Bourses remain volatile; Telecom, TECK stocks fall

Indian equity benchmarks remained volatile in late afternoon session, with the Sensex altering between green and red terrain, amid weak global cues. Heavy selling on Telecom, TECK and Metal counters along with major industry losers such as Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Bajaj Auto, weighed on the domestic sentiments. Anxiety spread on the street, with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) survey stating that they’re no longer so confident of an upturn in domestic demand. The companies’ outlook for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2019 worsened across all indicators barring exports and imports. Traders turned cautious after the US accused India of complicated customs system and import schemes fraught with exemptions that render them open to administrative discretion. The US further said that there is no single publicly available official publication that includes all relevant and up-to-date information on tariffs, fees, and tax rates on imports in India. The market participants took note of CARE Ratings’ latest report that even though RBI lowered its inflation projection sharply from previous forecasts in its first monetary policy review for the new financial year, two key factors -- the progress and spread of monsoons along with the MSP fixation by the government would be a key determinant for inflation in the coming months. Meanwhile, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the inclusion of petroleum products under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will bring the products under a rational tax mechanism, amid an uproar over higher fuel rates.

On the global front, European markers were trading in red, as trade tensions resurfaced and investors looked ahead to the release of US jobs report later in the day for clues on whether the Federal Reserve might need to accelerate the pace of interest-rate hikes. US employment is expected to increase by 198,000 jobs in March after spiking by 313,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate is expected to dip to 4.0% from 4.1%. Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home in scrip specific development, Majesco traded higher after the company inked agreement with Tier One Specialty Insurer.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33586.14, down by 10.66 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 33501.37 and 33623.35. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.35%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.93%, Healthcare up by 0.85%, Consumer Durables up by 0.64%, Energy up by 0.63% and PSU up by 0.57% while, Telecom down by 1.28%, TECK down by 0.73%, Metal down by 0.62%, IT down by 0.49% and Capital Goods down by 0.32% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 0.71%, ITC up by 0.58%, ICICI Bank up by 0.43%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 0.39% and Tata Motors up by 0.39%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.12%, Infosys down by 1.51%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.02%, Axis Bank down by 0.87% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting the logistic sector’s enormous potential for improvement of economic growth of the country, the Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia has said that the Commerce Ministry is working on several measures such as a short and medium term integrated plan and an integrated digital platform, to promote growth of the logistics sector.

Teaotia also listed steps taken by Commerce Ministry to enhance logistics efficiency of India such as by getting infrastructure status to key logistics activities, working on 80% Direct Port Delivery (DPD) at key ports, increased role of Risk Management System (RMS) for border clearances & rolling out of the integrated logistics portal shortly.

Commerce Secretary noted that ongoing measures will lead to reduction in transaction costs and time of traders. She has expressed the need to bring down India’s logistics cost to 10% from 14% of the GDP, as it is far higher as compared to other countries. Besides, she said that all economic activities including exports and manufacturing are linked with logistics and its efficiencies would help improve economic development.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10319.95, down by 5.20 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 10290.85 and 10332.10. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 3.41%, BPCL up by 2.94%, Titan up by 2.16%, HPCL up by 2.04% and Bajaj Finance up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.45%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.21%, Infosys down by 1.78%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.00% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 77.9 points or 0.36% to 21,567.52, KOSPI Index decreased 7.94 points or 0.33% to 2,429.58, Jakarta Composite decreased 5.75 points or 0.09% to 6,177.48 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.24 points or 0.18% to 1,832.89. On the flip side, Hang Seng increased 326.25 points or 1.11% to 29,844.94.

All European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 87.93 points or 0.71% to 12,217.26, France’s CAC decreased 27.62 points or 0.52% to 5,249.05 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 14.68 points or 0.2% to 7,184.82.