Benchmarks continue lackluster trade slightly in red

Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade slightly in red in early afternoon session, on the back of selling activities by market-participants. The mood on the street remained cautious ahead of GST Council meeting, slated later during the week which is expected to consider lowering of the 28 percent GST rate on certain common use items. Besides, mixed trend at other Asian bourses and caution ahead of earnings from some more bluechip companies also influenced the sentiments. The rupee has also come under pressure, falling by 16 paise to 64.71 against US dollar in early trade at the forex market. However, further losses were restricted as some support came with Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that India offers ‘golden opportunities’ for global investors in sectors such as infrastructure, transport, agriculture and food processing. Meanwhile, broader indices, acting contrary to the trend, by trading higher with gains in the range of 0.48%-0.63%. In scrip specific development, Torrent Pharmaceuticals was up by over a percent after inking agreement with Unichem Laboratories to acquire its branded business of India and Nepal for a consideration of Rs 3,600 crore.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as US President Donald Trump lashed out at 'not fair and open' trade practices and China's central bank governor warned of excessive debt. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33683.47, down by 2.09 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 33582.38 and 33712.29. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.48%, while Small cap index was up by 0.63%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 8.05%, Realty up by 1.34%, Consumer Disc up by 1.16%, Auto up by 0.87% and Industrials up by 0.60%, while Energy down by 0.56%, Power down by 0.26%, Bankex down by 0.24%, Metal down by 0.23% and Oil & Gas down by 0.12% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.34%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.96%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.79%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.57% and Tata Motors up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.41%, NTPC down by 1.18%, Reliance Industries down by 1.17%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.14% and Asian Paints down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, domestic credit rating agency, ICRA in its latest report has said that Indian commercial vehicle (CV) sales are expected to register a growth of 6-7 percent in the financial year 2017-18, mainly driven by pent-up demand post Goods and Services Tax (GST) and replacement cycle in CVs driving the sales. It also pointed out that the CV sales remained on the slow lane prior to July during the first quarter due to various reasons including pre-buying in fourth quarter of last fiscal and fleet operators deferring new vehicle purchases in view of incoming GST regulation from July 2017.

The rating agency has stated that as a result of these factors, the domestic CV sales contracted by 9.1 percent during the first quarter of FY18 with M&HCV (Truck) sales being impacted the most. It said that the industry will find its momentum back aided by increased thrust on infrastructure and rural sectors in the recent budget, potential implementation of fleet modernisation and higher demand from consumption-driven sectors. It also noted that there has also been considerable improvement in cargo managed by Railways during the same period.

As per the report, within the CV industry, the M&HCV (Truck) segment is likely to register a growth of 2-4 percent during the current fiscal aided by pent-up demand post GST, higher budgetary allocation towards infrastructure and rural sectors. It also said that the segment would also benefit from stricter implementation of regulatory norms especially related to vehicle length (for certain applications) and overloading norms. Besides, ICRA expects LCV (Trucks) segment to grow 14-16 percent in this fiscal. It also expects accordingly, a 10-12 percent drop in bus sales during the current fiscal as compared to the previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10444.05, down by 8.45 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10413.75 and 10453.25. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 3.18%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.74%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.57% and Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.34%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 2.63%, BPCL down by 1.41%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.27%, Axis Bank down by 1.22% and Indusind Bank down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.73 points or 0.16% to 1,743.66, Jakarta Composite was up by 8.04 points or 0.13% to 6,047.58, Nikkei 225 rose 9.23 points or 0.04% to 22,548.35 and Shanghai Composite added 13.7 points or 0.41% to 3,385.44. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 58.92 points or 0.21% to 28,544.69, Taiwan Weighted was down by 14.58 points or 0.13% to 10,786.19 and KOSPI Index shed 8.56 points or 0.33% to 2,549.41.