Markets pare gains to trade flat in late morning session

In a choppy session, Indian equity benchmarks pared gains in late morning session to turn flat due to selling in Capital Goods, Banking and Energy stocks amid mixed Asian markets. Anxiety remained among the investors as India’s retail inflation jumped to 2.36% in the month of July 2017 after hitting a record low in June, on the back of hardening of prices in sugar and confectionery items, pan, tobacco and intoxicants. Some concerns also came with the private report that investment by foreign investors in the Indian equity markets sharply declined to $2.12 billion in the quarter ended June 30 from $6 billion in the preceding three months on global and domestic concerns. However, the markets managed to remain in green with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the abolition of inter-state check posts after the implementation of GST has reduced time for movement of goods by 30 percent and saved thousands of crore of rupees.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after U.S. indexes took small losses as Washington and North Korea indicated their willingness to reduce nuclear tensions. Back home, in scrip specific development, Future Market Networks shined on plan of acquiring land parcels situated at Khumari, Kalmeshwar, Nagpur to set up a warehouse of 1 million square feet facility.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31461.14, up by 12.11 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 31399.35 and 31602.64. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.42%, while Small cap index was up by 0.61%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.45%, Auto up by 0.71%, Realty up by 0.46%, Consumer Disc up by 0.36% and Basic Materials up by 0.14%, while Capital Goods down by 0.89%, Bankex down by 0.55%, Energy down by 0.43%, PSU down by 0.27% and Utilities down by 0.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.12%, HDFC up by 1.42%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.36%, Cipla up by 1.19% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.76%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.49%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.12%, Reliance Industries down by 1.09% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, continuing its rising streak for the eleventh straight month, India’s merchandise exports grew by 3.94% to $22543.80 million in July 2017, on the back of higher shipments of petroleum products, engineering goods and iron ore. However, the overall trade deficit widened to $11449.81 million in July as against $ 7761.40 million in the year-ago period, driven by a sharp uptick in gold imports. The trade deficit during April-July 2017-18, was $51500.58 million as against $ 26995.41 million in the same period last year.

As per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, exports jumped by 3.94% to $22543.80 million in July 2017, as compared to $21689.57 million in the same month a year ago. In Rupee terms, during July 2017 exports were valued at Rs 145308.10 crore as compared to Rs145770.39 crore during July,2016, registering a negative growth of 0.32%. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-July 2017-18 was $94756.13 million as against $87001.34 million, registering a positive growth of 8.91% over the same period last year. In Rupee terms it was up by 4.81% to Rs 610780.14 crore from Rs 582731.37 crore.

Non-petroleum and Non Gems & Jewellery exports in July 2017 were valued at $22543.80 million, against $21689.57 million in July 2016, an increase of 6.93%. Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports during April -July 2017-18 were valued at $94756.13 million, as compared to $87001.34 million for the corresponding period in 2016-17, an increase of 9.05%.

Imports during July 2017, increased by 15.42% to $33993.61 million as compared to $29450.97 million in July 2016, while in rupee terms it was up by 10.70% to Rs 219108.89 crore from Rs 197932.93 crore in July 2016. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-July 2017-18 was $146256.71 million as against $113996.75 million, registering a positive growth of 28.30% over the same period last year. In rupee terms the cumulative imports was Rs 942740.00 crore, up by 23.45% from Rs 763687.22 crore in the same period last year.

Oil imports during July, 2017 were valued at $7844.94 million which was 15.02% higher than oil imports valued at $6820.34 million in July 2016. Oil imports during April-July, 2017-18 were valued at $31022.43 million which was 20.87% higher than the oil imports of $25666.96 million in the corresponding period last year. Non-oil imports during July, 2017 were estimated at $26148.67 million which was 15.55% higher than non-oil imports of $22630.63 million in July, 2016. Non-oil imports during April-July 2017-18 were valued at $115234.28 million which was 30.46% higher than the level of such imports valued at $88329.79 million in April-July, 2016-17.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9795.80, up by 1.65 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 9773.85 and 9830.75. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 4.51%, Tata Power up by 3.39%, ITC up by 2.10%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.03% and HDFC up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Bank of Baroda down by 2.28%, Bosch down by 1.92%, Yes Bank down by 1.88%, Asian Paints down by 1.86% and Larsen & Toubro down by 1.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.7 points or 0.04% to 1,773.09, KOSPI Index increased 12.7 points or 0.54% to 2,346.92, Jakarta Composite increased 15.14 points or 0.26% to 5,850.18 and Hang Seng increased 171.45 points or 0.63% to 27,346.41.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased 20.77 points or 0.2% to 10,290.39, Nikkei 225 decreased 8.81 points or 0.04% to 19,744.50 and Shanghai Composite decreased 8.68 points or 0.27% to 3,242.58.