Markets trim losses to recover from lows

The local equity benchmarks trimmed most of their losses in late afternoon session to recover from day’s lows, despite weak opening in European markets. The markets participants were getting relief with Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia’s statement that the government will look into what it can do after a slump in local market reflecting global sell off. He also noted that he will discuss the issue of fall in local markets with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Some support also came with CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra’s statement that a large number of taxpayers have been brought into the net taking the total base to 8 crore and underlined that the government has consolidated direct tax reforms. Besides, top industry gainers like Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro, also helped the markets to recover from lows. However, the indices remained in red territory in late noon deals, as investors remained cautious ahead of outcome of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy review meeting. Traders were also concerned with the private report stating that GDP growth will slip down to 7 percent in the second half of the next fiscal, however the economy will grow 7.5 percent level in the first half on a lower base.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as concerns over returning inflation and higher interest rates left investors around the world scurrying toward safe haven assets. Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Kellton Tech Solutions traded jubilantly after the company expanded its presence in the energy vertical with an innovative and first of its kind IoT enabled AI platform.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34491.08, down by 266.08 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 33482.81 and 34491.08. There were 6 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.31%, while Small cap index was down by 2.00%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables down by 2.63%, IT down by 2.11%, TECK down by 1.84%, Realty down by 1.73% and Oil & Gas down by 1.65%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.08%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.00%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.40%, ICICI Bank up by 0.38% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.13%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 4.84%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.77%, TCS down by 2.90%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.17% and Hindustan Unilever down by 2.10% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, driven by strong rates of economic and network expansion, India remained the world’s fastest growing domestic aviation market for the third straight year in 2017. According to the global airlines body, International Air Transport Association (IATA), India’s domestic aviation market grew at rate of 17.5 per cent in 2017, beating China’s 13.3 per cent growth.

The report further said that new services like additional airport pairs result into time savings for passengers and have a similar stimulatory impact on demand as cuts in airfares. IATA also pointed Indian carriers’ efforts towards expansion plan along with orders placed for over 900 aircraft by local airlines.

On the global front, the report said that revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) rose by 7.6 per cent in 2017, registering above-trend growth that was ahead of the ten-year average rate of 5.5 per cent. It further added that since late 2014, lower airfares have helped in boosting passenger growth, which in 2017 was also supported by broad-based pick-up in global economic conditions.

However, the global airlines body expects slightly slower growth in 2018 as compared to the growth recorded in 2017, on the back of increases in airline input costs such as hike in fuel prices and labour costs in certain countries. It also said ‘we are unlikely to see the same degree of demand stimulation from lower airfares in 2018 than we have in recent years’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10579.25, down by 87.30 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 10276.30 and 10579.85. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 2.81%, ICICI Bank up by 2.03%, Tata Steel up by 1.99%, Eicher Motors up by 1.42% and Axis Bank up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 4.50%, HCL Technologies down by 3.72%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.45%, TCS down by 2.82% and GAIL India down by 2.27% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 1649.8 points or 5.12% to 30,595.42, Nikkei 225 decreased 1071.84 points or 4.73% to 21,610.24, Taiwan Weighted decreased 542.25 points or 4.95% to 10,404.00, Shanghai Composite decreased 116.84 points or 3.35% to 3,370.65, Jakarta Composite decreased 101.95 points or 1.55% to 6,487.72, KOSPI Index decreased 38.44 points or 1.54% to 2,453.31 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 37.54 points or 2.03% to 1,815.53.

All European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 290.11 points or 2.29% to 12,397.38, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 157.63 points or 2.15% to 7,177.35 and France’s CAC decreased 118.9 points or 2.25% to 5,166.93.