Benchmarks trade with marginal gains; Sensex conquers 34,900 mark

Indian equity benchmarks made a positive start and are trading slightly in green in early deals, with frontline gauges conquering their crucial 34,900 (Sensex) and 10,750 (Nifty) levels for the first time ever. Traders are taking some support from the unexpected drop in the wholesale price inflation to 3.58 percent at the month of December. However, gains remained capped as traders remained a bit cautious with the merchandise export growth slowing sequentially to 12.4% in December, while imports jumping 21.1% during the month, aided by a spike in crude oil prices and a favourable base. The trade deficit widened to its highest level in over three years in December to $14.9 billion, a three-year peak. Meanwhile, Diesel prices have touched a record high of Rs 61.74 per litre and petrol prices have crossed Rs 71 as international oil rates continue to rally. Petrol price rose to Rs 71.18 per litre in Delhi, the highest since August 2014.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green at this point of time, though gains are modest in most markets, as investors paused for breath after recent gains amid the absence of fresh catalysts. The US markets remained closed in the last session on Martin Luther King Day holiday, unable to give any cues to the other global markets.

Back home, the export oriented stocks remained in focus, as the various export bodies have expressed concern over delay in refunds under GST and have written to the Union Commerce Ministry seeking faster refunds. In scrip specific development, Tech Mahindra surged on entering into partnership with ContextSpace Solutions and Tata Motors advanced on launching AMT version of its hatchback Tiago in Bangladesh.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34901.44, up by 57.93 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 34850.54 and 34936.03. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.02%, while Small cap index was down by 0.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.86%, TECK up by 1.70%, Telecom up by 1.08%, Consumer Durables up by 0.55% and Capital Goods was up by 0.51%, while Realty down by 1.20%, Energy down by 0.75%, Oil & Gas down by 0.63%, Metal down by 0.36% and PSU was down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.75%, TCS up by 1.92%, Infosys up by 1.67%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.22% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.17%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.39%, Reliance Industries down by 0.85%, Asian Paints down by 0.85%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.58% and Coal India down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to augment investments and boost economic growth, India Inc has urged the Central Bank to reduce key policy rates after the India’s wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation eased to a three-month low of 3.58% in December from an eight-month high touched in November. The WPI inflation cooled down, as prices of food articles declined even as fuel cost witnessed a surge.

India Inc has said that as the inflation numbers are being driven largely on account of supply-side factors, they urge the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to calibrate its monetary policy stance giving equal weightage to growth consideration. Besides, the Industry body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President Rashesh Shah said that lowering of the repo rate in the upcoming monetary policy is critical to boost investments and build the growth momentum at this juncture.

Shah further said that they also look forward to the Union Budget to provide details on more specific measures towards strengthening of agriculture supply chain for effective management of food prices. At the same time, they hope to see inclusion of petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in coming months, which should also help in lowering the pressures of fuel inflation.

The industry chamber, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) had said inflation may remain high till April-June 2018, even as successive hardening of core inflation in last five months can be seen as a cause for concern. ASSOCHAM Secretary General D S Rawat stated that the policymakers need to take care of the continuous rise in petrol and high speed diesel prices due to rise in global crude oil prices which may have an impact on import bills and subsequent impact on exchange rates.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10754.95, up by 13.40 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 10737.40 and 10762.35. There were 26 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.24%, HCL Tech up by 3.02%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.57%, TCS up by 2.05% and Infosys up by 1.69%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 1.82%, HDFC down by 1.51%, HPCL down by 1.42%, Reliance Industries down by 1.01% and Indian Oil Corporation down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted rose 4.48 points or 0.04% to 10,960.79, KOSPI Index gained 9.24 points or 0.37% to 2,512.97, Shanghai Composite increased 10.31 points or 0.3% to 3,420.80, Jakarta Composite jumped 26.49 points or 0.42% to 6,408.69, Nikkei 225 surged 204.62 points or 0.86% to 23,919.50 and Hang Seng was up by 412.73 points or 1.32% to 31,751.60.

On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.77 points or 0.21% to 1,822.14.