Bourses continue sluggish trade near neutral lines

Indian equity benchmarks continued their sluggish trade near neutral lines in late afternoon session, tracking weak opening in European markets. Continuous Selling at Healthcare, Auto and Realty counters along with subdued Asian markets kept the markets lackluster. Furthermore,  Grant Thornton’s latest International Business Report (IBR) highlighting that India slipped to the 7th position in the September quarter from the 2nd spot in the previous three months in its ‘business optimism index’, showing clear signs of lag in the economy, also continued to weigh on sentiments. However, the downside remained capped with the reports that India has opted for a digital pathway to move at an unprecedented rate into the future. Besides, the broader markets showed some fervor and traded with notable gains, performing better than their larger peers. Meanwhile, India's gold demand in the third quarter this year fell 24% to 145.9 tonnes, as the implementation of GST and anti-money laundering legislation (AML) around jewellery retail transactions kept buyers away.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in red, weighed down by poor results from various corporate heavyweights. Asian markets were trading mostly in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, CESC moved up on reporting marginal rise of 2.07% in net profit at Rs 247 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2017 as compared to Rs 242 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. The total income of the company increased marginally by 3.66% at Rs 2123 crore for Q2FY18 as compared Rs 2048 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33195.19, down by 23.62 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 33111.54 and 33463.80. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.34%, Telecom up by 0.94%, Energy up by 0.69%, Consumer Disc up by 0.37% and Bankex up by 0.25%, while Healthcare down by 0.77%, Auto down by 0.50%, FMCG down by 0.42%, Realty down by 0.23% and Utilities down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.96%, Asian Paints up by 1.67%, Reliance Industries up by 1.58%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.41% and Tata Steel up by 1.11%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.06%, ITC down by 1.92%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.87%, Coal India down by 1.60% and Lupin down by 1.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a recent joint study carried out by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham) and Resurgent, has stated that the size of Indian textile market is expected to touch $250 billion in the next two years from $150 billion now. The joint study also highlighted the contribution of the sector to the national economy in terms of manufacturing production, exports earnings and GDP.

According to the joint study, Indian textile sector contributes 10 per cent to the country's manufacturing production, 5 per cent to the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and 13 per cent to exports earnings. Further by employing nearly 51 million people directly and 68 million people indirectly in 2015-16, it is the second largest employment generating sector in the country.

ASSOCHAM-Resurgent study also mentioned the impact of demonetization, Goods and Service Tax (GST) and textile units’ closure on the textile industry, noting that smaller players were worst hit by demonetization and GST, while 4,356 workers affected on account of the closure of 18 units during 2016-17.  Besides, it found that capital goods firms are struggling as most of the downstream sectors are saddled with excess capacity and low demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10295.40, down by 7.75 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10266.95 and 10368.45. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 3.04%, ICICI Bank up by 2.00%, Asian Paints up by 1.76%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.68% and Reliance Industries up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 2.26%, ONGC down by 2.21%, ITC down by 1.92%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.86% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted decreased 75.72 points or 0.7% to 10,743.27, Nikkei 225 decreased 45.11 points or 0.2% to 22,868.71, Jakarta Composite decreased 3.9 points or 0.06% to 6,045.48 and KOSPI Index decreased 1.83 points or 0.07% to 2,550.57. On the flip side, Hang Seng increased 228.97 points or 0.79% to 29,136.57, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.97 points or 0.23% to 1,748.17 and Shanghai Composite increased 12.34 points or 0.36% to 3,427.80.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 11.96 points or 0.16% to 7,517.76 and Germany’s DAX decreased 8.38 points or 0.06% to 13,374.04. On the flip side, France’s CAC increased 1.5 points or 0.03% to 5,472.93.