Bourses trim some of losses; Realty stocks recover

Key Indian benchmarks managed to trim some of their losses in late afternoon session, on the back of higher opening in European markets. Buying emergence in the sectors like Realty, Telecom and IT along with Arun Jaitley’s positive view towards the growth of country, too helped the markets to pare losses. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India has standardised itself for a 7-8 percent growth rate on the back of improving macroeconomic fundamentals. Going further, the broader markets were showing mixed trend, but they have also managed to trim losses, in line with larger peers. Traders also took some support with the reports that India’s economic growth pace likely picked up in the three months ending in September, halting a five-quarter slide as businesses started to overcome teething troubles after the bumpy launch of a national sales tax. However, the markets remained in red due to weak Asian markets and cautions ahead of September quarter GDP data which is slated to release later in the day.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as investors shrugged off concerns over North Korea and looked ahead to euro zone inflation data due later in the day. Asian markets were trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Infosys was trading higher after the company’s product subsidiary - Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems launched the Finacle Trade Connect, a blockchain based trade finance solution for banks.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33425.62, down by 177.14 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 33272.75 and 33576.20. There were 7 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.12%, Telecom up by 0.45%, IT up by 0.26%, TECK up by 0.25% and Utilities up by 0.11%, while Energy down by 0.96%, Bankex down by 0.89%, Metal down by 0.51%, PSU down by 0.50% and Auto down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.61%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.54%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.48%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.40% and Infosys up by 0.38%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.86%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.48%, SBI down by 1.43%, Reliance Industries down by 1.40% and Cipla down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, keeping a stable outlook for Asian steel industry in 2018, global rating agency Moody’s in its latest report has said operating conditions will remain most supportive for Indian steel industry among other Asian steel-producing countries, with robust domestic demand and the government’s continuous protectionist measures. It also expects improvement in profits of Indian steel companies in the next year, despite an increase in raw material prices.

In its 'Asia Steel Outlook 2018' report, among the major steel-producing companies, Moody’s said that Tata Steel will benefit most due to newly-added capacity, while earning of JSW Steel will remain steady. Both the companies got stable outlook from the rating agency of Ba3. The rating agency has kept stable outlook on Asian steelmakers on ground that the profitability of these companies will be steady during through 2018, after improving significantly in 2017.

On the demand front, Moody’s noted stable demand outlook for overall Asian, while robust demand growth for South and Southeast Asia and that for China is flat on the back of continue decline in capacity. It kept steady demand outlook for Japan and Korea, adding that earning of these countries’ steelmakers may be higher this year compared to last year, due to their efforts to cut costs and increase production of premium products. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10308.20, down by 53.10 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 10260.40 and 10332.70. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bosch up by 2.14%, GAIL India up by 1.53%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 0.91%, BPCL up by 0.79% and Ambuja Cement up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.07%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.83%, Hindalco down by 1.78%, SBI down by 1.63% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.53% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 446.48 points or 1.51% to 29,177.35, Taiwan Weighted decreased 153.11 points or 1.43% to 10,560.44, KOSPI Index decreased 36.53 points or 1.45% to 2,476.37, Jakarta Composite decreased 29.21 points or 0.48% to 6,032.16 and Shanghai Composite decreased 20.67 points or 0.62% to 3,317.19. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.55 points or 0.21% to 1,723.93 and Nikkei 225 increased 127.76 points or 0.57% to 22,724.96.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 0.77 points or 0.01% to 5,398.82 and Germany’s DAX increased 15.48 points or 0.12% to 13,077.35. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 30.8 points or 0.42% to 7,362.76.