Benchmarks trim gains in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed their gains and traded around neutral lines in morning session. The rupee opened higher against dollar on account of selling of American currency by banks and exporters. Foreign Portfolio Investors sold shares worth Rs 217 crore on Tuesday with gross purchases and gross sales of Rs 4,760.51 crore and Rs 4,977.81 crore, respectively. Global rating agency S&P doesn’t seem to be convinced with the macro indicators. In a report, S&P said that India’s activity indicator looks lackluster indicating they might not barge on the BBB- rating on India any time soon. Investors took note of ICRA’s report which highlighted that the economic expansion in terms of gross value added (GVA) is expected to improve to 6.3% in the three months to September from 5.6% in the previous quarter, on the back of a rise in industrial growth. Headline GVA growth, however, is likely to trail the 6.8% recorded in the second quarter of FY17. The agency added that the second quarter was a period of adjustment for the economy, following the goods and services tax (GST) rollout. The downside was limited on report that as many as 43.67 lakh businesses have filed the initial GSTR-3B returns for the month of October -- the highest monthly return filing within due date. As many as 39.33 lakh returns were filed within due date for September and 28.46 lakh for August and 33.98 lakh for July.

Traders were seen piling up position in Realty, Auto and Consumer Discretionary stocks, while selling was witnessed in Metal, Telecom and Healthcare sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Adani Enterprises was trading in green as the company is seeking government loan for Carmichael coal mine in Australia. There were reports that the company is close to securing a deal with Chinese enterprises and export credit agencies to fund both the mine and the rail link. NCC was trading in green as the company in consortium with BGR Infra has bagged MDO Project from NTPC. The consortium formed between NCC & BGR Infra has been awarded the project relating to Mine Development and Operation of Talaipalli Coal Block (MDO Project) by NTPC.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green. The Bank of Japan is dropping subtle, yet intentional, hints that it could edge away from crisis-mode stimulus earlier than expected, through a future hike in its yield target. With inflation still way below its 2% target, the BOJ sees no immediate need to withdraw stimulus, and regards weak price growth as its most pressing policy challenge. Back home, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading above the psychological 33,500 and 10,300 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was negative in the ratio of 1117:1142 while 114 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33510.83, up by 32.48 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 33465.23 and 33624.49. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.84%, Auto up by 0.43%, Consumer Disc up by 0.41%, Consumer Durables up by 0.32% and Industrials up by 0.17%, while Metal down by 0.85%, Telecom down by 0.78%, Healthcare down by 0.53%, PSU down by 0.41% and Oil & Gas down by 0.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 2.26%, HDFC up by 1.51%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.17% and Tata Motors up by 1.15%.

On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.50%, Sun Pharma down by 1.09%, Axis Bank down by 1.02%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.01% and Coal India down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after the Environment Ministry and the Central Pollution Control Board on November 15 brought into 'immediate effect a prohibition on the use of pet coke and furnace oil by any industry, operation or processes within the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan until further orders, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has asked state-owned oil firms to increase supply of natural gas and alternative fuels to states where the use of polluting petroleum coke and furnace oil has been banned.

The minister reviewed the use of the two so-called dirty fuels with officials of the ministries of environment, heavy industries and coal. He said that use of petcoke should be regulated for non-polluting purposes and added that India imports about half of its annual consumption of 27 million tonnes of petcoke.

Demand for petcoke has doubled in the past four years and India consumed 14 million tonnes (MT) of pet coke during April-October 2017, marginally lower than 14.9 MT used in same period of last fiscal. Of the fuel consumed, only 8 MT was produced locally and the rest was imported.

A ban on pet coke and furnace oil in Delhi has been in effect since 1996, while recently the Supreme Court banned its sale and use in the national capital region, which comprises Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10319.35, down by 7.55 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 10309.55 and 10368.70. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 3.33%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 2.37%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.27% and HDFC up by 1.24%.

On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.58%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.25%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.86%, Vedanta down by 1.55% and Bharti Infratel down by 1.51% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.85 points or 0.28% to 1,725.53, KOSPI Index increased 10 points or 0.4% to 2,540.70, Shanghai Composite increased 17.17 points or 0.5% to 3,427.66, Jakarta Composite increased 27.63 points or 0.46% to 6,059.49, Taiwan Weighted increased 43.11 points or 0.4% to 10,822.35, Nikkei 225 increased 121.84 points or 0.54% to 22,538.32 and Hang Seng increased 269.66 points or 0.9% to 30,087.73.