Key benchmarks off day’s low in late morning session

Indian stock benchmarks trimmed their initial losses and were off the day’s low in late morning session as traders took some relief from Chief Minister Raghubar Das’ statement that Jharkhand government will be providing employment to one lakh youths through skill development this year focusing on the six most backward districts of the state. However, the markets were still trading in red terrain as traders remained pessimistic with the report highlighting that RBI has projected Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation or CPI inflation to follow a downward trend and remain in the 4.7%-5.1% band. Having lowered inflation expectations, the RBI has raised its GDP growth projections by 80 basis points (bps) to 7.4% from 6.6%. Investors were reacting negatively towards a private report which stated that the low global rates continue to support unprecedented levels of debt accumulation, global levels of debt across all sectors rose by $21 trillion last year leading to total debt accumulation of $237 trillion. India is among countries facing high refinancing risks.

On the global clues, Asian markets were trading mostly in green. Trade ties between Washington and Beijing were on the mend gave way to questions about the next phase of the diplomatic tit-for-tat between the two countries. Back home, PSU Banks' are the biggest losers among sectoral indices falling 2 percent, while IT and Metal indices gain 1 percent each. In the script specific development, Datamatics Global Services gained with arm incorporating new entity. Besides, Generic Engineering gained on bagging orders worth Rs 101.53 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33871.82, down by 8.43 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 33750.74 and 33972.51. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.26%, while Small cap index was down by 0.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.42%, IT up by 0.97%, TECK up by 0.91%, Telecom up by 0.50% and Basic Materials was up by 0.20%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.80%, PSU down by 1.60%, Bankex down by 0.81%, Utilities down by 0.50% and Energy was down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.61%, Sun Pharma up by 1.44%, TCS up by 1.31%, Reliance Industries up by 1.31% and Tata Steel was up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 2.16%, SBI down by 1.90%, Yes Bank down by 1.61%, ICICI Bank down by 1.51% and Axis Bank was down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has set up a 13-member steering committee to consider all proposals received from ministries and departments for raising extra budgetary resources (EBR) to meet the resource gap for funding infrastructure, health, education and other social sector projects.

The steering committee, headed by Economic Affairs Secretary, will assess the requirement of project funds, progress of schemes and availability of budgetary resources. Thereafter, it will decide on the aggregate amount of EBR to be raised and the model of raising it including the institution for raising resources and determine a broad calendar for the EBR programme.

The department of economic affairs (DEA) has asked all the ministries and departments concerned to finalise the requirement of EBRs in 2018-19 for projects as announced in the Union Budget 2018-19 and send the proposal to it for consideration of the steering committee. The panel has secretaries from different ministries as members, besides Chairman of NABARD and Managing Director of IIFCL.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10385.85, down by 16.40 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 10355.60 and 10428.15. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 3.56%, HCL Tech up by 2.83%, Hindalco up by 1.63%, Eicher Motors up by 1.52% and Sun Pharma was up by 1.52%.

On the flip side, HPCL down by 7.18%, BPCL down by 7.12%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 6.53%, Adani Ports down by 2.61% and SBI was down by 1.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 8.04 points or 0.43% to 1,869.02, Shanghai Composite soared 23.46 points or 0.74% to 3,213.79, Jakarta Composite surged 32.1 points or 0.51% to 6,357.92, Taiwan Weighted rose by 46.84 points or 0.43% to 10,974.02 and Hang Seng was up by 250.4 points or 0.81% to 30,979.14.

On the other flip, Nikkei 225 slipped 56.44 points or 0.26% to 21,737.88 and KOSPI Index was down by 5.84 points or 0.24% to 2,444.90.