Bourses continue to trade with volatility

The local benchmarks continued to trade with volatility in late afternoon session. The markets were trading in red terrain, amid reports that the overall trade deficit widened to $14880.19 million during the month under review as against $10545.99 million in December 2016, the highest in more than three years. The trade deficit during April- December 2017-18, was $114857.05 million as against $78432.18 million in the same period last year. Weakness in industry majors like Tata Steel, Coal India and Mahindra & Mahindra, also weighed on the sentiments. However, losses got capped with BMI Research’s report that two Asian economies - India and Indonesia - will see a pick-up in GDP growth in 2018, reaping benefits of the economic reforms. It further noted that in the Indian context, adapting to the new GST regime, economic reforms aiding growth and recapitalisation plan for public sector banks will lead to increased investment growth and economic activity over the coming quarters. Some support is also came in with Prime Minister Narendra Modi promising more economic reforms to further improve the ease of doing business in India as he invited Israeli companies to invest here. PM further noted that India is the fastest growing economy with FDI inflows at all time high. Meanwhile, ahead of the budget, the stainless steel industry has asked the government to remove import duty on ferro-nickel and stainless steel scrap.

On the global front, European markets were trading slightly in green, as investors monitored the release of corporate earnings while keeping an eye on the euro, which hovered near a three-year peak. Asian markets were trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, IMP Powers touched the roof after the company entered into a license agreement for 20 years with Smart Hydro Power GmbH - a German Company establishing an exclusive right for manufacturing the turbines and exhibiting Smart free Stream and Smart Monofloat under its own brand name in the License territory i.e. India, Laos, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Eastern Africa.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34811.94, down by 31.57 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 34735.55 and 34936.03. There were 11 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.65%, while Small cap index was down by 2.02%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.63% and TECK up by 2.75%, while Realty down by 3.38%, Metal down by 3.02%, Power down by 2.17%, PSU down by 2.08% and Basic Materials down by 1.99% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 4.68%, Wipro up by 4.25%, TCS up by 3.81%, ICICI Bank up by 1.82% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.52%, Coal India down by 2.52%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.06%, Reliance Industries down by 2.05% and Tata Motors down by 2.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ahead of IMF’s World Economic Outlook 2018, slated to be released next week, highlighting bright outlook of Asia with strong consumption and investment, rising exports, and steady capital inflows, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) deputy managing director, David Lipton has said that India is reclaiming its place as a growth leader in the world, after witnessing the short term slowdown in economic growth.

Lipton also expressed optimism over the global economic outlook, saying that the cyclical recovery in the global economy is going from strength to strength with signs of faster growth across all regions. However, he expressed need of steps to enable stronger growth and to address growth impeding vulnerabilities and structural issues like rapid appreciation of asset valuations over the past year, unexpected monetary policy and exchange rate developments and geopolitical tensions.

On the investment and trade front, David Lipton said that capital-intensive investment and consumer demand are rising in the world, lifting world trade at a rate well above GDP growth. He further added that other economic factors like unemployment and inflation are also showing decline across the world.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10714.35, down by 27.20 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 10690.90 and 10762.35. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 4.87%, Infosys up by 4.70%, HCL Tech. up by 4.59%, TCS up by 4.03% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.79%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 3.70%, Vedanta down by 3.54%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.90%, Coal India down by 2.57% and Tata Steel down by 2.42% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 18.01 points or 0.72% to 2,521.74, Shanghai Composite increased 26.11 points or 0.77% to 3,436.59, Taiwan Weighted increased 29.8 points or 0.27% to 10,986.11, Jakarta Composite increased 40.67 points or 0.64% to 6,422.86, Nikkei 225 increased 236.93 points or 1% to 23,951.81 and Hang Seng increased 565.88 points or 1.81% to 31,904.75. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.87 points or 0.05% to 1,825.04.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 3.53 points or 0.06% to 5,513.22 and Germany’s DAX increased 17.64 points or 0.13% to 13,218.15. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 1.54 points or 0.02% to 7,767.60.