Markets to make positive start amid firm global cues

Indian stock markets pared initial gains to end lower on Wednesday, with banks coming under heavy selling pressure, after the RBI unveiled new norms for dealing with non-performing assets. Today, the start is likely to be on positive side amid firm global cues. Traders will be eyeing the WPI inflation numbers and Balance of trade figure for the month of January to be released later in the day. Traders will get some support with private report that the RBI’s revised framework for quicker and time-bound resolution of stressed assets is a long-term positive for banks. The report stated that the new framework has the potential to bring about a big change in the approach of banks to monitor their exposures and resolution of NPAs. There will be some buzz in steel related stocks on report that India has initiated a review of the anti-dumping duty on flat base steel wheels from China to take a call on the need for continued imposition of the duties in force. Stocks related to mining space too will be in focus on report that with the cancellation of iron ore mining leases in Goa, the Supreme Court has once again stepped into the space vacated by executive failure and legislative lethargy. But the courts cannot compensate for the lack of sound policy and its effective implementation. There will be lots of important earnings announcements too, to keep the markets buzzing.

The U.S. markets edged higher on Wednesday, as traders shrugged off bigger than expected increase in consumer prices in the month of January. Traders also ignored report that retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in January compared to economist estimates for a 0.2 percent uptick in sales. Asian markets have made firm start on Thursday, following strong overnight gains in the U.S. and Europe, though trading in much of the region should be slow ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks ended the choppy day of trade in red terrain on Wednesday, mainly on the back of late hour selloff. Markets traded with volatility and altered between green and red throughout the session as traders remained on sidelines ahead of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data to be released on February 15. Traders took some solace with India’s Retail inflation, measured by the consumer price index (CPI), easing to 5.07% in January 2018, after rising to 5.21% in the month of December. Meanwhile, India’s index of industrial production (IIP) for the month of December 2017 came at 7.1% as compared to 8.4% in last month. As per the street expectations it was likely to come at 6.4%. The cumulative growth for the period April-December 2017 over the corresponding period of the previous year stood at 3.7%. Traders also took some encouragement with a survey by economic think tank NCAER enlightened that the Business Confidence Index rose 9.1% in December quarter 2017 over the previous three months as overall sentiment remained buoyant. The NCAER Business Confidence Index (N-BCI) had declined 12.9% in the September quarter as the economy was still adjusting to the implementation of goods and services tax (GST), affecting business sentiments. However, it was the last leg of trade which played spoil sports for the domestic markets and key gauges even broke their crucial 10,500 (Nifty) and 34,100 (Sensex) levels, led by selling in banking shares mainly public sector undertaking (PSU) banks after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday after market hours came out with a new non-performing assets (NPA) resolution. In the RBI’s new rules, banks would have to harmonise the treatment of specific accounts across their books. If one bank has treated a particular account as an NPA, other lenders on the same account will have to treat it as an NPA in their books as well. However, markets got some support near those crucial levels with Sensex ending comfortably above 34,100 mark, while Nifty somehow managed to end tad above its psychological 10,500 bastion. Investors drew some comfort with Union minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the country’s economic growth is likely to cross 7.5% in the next fiscal. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined 144.52 points or 0.42% to 34,155.95, while the CNX Nifty was down by 38.85 points or 0.37% to 10,500.90.