Markets trade near neutral line in late morning session

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their initial losses in late morning session and were trading near neutral line. The markets’ mood were subdued as investors remained on sidelines ahead of meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and other top officials to take stock of the situation and the discussion for remedial measures to bolster growth. Investors also remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting beginning later today. However, losses got trimmed with World Economic Forum’s report that India is the fourth fastest growing economy in the world. Besides, the private report stating that India will emerge as an economic superpower supplying more than half the increase in Asia’s potential workforce over the coming decade in a developing scenario where demography is shifting the balance of power in Asia, also supported the indices. Moreover, the broader markets showed some fervor and traded with notable gains, performing better than their larger peers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, hobbled by uncertainty as traders awaited a Federal Reserve meeting for clues on US monetary policy. Back home, in scrip specific development, HPCL surged on plans to add up to 5 million tonnes (mt) of petrochemical production capacity over the next five years. The company will invest a significant portion of its planned Rs 61,000 crore capital expenditure for that period.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32410.15, down by 13.61 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 32358.63 and 32524.11. There were 11 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index, while 2 stocks remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.25%, while Small cap index was up by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.81%, Auto up by 0.62%, Industrials up by 0.57%, Utilities up by 0.39% and Basic Materials up by 0.26%, while Capital Goods down by 0.17%, Consumer Durables down by 0.15%, Metal down by 0.13%, FMCG down by 0.10% and Power down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.47%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.08%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.88%, Sun Pharma up by 0.47% and HDFC Bank up by 0.36%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.59%, Axis Bank down by 1.06%, ITC down by 0.84%, SBI down by 0.80% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.67% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has urged all the states and finance ministry to include petroleum products under the mechanism of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Looking into the interest of consumers, he said that there must be tax rationalization. The minister also noted that currently, there are two kinds of taxes on petroleum products – central excise and state value-added tax (VAT). Therefore, he said that such a move if implemented, would bring in uniform tax mechanism for Petroleum products all over the country.

On the contentious issue of daily fuel price revision, Pradhan has said that states are getting 42 per cent share in whatever levy is being collected by the Centre and clarified that domestic rates are determined by international prices. He also pointed out that there is no communication gap or mismatch between domestic and global prices. He explained that “Whatever is the international price we are passing exactly that to the Indian consumer. When it is increasing, we have to increase, when it is declining we have to decrease it. That is the practice in the country.”

The oil minister further said that 42 percent of the central tax is coming to states and states have their own tax mechanism. Therefore, he noted that a substantial portion of tax collection is utilized and coming to the states. According to the minister, the second round of auction of oil and natural gas blocks received good response from both international and domestic players. Besides, he said that the Centre needs funds for implementing various development and welfare projects in the country.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10146.90, down by 6.20 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 10129.95 and 10178.95. There were 19 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.51%, GAIL India up by 3.07%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.10%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.84% and BPCL up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.55%, Axis Bank down by 1.26%, Bank of Baroda down by 1.17%, ITC down by 0.94% and SBI down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 55.43 points or 0.52% to 10,576.14, Hang Seng decreased 19.09 points or 0.07% to 28,140.68, Shanghai Composite decreased 3.69 points or 0.11% to 3,359.17, Jakarta Composite decreased 3.66 points or 0.06% to 5,880.95, KOSPI Index decreased 2.57 points or 0.11% to 2,415.64 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 2.57 points or 0.14% to 1,781.09.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 increased 390.85 points or 1.96% to 20,300.35.