Indian bourses continue to trade in negative terrain

Indian bourses continued to trade in negative territory in early afternoon session, on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters amid mixed Asian cues. The sentiments remained in lackadaisical mood with Former RBI governor D Subbarao cautioning against India’s deficit challenge and said the country is no longer the sweet spot due to rising oil prices. He also said raising of import tariff in the Union Budget 2018-19 will hurt Make in India mission. Some concern also came with the report that India's fiscal deficit touched Rs 6.77 lakh crore at the end of January, 113.7 per cent of the target for the entire fiscal, on account of higher expenditure. However, positive GDP data for the December quarter, helped to restrict further down move. Indian economy grew at five-quarter high of 7.2% in the October-December period reflecting overall recovery due to good show by agriculture, manufacturing, construction and certain services. In scrip specific development, Somany Ceramics was up by around half a percent on issuing Commercial Paper of Rs 40.00 crore value dated February 28, 2018 having maturity on March 28, 2018.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after Wall Street marked its worst monthly performance in two years as hawkish-sounding comments from new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reverberated across the broader risk asset markets. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34124.82, down by 59.22 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 34080.61 and 34278.63. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.39%, Oil & Gas up by 0.31%, Industrials up by 0.26%, Capital Goods up by 0.20% and Auto up by 0.15%, while IT down by 0.47%, Power down by 0.40%, TECK down by 0.38%, Utilities down by 0.36% and Metal down by 0.32% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.35%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.74%, Axis Bank up by 0.72% and Tata Motors up by 0.66%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.37%, Infosys down by 1.18%, SBI down by 1.10%, Power Grid down by 0.93% and ITC down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s core sector output expanded at a faster pace of 6.7% in January 2018, against the 4.2% growth recorded in December 2017, as petroleum refinery and cement output zoomed while steel power and coal production improved. According to data released by the ministry of Commerce and Industry it showed the combined Index of eight core industries stood at 133.1 in January, 2018, which was 6.7% higher compared to the index of January, 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to January, 2017-18 was 4.3%. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).  

Among eight core sectors, Coal production having 10.33% weight surged 3.0% in January, 2018 over January, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 1.5% during April to January, 2017-18 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04% weight jumped 11% in January, 2018 over January, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 4.7 % during April to January, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year. Electricity generation having 19.85% weight rose 8.2% in January, 2018 over January, 2017 and its cumulative index inched up by 5.4% during April to January, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year.  

The Natural Gas production having 6.88% weight fell 1.0% in January, 2018 over January, 2017, while its cumulative index was up by 3.5% during April to January, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production having 17.92% weight increased by 3.7% in January, 2018 over January, 2017 and its cumulative index jumped by 6.4% during April to January, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Crude Oil production having 8.98% weight declined by 3.2% in January, 2018 over January, 2017 and its cumulative index fell by 0.7% during April to January, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63% weight dropped by 1.6% in January, 2018 over January, 2017 and its cumulative index declined 0.7% during April to January, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year. On the other hand, Cement production having 5.37% weight was up by 20.7% in January, 2018 over January, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 4.4% during April to January, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10483.55, down by 9.30 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 10469.85 and 10525.50. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.83%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.65%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.24%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.20% and Ambuja Cement up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 1.48%, ICICI Bank down by 1.44%, Hindalco down by 1.34%, Infosys down by 1.01% and SBI down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.52 points or 0.24% to 1,860.72, Shanghai Composite increased 6.59 points or 0.2% to 3,266.00 and Jakarta Composite increased 29.03 points or 0.44% to 6,626.25.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 343.77 points or 1.56% to 21,724.47, Taiwan Weighted decreased 29.68 points or 0.27% to 10,785.79 and Hang Seng decreased 1.91 points or 0.01% to 30,842.81.