Bourses manage to trade in green territory

Key Indian benchmarks trimmed some of their initial gains in late morning session but managed to remain in green territory. Traders were taking some support with the Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg’s statement that the growth recovery of Indian economy will continue to be sharp going ahead, as the 7.2% expansion in the economy during October-December quarter (third quarter) has put the country in one of the highest growth bracket in the world. Surge in direct tax collection and firm cues from other Asian markets, also helped the markets to keep their heads above water. The government’s revenue collection during April-February period of fiscal year 2017-18 has shown a healthy growth, on the back of a strong pick up in corporate tax collections. According to the Ministry of Finance, net direct tax collections up to February, 2018 stood at Rs 7.44 lakh crore, registering a growth of 19.5 percent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year. However, some gains were trimmed with Indian Steel Authority’s report that US President Donald Trump’s move to hike import tariffs on steel will adversely hit India’s local markets. Some concerns also came with a report stating that Indian retail inflation likely eased to a four-month low in February on softening prices for vegetable and other perishable foods, but probably stayed above the Reserve Bank of India's target.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as fears of a full-blown global trade war receded after US President Donald Trump signed proclamations imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, but exempted Canada and Mexico. Back home, in scrip specific development, Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) jumped higher after the company won a Rs 11,700 crore order for setting up a 3x800 MW supercritical thermal power plant in Jharkhand.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33390.95, up by 39.38 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 33316.58 and 33519.49. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.08%, while Small cap index was up by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.63%, TECK up by 0.59%, Healthcare up by 0.55%, Consumer Durables up by 0.54% and IT up by 0.50%, while Metal down by 0.90%, Bankex down by 0.47%, PSU down by 0.44%, Basic Materials down by 0.35% and Utilities down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 1.14%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.03%, TCS up by 0.85%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.81% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.66%, Tata Steel down by 1.50%, SBI down by 1.44%, Axis Bank down by 0.81% and Yes Bank down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, commerce secretary Rita Teaotia has expressed confidence that India’s engineering exports, which have been registering a strong growth, will reach a new high in the financial year 2017-18. She indicated that engineering exports registered a rise of 22 percent to $62 billion in the April-January period of 2017-18. Besides, she said that the exports to developed countries are growing at a rapid pace and noted that shipments to North America and Europe account for about 40 percent of the total exports from the sector.

Teaotia has stated that the share of engineering exports in India’s total shipments has rose to 23.6 percent in FY17 from 18.2 percent in FY10. She pointed out that ambitious government initiatives such as 'Make in India', 'Start Up India' and 'Digital India' would further boost the growth of industries in the country. Highlighting the importance of the growing services sector, she made a case for recalibrating the traditional model of manufacturing led development. She said that the services sector matters greatly for enhancing the manufacturing sector competitiveness and also accounts for a significant portion of value added to a product.

Commerce secretary further said that the boundaries between manufacturing and services are increasingly blurred, requiring them to recalibrate their traditional model of manufacturing led development. She also said that global mega trends such as Industry 4.0, changing dynamics of the global value chain, rise of shared economy are presenting both opportunities and challenges to the country. She mentioned that long term enablers that focus on job creation by harnessing these mega trends and business models at the intersection of services in manufacturing will be key to future development.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10262.35, up by 19.70 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 10230.55 and 10296.70. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.88%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.69%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.66%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.27% and HDFC up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.64%, SBI down by 1.58%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.28%, Yes Bank down by 1.12% and Hindalco down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.87 points or 0.16% to 1,842.49, Shanghai Composite increased 8.68 points or 0.26% to 3,297.09, KOSPI Index increased 18.26 points or 0.75% to 2,451.34, Taiwan Weighted increased 41.58 points or 0.38% to 10,864.82, Nikkei 225 increased 86.8 points or 0.41% to 21,454.87 and Hang Seng increased 281.14 points or 0.92% to 30,935.66.

 On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 30.17 points or 0.47% to 6,412.86.