Sensex, Nifty off day’s high

Tracking weak opening of European markets, the local equity benchmarks trimmed gains in late afternoon session to come off their intraday high points, but were still trading in green terrain. Heavy buying in Realty, Healthcare and IT stocks along with major industry gainers like Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s Lab and Infosys, helped the indices to remain positive. The market participants were taking support with ASSOCHAM chief’s statement that the RBI’s decision to keep the policy rate unchanged is on the expected lines, though the less than hawkish stance has come about as a relief for the industry which had even feared a possible hike in the lending rates, following inflationary concerns. Besides, the broader markets continued their rally in green, with the gains of more than a percent. However, gains got trimmed, as anxiety spread among the traders with the exporters’ body, Federation of Indian Export Organisations’ (FIEO) statement that liquidity problems emanating from delay in refund of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is forcing exporters to turn down new orders. It also noted that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are cutting their workforce due to cash crunch. Some concerns also came with a report that as many as 302 infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above are delayed with a total cost over-run of Rs 1.45 lakh crore as on November 01, 2017.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as investors waded through the latest batch of corporate earnings, ahead of a central bank decision in the UK. The Bank of England’s latest monetary policy meeting and inflation report are both due during the session. However, Asian markets were trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, Satin Creditcare Network traded higher after the company forayed into the housing finance segment with focus on affordable housing in the rural and semi-urban areas.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34353.00, up by 270.29 points or 0.79% after trading in a range of 34108.76 and 34634.35. There were 23 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.29%, while Small cap index was up by 1.91%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.30%, Healthcare up by 2.03%, IT up by 1.50%, TECK up by 1.36% and Consumer Disc up by 1.32%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.35% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.24%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.76%, Infosys up by 2.52%, SBI up by 2.36% and Axis Bank up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.45%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.95%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.92%, Tata Motors down by 0.68% and ITC down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting issue of liquidity crisis among exporters due to delays in Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that the cash crunch is forcing exporters to turn down new orders and few of them have already refused new orders. The industry body noted that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are also cutting their workforce due to liquidity crisis.

FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai pointed out that after the implementation of the new tax regime, many exporters have not received a single rupee. He also highlighted exporters’ feedback reports in which about 80 per cent of the refund is pending and the tax authorities are not accepting the application of input tax credit (ITC).

Sahai further expressed worries over the on-time implementation of e-wallet mechanism, as it is supposed to be introduced from April 01 this year, but still even broad contours of the scheme have not been notified. He also said that so far no consultation has happened with the trade and industry.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10542.40, up by 65.70 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 10479.55 and 10637.80. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 5.99%, Sun Pharma up by 3.16%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.94%, Infosys up by 2.38% and SBI up by 2.34%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 4.45%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 2.19%, Vedanta down by 1.43%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.17% and Power Grid Corporation down by 1.10% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.92 points or 0.21% to 1,840.60, Jakarta Composite increased 11 points or 0.17% to 6,545.87, KOSPI Index increased 11.06 points or 0.46% to 2,407.62, Hang Seng increased 128.07 points or 0.42% to 30,451.27 and Nikkei 225 increased 245.49 points or 1.13% to 21,890.86, On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 47.21 points or 1.43% to 3,262.05 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 23.02 points or 0.22% to 10,528.52.

All European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 76.92 points or 0.61% to 12,513.51, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 29.52 points or 0.41% to 7,249.90 and France’s CAC decreased 17.86 points or 0.34% to 5,238.04.