Markets remain choppy in late afternoon session

Indian equity indices remained choppy in late afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty trading higher with marginal gains, despite positive opening in European markets. The government’s statement that rollout of goods and services tax (GST) by and large has been smooth and it has deployed a large number of senior officials to regularly review the working of the new indirect tax regime, continued to support the sentiments. Some support also came with the private report stating that given the Reserve Bank of India’s dovish policy move, banks are expected to cut lending rates by 25 basis points, which in turn is expected to push up credit offtake.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, taking cues from other global markets after a stronger-than-expected jobs report from the US. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Veer Energy traded higher on plan of developing 10 MW Hybrid Power Project in Maharashtra.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32335.96, up by 10.55 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 32282.21 and 32396.14. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.11%, while Small cap index was up by 1.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.58%, Realty up by 1.53%, PSU up by 1.30%, Metal up by 1.04% and Energy up by 0.96%, while IT down by 0.98% and TECK down by 0.84% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.03%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.08%, ICICI Bank up by 1.84%, SBI up by 1.46% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.26%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.74%, Infosys down by 1.46%, Tata Motors down by 1.37%, TCS down by 1.28% and NTPC down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to protect domestic players from below cost imports, the government may impose anti-dumping duty on castings for wind operated power generators made in China.

The Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) which administers the anti-dumping and countervailing measures in India, has recommended the imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of such products, as it concluded that the products have been exported to India from China at below normal values due to which the domestic industry has suffered material injury.

In its latest notification, DGAD recommended a duty equivalent to the difference between the quantum of anti-dumping duty calculated and the quantum of anti-subsidy duty payable. Earlier, Larsen & Toubro had appealed to DGAD for initiation of anti-dumping probe on imports of a certain type of castings.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10073.40, up by 7.00 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 10057.70 and 10088.10. There were 22 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 4.08%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 2.40%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.09%, ICICI Bank up by 1.74% and BPCL up by 1.54%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.92%, Tata Motors down by 1.46%, Infosys down by 1.35%, TCS down by 1.28% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.73 points or 0.15% to 1,777.26, KOSPI Index increased 3.3 points or 0.14% to 2,398.75, Shanghai Composite increased 17.38 points or 0.53% to 3,279.46, Taiwan Weighted increased 72.82 points or 0.69% to 10,579.38, Nikkei 225 increased 103.56 points or 0.52% to 20,055.89 and Hang Seng increased 127.68 points or 0.46% to 27,690.36. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 12.06 points or 0.21% to 5,765.42.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 10.21 points or 0.2% to 5,213.65 and UK’s FTSE 100 increased 18.55 points or 0.25% to 7,530.26. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX decreased 6.94 points or 0.06% to 12,290.78.