Benchmarks make cautious start on sluggish global cues

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start and are trading mixed in early deals on Monday, following sluggish regional cues. Though, Sensex managed to trade above water with the IMF data, which forms part of the latest World Economic Outlook report of the International Monetary Fund, stating that India has moved up one position to 126th in terms of per capita GDP of countries, though it still ranked lower than all its BRICS peers. Some support also came with SBI research report stating that India might not have to wait for 13 long years for next sovereign upgrade by a rating agency, as the government is firm and committed to adhere with the fiscal consolidation path.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red at this point of time amid signs of fatigue following a stellar year for the region’s equities and as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s push to form a coalition government collapsed. The US markets ended marginally in red in the last session, the subdued trade for the day reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for Republican lawmakers' tax reform plans.

Back home, the aviation stocks flying higher with report that India’s domestic air traffic registered a growth of 20.52 percent in October when airlines flew 10.45 million passengers as compared to 8.67 million during the corresponding period last year. Stocks related to the logistics sector edged higher on report that government may grant infrastructure status to logistics sector soon, a move that will help the industry raise funds at competitive rates and boost India's trade.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33355.69, up by 12.89 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 33288.21 and 33449.53. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 0.67%, Utilities up by 0.67%, Telecom up by 0.52%, Industrials up by 0.50% and FMCG was up by 0.41%, while Basic Materials down by 0.94%, Metal down by 0.76%, Oil & Gas down by 0.25%, PSU down by 0.22% and Energy was down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 1.15%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.96%, Coal India up by 0.88%, NTPC up by 0.87% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.74%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.36%, ICICI Bank down by 1.32%, Cipla down by 1.26%, SBI down by 1.23% and Infosys down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has climbed up one position to 126th in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) ranking of countries based on their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, but remains at the bottom amongst the BRICS group, while Qatar remains the world’s richest on this parameter. India's GDP per capita went up to $7,170 (Rs 4.66 lakh) in 2017 from $6,690 last year, helping improve its rank by a position to 126th. Among BRICS countries, Russia boasts of a GDP per capita of $27,900, while for China, it stood at $16,620, Brazil at $15,500 and South Africa at $13,400.

The IMF data, which forms part of the latest World Economic Outlook report of the International Monetary Fund, ranks over 200 countries in terms of per capita GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP). The PPP between two countries is the rate at which the currency of one country needs to be converted into that of a second country to ensure that a given amount of the first country’s currency will purchase the same volume of goods and services in the second country as it does in the first.

According to the IMF data, Qatar remains top-ranked with per capita GDP of $1,24,930, followed by Macao at the second position with $1,14,430 and Luxembourg third with $1,09,190. The richest 10 countries in the world in terms of per capita GDP also include Singapore (4th, $90,530), Brunei (5th, $76,740), Ireland (6th, $72,630), Norway (7th, $70,590), Kuwait (8th, $69,670), United Arab Emirates (9th, $68,250) and Switzerland (10th, $61,360). The US has failed to make it to the top 10 and is ranked 13th with a per capita GDP of $59,500, while the UK is ranked even lower.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10277.35, down by 6.25 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 10261.50 and 10309.50. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 2.89%, Yes Bank up by 2.24%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.02%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.00% and Indiabulls Housing up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Ambuja Cement down by 2.37%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.89%, Hindalco down by 1.66%, BPCL down by 1.27% and Tata Steel down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 152.34 points or 0.68% to 22,244.46, Hang Seng slipped 47.94 points or 0.16% to 29,151.10, Taiwan Weighted shed 36.03 points or 0.34% to 10,665.61, Shanghai Composite declined 27.32 points or 0.81% to 3,355.59, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI dipped 3.97 points or 0.23% to 1,717.69 and KOSPI Index was down by 2.77 points or 0.11% to 2,531.22.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 30.69 points or 0.51% to 6,082.42.