Bourses manage to trade in green

Key Indian benchmarks managed to trade in green in late morning despite volatile session, backed by higher buying in Healthcare, PSU and Utilities stocks. Traders took encouragement with former Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das’ statement that improvement in ease of doing business is extremely relevant and will promote private investment, growth and job creation. Besides, some support came with the private report stating that India's current account deficit (CAD) for this financial year is expected to be around $ 40 billion, or 1.5 per cent of GDP. Adding some optimism, RBI data reported that the presence of domestic banks in the overseas markets has seen an increase in 2016-17 but it’s marginal, with the number of branches increasing to 192 from 189 in 2015-16. Meanwhile, GST Network, which developed the technology backbone for new indirect tax regime, has launched an offline tool for filing purchase returns GSTR-2.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in mostly in red as investors were waiting for the announcement on the next Federal Reserve leader, shrugging off results of a Fed meeting that met their expectations. Some markets were pressured by investors locking in profit from recent gains. Back home, in scrip specific development, Solar Industries (India) was trading higher after the company bagged the running contract for supply of 375412MT Bulk Explosives to the subsidiaries of Coal India amounting to Rs 1143.63 crore.  The running contract is valid for 2 years from November 1, 2017 to October 31, 2019. The order is awarded to domestic entity, SIIL along with its subsidiary.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33644.27, up by 44.00 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 33547.10 and 33657.57. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 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 0.94%, while Small cap index was up by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.76%, Utilities up by 0.91%, PSU up by 0.72%, Consumer Durables up by 0.65% and Power up by 0.52%, while Metal down by 0.48%, FMCG down by 0.41%, Auto down by 0.22%, TECK down by 0.15% and Telecom down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.95%, Lupin up by 2.88%, Sun Pharma up by 2.87%, ICICI Bank up by 2.08% and Cipla up by 1.79%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.15%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.01% and Tata Motors down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the presence of Indian banks in the foreign markets has increased slightly in the financial year 2016-17 with the increasing number of branches to 192 from 189 in 2015-16. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) survey of international trade in banking services, there was a marginal fall in the employee strength of the domestic banks operating overseas to 3,984 in 2016-17 from 4,040 in 2015-16. On the flip side, foreign banks operating in India saw their number of branches dropping to 286 in FY17 from 317 in FY16. It also noted that there was also a decrease in their head count to 24,766 in 2016-17 from 26,642 in 2015-16.

The survey stated that during FY17, the consolidated balance sheet of overseas branches of domestic banks and their overseas subsidiaries contracted. It pointed out that total assets/liabilities of domestic banks' branches operating abroad stood at $224.4 billion as of March 2017, as against $231 billion in March 2016. Also, assets/liabilities of foreign banks' branches in the country were at $124.7 billion in 2016-17 from $123.2 billion in 2015-16. It indicated that aggregate deposits of foreign banks rose marginally during 2016-17 to $71.7 billion from $69 billion in 2015-16. It noted that it declined for overseas branches of banks to $81.7 billion in 2016-17 from $84.8 billion in 2015-16.

As per the RBI data, domestic banks’ branches operating abroad saw rise in the fee income to Rs 9,400 crore in 2016-17 from Rs 8,680 crore in 2015-16. It further stated that foreign banks saw a fee income of Rs 7,130 crore in 2016-17 against Rs 7,060 crore in 2015-16, on the back of payment and money transmission services. It pointed out that overseas branches generated a major share of fee income by rendering credit related services, trade finance related services and derivative, stocks, securities and forex trading services. Besides, the survey provides responses on functioning of 192 overseas branches and 325 overseas subsidiaries of domestic banks as well as 286 branches of foreign banks here.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10444.30, up by 3.80 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 10431.40 and 10453.00. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 3.95%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.36%, Sun Pharma up by 2.83%, Lupin up by 2.80% and GAIL India up by 2.04%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.89%, Hindalco down by 2.34%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.34%, Tata Motors down by 1.31% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 51.62 points or 0.18% to 28,542.44, Shanghai Composite decreased 20.36 points or 0.6% to 3,375.56, Taiwan Weighted decreased 17.85 points or 0.17% to 10,788.51, KOSPI Index decreased 10.16 points or 0.4% to 2,546.31 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.72 points or 0.21% to 1,740.21.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 26 points or 0.43% to 6,064.15 and Nikkei 225 increased 62.06 points or 0.28% to 22,482.14.