 against the US dollar in early trade on heightened selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. On the sectoral front, telecom stocks such as Bharti Airtel, Idea cellular dropped after Reliance Industries’ Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani announced the launch of much-awaited 4G feature phone at the company's 40th annual general meeting. Moreover, DTH & Digital Cable TV Providers such as Dish TV India and Hathway Cable & Datacom have dipped on Jio’s New TV-Enabled Phone.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, amid political uncertainty on US and euro rose to 2-year high on Thursday on comments from the chief of ECB. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31954.54, up by 50.14 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 31931.34 and 32062.23. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.15%, while Small cap index was up by 0.14%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.41%, Energy up by 1.13%, TECK up by 0.77%, Consumer Durables up by 0.69% and Oil & Gas up by 0.42%, while Telecom down by 2.06%, Realty down by 1.14%, Metal down by 0.72%, Power down by 0.51% and Healthcare down by 0.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 6.88%, Reliance Industries up by 1.92%, Coal India up by 1.90%, TCS up by 1.14% and Infosys up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.48%, Lupin down by 2.39%, Cipla down by 1.68%, Power Grid down by 1.16% and Axis Bank down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with a view to boost manufacturing, exports and job creation in India, the government is likely to unveil Rs 2,600 crore incentive package for the labour intensive leather and footwear sector. The expenditure finance committee has already given its approval to the package and a draft cabinet note has been circulated to different ministries for their views.

The scheme, which includes both tax and non-tax benefits, was prepared on the lines of the package announced for the textiles sector in June last year. The commerce and industry ministry, which mooted the proposal, has sought tax incentives for the 'Indian Footwear, Leather, and Accessories Development Programme'. Besides, support has been sought to improve tax incentives for employment generation.

The sector assumes significance as it is a thrust segment under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.  According to industry, Rs 1 crore investment in the sector results in creation of jobs for about 250 people. Currently, about 30 lakh people are directly employed in the sector. The government aims to increase the sector exports to $15 billion by 2020 from the current $7 billion.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9888.15, up by 14.85 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 9878.80 and 9919.85. There were 26 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 6.74%, Coal India up by 2.15%, HCL Tech. up by 1.97%, Reliance Industries up by 1.92% and TCS up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.45%, Lupin down by 2.38%, Hindalco down by 2.18%, Cipla down by 1.73% and Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.13% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 62.66 points or 0.6% to 10,436.70, Nikkei 225 shed 44.84 points or 0.22% to 20,099.75, Jakarta Composite was down by 31.64 points or 0.54% to 5,793.57, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 2.06 points or 0.12% to 1,753.57 and Shanghai Composite declined 1.25 points or 0.04% to 3,243.62.

On the flip side, Hang Seng increased 3.39 points or 0.01% to 26,743.60 and KOSPI Index was up by 8.22 points or 0.34% to 2,450.06.