Markets turn flat after a positive start; Nifty holds 10,400 level

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive start but turned flat in early deals on Friday, as traders opted to book profit near record high levels. Sentiments remained positive with the government’s statement that it has approved foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs 24.56 crore, including one from Sterling Commerce Solutions India. Positive opening in currency markets too aided sentiments. The rupee opened at 64.58 a dollar, the home currency was trading at 64.55 against the dollar, up 0.07% from its Thursday’s close of 64.61.

On the global front, Asian markets were exhibiting mixed trend at this point of time, as investors digested the release of House Republicans' tax-reform plan and President Trump’s nomination of Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Governor, to be the next head of the central bank. The US markets ended on mostly in green on Thursday.

Back home, IT stocks remained on buyers’ radar with Nasscom’s president R Chandrashekhar’s statement that India’s IT industry could see an upturn next year as the process of investments in technology, particularly in the United States, has started to gather momentum. Aviation stocks were flying higher in early deals with report that the government is developing a comprehensive 25-year master plan for airports in the country to keep pace with air traffic growth.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33586.63, up by 13.41 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 33531.94 and 33692.58. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.47%, Capital Goods up by 0.78%, Industrials up by 0.55%, Consumer Durables up by 0.48% and TECK up by 0.35%, while Healthcare down by 0.65%, Energy down by 0.35%, Oil & Gas down by 0.26%, PSU down by 0.18% and Utilities down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.14%, Axis Bank up by 1.88%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.05%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.79% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.61%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.56%, Sun Pharma down by 1.10%, Lupin down by 0.94%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.58% and ICICI Bank down by 0.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid the process of investments in technology gathering momentum, the National Association of Software and Services Companies’ (NASSCOM’s) president R Chandrashekhar has said that India's Information Technology (IT) industry could see an upturn next year. He believes that the coming year could actually witness an upturn in the industry largely based on global economic trends, particularly in the United States.

Software services body NASSCOM’s president has said that the IT industry, as a whole, is on track to posting 7-8 percent growth in exports in the current fiscal and there is no case for revisiting those numbers as no new factor has emerged which warrants reconsideration. He added that the export growth projection for 2017-18 had taken into account all the changes in technology, global economics and global politics including political protectionism.

Chandrashekhar further stated that the process of investing in technology has sort of started picking up and this trend is actually expected to really consolidate in 2018. He said there are expectations of an upturn in BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) segment in the US, greater investment in technology in that space and hardening of interest rates. The US accounts for more than 60 percent of Indian IT exports, and the BFSI segment accounts for a big chunk of that. So, these factors make Nasscom believe that they will be seeing an upturn in the year ahead.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10423.30, down by 0.50 points or 0.00% after trading in a range of 10403.60 and 10461.70. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 2.18%, Axis Bank up by 1.54%, Yes Bank up by 1.39%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.11% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.79%, Sun Pharma down by 1.50%, BPCL down by 1.20%, Lupin down by 0.92% and Eicher Motors down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.62 points or 0.09% to 1,742.67 and Hang Seng gained 87.51 points or 0.31% to 28,606.15.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 34.55 points or 0.57% to 5,996.56, Shanghai Composite declined 24.89 points or 0.74% to 3,358.42, Taiwan Weighted slipped 10.08 points or 0.09% to 10,778.43 and KOSPI Index was down by 3.53 points or 0.14% to 2,542.83.