Sensex, Nifty pare losses but trade continues in red

Indian bourses pared some of their initial losses in early afternoon deals but continued to trade in red as tensions over the geopolitical crisis in the Korean Peninsula continued to keep investors cautious. Some concern also crept in with the report that Asian Development Bank downgraded India’s growth projection to 7 percent for the current fiscal while lowering its forecast for the next financial year as well. Moreover, the rupee depreciating by 26 paise to a fresh six-month low of 65.37 against the dollar in early trade, too weighed down the sentiments. However, the markets managed to pare some losses with taking support from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government was in the process of undertaking measures to change the environment and provide a boost to the Indian economy. In scrip specific development, Great Eastern Shipping Company was up by around a percent after taking delivery of a Secondhand Medium Gas Carrier ‘Jag Vijaya’ (1997 Built) of about 35,420 cbm.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, as investors watched US-North Korean tensions after a fall in tech shares dragged down Wall Street. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31535.35, down by 91.28 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 31455.65 and 31693.59. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.85%, Realty up by 1.44%, Basic Materials up by 0.71%, Industrials up by 0.37% and Capital Goods up by 0.34%, while FMCG down by 0.67%, TECK down by 0.50%, IT down by 0.45%, Oil & Gas down by 0.27% and Bankex down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.47%, Tata Steel up by 1.69%, Sun Pharma up by 1.17%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.98% and Lupin up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 3.03%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.85%, Asian Paints down by 1.81%, HDFC down by 1.07% and TCS down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s total production of Kharif Foodgrains, comprising rice, pulses and coarse cereals, is estimated to decline by 2.78 percent to 134.67 million tonnes (MT) in the kharif season of 2017-18 (ending October), mainly on account of poor rains as well as floods in some parts of the country. The country had produced a record 138.52 MT in the kharif season of 2016-17 on good monsoon rains.

According to the first advance estimates by the Agriculture Ministry for the year, in cash crops, production of cotton, oil seeds and jute is estimated to fall and that of sugarcane to go up. Cotton output is estimated to be slightly lower at 32.27 million bales (of 170 kg each) in the 2017-18 crop year (July-June) from the earlier 33.09 million bales. Oilseed output is estimated to be down at 20.68 MT compared to 22.40 MT in the year- ago period. However, sugarcane output might rise to 337.69 MT, from 306.72 MT before.

As per the data, rice output for the season is estimated to fall by 1.9 MT to 94.48 MT, from the record 96.39 MT in the previous kharif. Similarly, the total production pulses could drop to 8.71 MT, from the record 9.42 MT, due to depressed prices and poor rains. Besides, the production of tur is estimated to be lower at 3.99 MT from 4.78 MT, while urad output may rise to 2.53 MT from 2.17 MT in the last kharif season. Besides, coarse cereal output is also seen lower at 31.49 MT, against 32.71 MT in the gone-by kharif season and maize output is pegged at 18.73 MT this kharif as against 19.24 MT a year ago. At the same time, soyabean output has been pegged at 12.22 MT as against 13.79 MT last kharif.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9846.90, down by 25.70 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 9813.00 and 9885.45. There were 23 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.37%, Vedanta up by 2.90%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.22%, Tata Steel up by 1.84% and Hindalco up by 1.70%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.86%, Hindustan Unilever down by 3.05%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.77%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.97% and Tata Power down by 1.83% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 78.87 points or 0.76% to 10,257.02, Nikkei 225 dipped 67.39 points or 0.33% to 20,330.19, Hang Seng shed 45.57 points or 0.17% to 27,454.77, Jakarta Composite declined 17.69 points or 0.3% to 5,876.92, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 6.77 points or 0.38% to 1,762.37, Shanghai Composite decreased 6.14 points or 0.18% to 3,335.41 and KOSPI Index dropped 6.08 points or 0.26% to 2,374.32.