Benchmarks trade in red in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks traded with modest cut in morning session on account of profit booking in frontline blue chip counters after rallying nearly 600 points in previous consecutive sessions. Investors digested Moody’s India upgrade and focused on Gujarat Assembly elections that will take place next month. The rupee opened higher against dollar on account of selling of American currency by banks and exporters. Foreign Portfolio Investors stood net buyers in domestic equity markets on Friday and bought shares worth Rs 289.48 crore with gross purchases and gross sales of Rs 5,258.28 crore and Rs 4,968.80 crore, respectively. The street took note of US-based rating agency Moody’s report that lower taxes and higher public expenditure could widen budget deficit in 2017-18, but steps taken by the government to broaden the tax base and improve spending efficiency would help in narrowing it going forward. It added that a material deterioration in fiscal metrics and the outlook for general government fiscal consolidation would put negative pressure on the rating. Projecting GDP growth to moderate to 6.7% in the current fiscal, from 7.1% last year, Moody’s said while GST and demonetization have undermined growth over the near term, growth will rise to 7.5% in 2018-19 as the disruption fades. Separately, as per private brokerage report, retail inflation, which touched a seven-month high in October, is expected to rise further and cross the 4% mark this month, driven by rise in vegetable and oil prices. The report added that besides the rise in food and oil prices, further implementation of HRA-related hikes by more states and across sectors will also fuel inflationary pressures.

Investors failed to draw solace from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) report that India has climbed up one position to 126th in the 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. Separately, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has said that he hopes the growth rate to touch 7% by the end of fiscal year. Garg called the current financial year a transitional one, bearing the impact of major reforms like such as the demonetization and the implementation the new indirect tax system-Goods and Services Tax (GST). Logistics sector stocks were buzzing in today’s trade on report that the sector will soon get the infrastructure status, which would help the segment raise funds at competitive rates and boost external trade. Logistics, as per the commerce ministry’s definition, includes industrial parks, warehouses, cold storages and transportation. 

Traders were seen piling up position in Telecom, Utilities and Capital Goods stocks, while selling was witnessed in Basic Materials, Metal and PSU sector stocks. Aviation stocks like InterGlobe Aviation, SpiceJet and Jet airways was trading in green with report that India’s domestic air traffic registered a growth of 20.52% in October when airlines flew 10.45 million passengers as compared to 8.67 million during the corresponding period last year. In scrip specific development, Biocon was trading in green on receiving Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) in relation to the cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practice) inspection of its aseptic drug product facility that was audited between May 25, 2017 to June 3, 2017. The USFDA has classified the outcome of this inspection as VAI (voluntary action indicated) and the EIR states that the inspection is closed.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, with investor sentiment hurt by a retreat on Wall Street and sliding Chinese stocks. China stocks fell sharply after Beijing set sweeping new guidelines to regulate asset management products. Japan’s export growth held steady in October, suggesting that brisk global demand for Japanese cars and electronics will likely carry its economic recovery into the current quarter. Back home, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading below the psychological 33,400 and 10,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1377:865, while 118 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33319.52, down by 23.28 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 33288.21 and 33449.53. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.60%, Utilities up by 0.51%, Capital Goods up by 0.47%, Industrials up by 0.36% and FMCG up by 0.36%, while Basic Materials down by 0.82%, Metal down by 0.59%, PSU down by 0.34%, Energy down by 0.28% and Oil & Gas down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 1.21%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.01%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.96%, Coal India up by 0.82% and ITC up by 0.76%.

On the flip side, SBI down by 1.59%, Cipla down by 1.59%, ICICI Bank down by 1.40%, Tata Steel down by 0.98% and Power Grid down by 0.84% 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 10269.10, down by 14.50 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 10261.50 and 10309.50. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 3.06%, Yes Bank up by 1.96%, GAIL India up by 1.47%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.30% and IndusInd Bank up by 1.03%.

On the flip side, Ambuja Cement down by 1.95%, Hindalco down by 1.85%, Cipla down by 1.69%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.64% and SBI down by 1.63% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 123.9 points or 0.55% to 22,272.90, Hang Seng decreased 47.94 points or 0.16% to 29,151.10, Taiwan Weighted decreased 35.48 points or 0.33% to 10,666.16, Shanghai Composite decreased 27.32 points or 0.81% to 3,355.59, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.19 points or 0.19% to 1,718.47 and KOSPI Index decreased 0.52 points or 0.02% to 2,533.47.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite increased 39.45 points or 0.65% to 6,091.18.