Sensex, Nifty continue sluggish trade

The local equity benchmarks continued their sluggish trade in late afternoon session. The sentiments remained downbeat as investors awaited the annual Budget for the fiscal year starting in April to be unveiled on February 1. January F&O expiry, also kept the sentiments in check. Industry majors like SBI, TCS and Dr. Reddy’s Lab also contributed to the market losses. Traders were cautious with the report that India is among the bottom five countries on the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2018, plummeting 36 places from 141 in 2016. Besides, adding some losses, the broader markets also continued sluggish trend in late noon deals.  On the sectoral front, banking sectors were trading in red, amid Fitch Rating’s report that The government’s Rs 88,139 crore capital infusion in struggling public sector banks (PSBs) should help in part to mitigate risks but resolution of bad assets and continued high credit costs hinder the sector’s near-term performance.

On the global front, European markets were trading marginally in green, as investors look ahead to the ECB meeting later today for clues to whether the central bank would continue stimulus measures at least through September. Asian markets were trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, CRISIL was trading higher after the company concluded the acquisition of 100% of equity share capital of Pragmatix Services. Consequently, Pragmatix Services has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36019.48, down by 142.16 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 35910.30 and 36247.02. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.31%, while Small cap index was down by 0.39%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.02%, Capital Goods up by 0.65% and Industrials up by 0.20%, while IT down by 1.52%, TECK down by 1.40%, PSU down by 1.34%, Realty down by 0.90% and Consumer Durables down by 0.72% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 1.93%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.83%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.83%, ICICI Bank up by 0.67% and Indusind Bank up by 0.64%. On the flip side, SBI down by 4.05%, TCS down by 2.33%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.10%, Infosys down by 1.92% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.87% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to ensure fair trading practises and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers, the government is likely to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of coated paper from China, European Union & USA, as the anti-dumping investigation is already in the process on this product.

The Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) which administers the anti-dumping and countervailing measures in India, has initiated an investigation into the alleged dumping and consequent injury to the domestic industry, after Indian Paper Manufacturers Association on behalf of BILT Graphics Paper Products, subsidiary of Ballarpur Industries, has filed an application for initiation of anti-dumping investigation.

If it found that dumping has caused material injury to domestic players, then the DGAD would recommend imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports of coated paper which is primarily used for printing of magazines, catalogues, books and manuals, calendars, brochures, labels and flexible packaging. The period of investigation for the present investigation is from April 2016 to June 2017 (15 months).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11045.85, down by 40.15 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 11009.20 and 11095.60. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 2.43%, Coal India up by 2.31%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 1.85%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.02% and Bharti Infratel up by 0.96%. On the flip side, UPL down by 5.37%, SBI down by 4.24%, TCS down by 2.25%, Yes Bank down by 2.07% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 304.24 points or 0.92% to 32,654.45, Nikkei 225 decreased 271.29 points or 1.13% to 23,669.49, Jakarta Composite decreased 13.3 points or 0.2% to 6,602.19 and Shanghai Composite decreased 11.16 points or 0.31% to 3,548.31. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.22 points or 0.12% to 1,839.26, Taiwan Weighted increased 13.79 points or 0.12% to 11,165.95 and KOSPI Index increased 24.23 points or 0.95% to 2,562.23.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 0.7 points or 0.01% to 7,644.13 and France’s CAC increased 10.59 points or 0.19% to 5,505.75. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX decreased 30.25 points or 0.23% to 13,384.49.