Benchmarks trade in fine fettle; Nifty reclaims 10,100 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start and are trading in fine fettle in early deals with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 10,100 (Nifty) and 32,300 (Sensex), ahead of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data to be released later in the day. Traders took some support with private report stating that India’s GDP growth is expected to be around 7.1 per cent this fiscal following a likely pick up in industrial production as firms resort to restocking post GST especially ahead of festive season. Market participants shrugged off report that India has been placed at a low 103 rank, the lowest among BRICS economies, on the WEF’s Global Human Capital Index, which has been topped by Norway. India also ranks among the lowest in the world when it comes to the employment gender gap.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red at this point of time, as investors remained on sidelines ahead of China’s retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investments numbers. The US markets ended marginally higher, reaching new record closing highs.

Back home, select stocks from fertilizer counter edged higher as the government has imposed an antidumping duty of up to $60.35 per tonne for five years on a chemical used in fertiliser industry from four countries -- Russia, Indonesia, Georgia and Iran. The move would help guard domestic players from below- cost imports of ammonium nitrate from these countries. Meanwhile, the market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong, with 1,369 shares gaining and 554 shares declining, while a total of 83 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32314.61, up by 128.20 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 32233.72 and 32323.57. There were 26 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 1.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.89%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.86%, Oil & Gas up by 1.35%, Energy up by 1.14%, Power up by 1.05% and PSU was up by 1.02%, while IT down by 0.09% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.10%, Axis Bank up by 2.79%, Lupin up by 2.46%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.83% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 4.36%, HDFC down by 0.39%, ONGC down by 0.25%, HDFC Bank down by 0.21% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) Global Human Capital Index 2017 has placed India at 103 rank, among a list of 130 countries and India stood at the bottom of the heap among the G20 nations. India is the lowest among BRICS nations, while the index has been topped by Norway and other countries in the top 10 list are -- Finland (2nd), Switzerland (3rd), the United States (4th), Denmark (5th), Germany (6th), New Zealand (7th), Sweden (8th), Slovenia (9th) and Austria (10th). Besides, India was on 105th position on the list last year, while the top spot was taken by Finland, pushed to second place this year.

As per the report, India also ranks poorly on labour force participation, due in part to one of the world's largest employment gender gaps. The country ranks 118 for labour force participation among the key 35-54 year old demographic, suggesting far too many Indians are engaged in informal or subsistent employment. However, it received solid rankings on development of skills needed for the future, the country fares strongly, ranking 65 out of 130. It added that among the South Asian countries, India falls behind Sri Lanka (70) and Nepal (98), and is just ahead of Bangladesh (111) and Pakistan (125). The country has the lowest rank among the BRICS nations -- the Russian Federation is at 16th place, followed by China at 34th, Brazil at 77th and South Africa at 87th place.

The Global Human Capital Index 2017 has ranked 130 countries on how well they are developing their human capital on a scale from 0 (worst) to 100 (best) across four thematic dimensions -- capacity, deployment, development and know-how -- and five distinct age groups or generations -- 0-14 years; 15-24 years; 25-54 years; 55-64 years; and 65 years and over -- to capture the full human capital potential profile of a country. The WEF list takes into account ‘the knowledge and skills people possess that enable them to create value in the global economic system’ to measure the 'human capital' rank of a country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10116.95, up by 37.65 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 10097.80 and 10126.50. There were 40 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.18%, BPCL up by 2.99%, Axis Bank up by 2.88%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 2.34% and Lupin up by 2.14%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 4.29%, Zee Entertainment down by 0.88%, Indusind Bank down by 0.50%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.42% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 117.56 points or 0.42% to 27,776.52, Nikkei 225 shed 42.01 points or 0.21% to 19,823.81, Shanghai Composite dipped 5.59 points or 0.17% to 3,378.56 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.53 points or 0.09% to 1,784.54.

On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 5.36 points or 0.23% to 2,365.54, Jakarta Composite gained 5.37 points or 0.09% to 5,851.10 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 24.19 points or 0.23% to 10,557.07.