Key benchmarks add gains; FMCG stocks shine

In a volatile trade, the local barometer gauges added gains and started trading above neutral lines in early afternoon trade, on emergence of buying by funds and retail investors. Investors got some solace with report that India’s trade deficit narrowed to $11.45 billion in July from a month ago, following a slowdown in merchandise imports. Also, recording a growth of over 3.9 percent on the back of a healthy rise in shipments of engineering goods, petroleum products and chemicals, Indian exports in July grew at $22.5 billion. The gains at Dalal Street were mainly led by buying in FMCG, Auto and Realty sector stocks. In the currency front, the rupee fell 8 paise to 64.20 against the US dollar in early trade due to increased demand for the American currency from importers amid foreign fund outflows. In scrip specific development, Shreyas Shipping & Logistics rallied after receiving an approval to sell vessel M. V. SSL Sagarmala before December 31, 2017.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green as investors digested earnings releases from regional corporates and a resurgent dollar. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31532.87, up by 83.84 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 31399.35 and 31602.64. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.60%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.93%, Auto up by 1.10%, Realty up by 0.67%, Consumer Disc up by 0.62% and Power up by 0.30%, while Capital Goods down by 0.69%, Energy down by 0.41%, Consumer Durables down by 0.37%, Bankex down by 0.34% and Metal down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.71%, Sun Pharma up by 2.19%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.15%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.88% and HDFC up by 1.29%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.60%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.33%, Reliance Industries down by 1.23%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.23% and Coal India down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency, ICRA in its latest report has stated that the domestic mining and construction equipment (MCE) industry is likely to grow by 13-17 percent in the calendar year 2017, with the demand for MCE continues to grow largely due to the surge in infrastructure spending. It also pointed out that this comes after a healthy 35 percent growth in the demand for MCE during the previous calendar year after four consecutive years of weak demand.

However, ICRA has said that in CY17, the growth in the sector has been marginally curtailed despite strong growth during January-February 2017 as the markets were temporarily affected by emission related ambiguity and Goods and Services Tax (GST) during April and July 2017, respectively. It expects that the sector’s growth to lower in 2018 with it growing by 8-10 percent. For 2019, it also expects that the growth in the sector may slow down to around 4 percent on the back of Union elections and high base effects.

According to the report, infrastructure investments in roads, irrigation, railways and metro drove demand whereas coal and iron ore mining, power, oil and gas and real estate tampered demand. It also said that the improvement in average per day execution of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) projects to 10.33 km in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2017 despite demonetization and investments by Indian Railways helped in the growth in demand for MCE.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9812.55, up by 18.40 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 9773.85 and 9830.75. There were 25 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 5.58%, Tata Power up by 3.77%, ITC up by 2.60%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.60% and Sun Pharma up by 2.30%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.01%, Bosch down by 1.84%, Asian Paints down by 1.72%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.58% and Ultratech Cement down by 1.38% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 0.08 points or 0% to 1,772.47, KOSPI Index was up by 14.04 points or 0.6% to 2,348.26, Jakarta Composite rose 18.87 points or 0.32% to 5,853.91 and Hang Seng added 174.14 points or 0.64% to 27,349.10.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 24.03 points or 0.12% to 19,729.28, Taiwan Weighted was down by 20.77 points or 0.2% to 10,290.39 and Shanghai Composite dipped 10.68 points or 0.33% to 3,240.58.