Markets trim losses; Energy stocks light up

Indian key benchmarks trimmed losses in late afternoon session on the back of firm opening in European markets. Traders took encouragement with a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) Surjit Bhalla’s statement that the government is likely to stick to its fiscal deficit target of 3.2 per cent of GDP, and may accelerate sales of government stakes in lenders and other companies as part of an effort to recapitalise banks. Some support also came with the report stating that the government has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of some flat steel products from China and European Union (EU) for five years, in a bid to guard the interest of domestic players from cheap in-bound shipments. However, cautiousness were there among the investors with Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia’s statement that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance is still low. He added that a clear trend about revenue collections is likely to emerge only after three-four months, once integrated GST (IGST) is converted into Central GST and State GST, as GST revenue includes IGST revenue. On the sectoral front, telecom shares trading under pressure, as investors overlooked Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan’s statement that the government is working on telecom projects worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore, which will considerably give a boost to digital connectivity in India.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green as investors monitored the latest batch of earnings and economic data releases. Asian markets were trading mixed. Back home, in scrip specific development, Suven Life Sciences was trading higher after the company secured one product patent from Singapore corresponding to the New Chemical Entities (NCEs) for the treatment of disorders associated with Neurodegenerative diseases and these Patents are valid through 2033.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32624.08, up by 14.92 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 32462.85 and 32670.32. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 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 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 2.46%, Power up by 1.51%, Utilities up by 1.38%, Oil & Gas up by 1.17% and Industrials up by 0.20%, while Telecom down by 1.68%, Bankex down by 1.65%, TECK down by 0.62%, Healthcare down by 0.54% and Consumer Disc down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 4.43%, Power Grid Corporation up by 3.95%, NTPC up by 1.96%, Wipro up by 1.62% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.59%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 8.66%, ICICI Bank down by 3.83%, Cipla down by 2.92%, SBI down by 2.57% and Lupin down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India Inc’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in overseas ventures plunged by 39.29 per cent to $2654.45 million during September 2017 from $4372.47 million in the same month of last year. In august month, OFDI declined by 14.82 per cent to $1339.26 million from $1572.23 million in the same month of last year.

According to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India, of the total investments in foreign ventures by Indian companies overseas, $1,216.48 million was in the form of issuance of guarantees, $ 1,063.02 million as loan and $374.95 million was part of equity investment.

Of all leading investors, Tata Steel put in $858.29 million in a wholly-owned subsidiary (WoS) in Singapore, while TCS invested $356.29 million in WoS unit in the UK and Bharat Petroresources committed a collective $164.60 million in its two fully owned units in the Netherlands and Singapore. The foremost shareholders also include Chemicals, shipping and metal company Sanmar Group International that kept $280 million in a WoS in Switzerland.

Besides, government-owned Gail India invested a combined $101.50 million in the US-based wholly owned company and Myanmar-based joint venture company, while Wipro put $79.52 million in UK-based wholly owned firm.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10219.65, down by 14.80 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 10175.75 and 10236.45. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 4.48%, Power Grid Corporation up by 4.20%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.10%, ONGC up by 1.58% and Wipro up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 8.69%, ICICI Bank down by 3.87%, Bharti Infratel down by 3.62%, Yes Bank down by 3.29% and Cipla down by 3.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Shanghai Composite increased 9.75 points or 0.29% to 3,381.79, Hang Seng increased 14.27 points or 0.05% to 28,711.76 and Nikkei 225 increased 26.93 points or 0.13% to 21,363.05. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 34.11 points or 0.57% to 5,913.22, Taiwan Weighted decreased 2.87 points or 0.03% to 10,720.28 and KOSPI Index decreased 1.46 points or 0.06% to 2,482.91.

All European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 11.46 points or 0.21% to 5,372.83, UK’s FTSE 100 rose 23.81 points or 0.32% to 7,539.98 and Germany’s DAX was up by 33.92 points or 0.26% to 13,028.98.