Benchmarks trade slightly in green

Indian equity benchmarks have pared all of their initial losses to enter into green terrain and are trading with marginal gains, as traders took some support with Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu asking various departments and ministries to submit in a fortnight their respective action plans to boost exports. However, gains remained capped with report that India slipped to the 6th position globally in the business optimism index for the first quarter of this year. Business optimism is however at an all-time high globally with the index at net 61 per cent, the highest figure recorded in 15 years of research. Investors also considered a private report which stated that India missed out on a synchronized global recovery in 2017 even as the economy recovers from the structural shocks of GST and demonetization.

On the global front, Asian markets, paring early losses, are trading mostly in green at this point of time as investors opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. The US markets ended mixed on Tuesday as investors weighed the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reinstate sanctions on the country.

Back home, the government will come out with a Producers Price Index (PPI) next month for 10 services including telecom and railways on experimental basis. The move will help track inflation in these services, which will also include ports, postal, insurance, banking, transportation and air travel. In scrip specific developments, Jubilant Foodworks strengthened on reporting over 10 fold jump in Q4 net profit and Welspun Enterprises was up on receiving appointed date from MPSIDC.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35223.50, up by 7.18 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 35134.20 and 35237.21. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.27%, while Small cap index was up by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.29%, IT up by 0.74%, TECK up by 0.55%, Basic Materials up by 0.47% and Capital Goods up by 0.38%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.70%, Energy down by 0.39%, PSU down by 0.37%, Auto down by 0.22% and Bankex down by 0.20% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.57%, TCS up by 1.02%, Yes Bank up by 0.93%, Asian Paints up by 0.68% and ONGC up by 0.57%. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 1.12%, SBI down by 0.84%, HDFC down by 0.80%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.58% and Adani Ports down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Grant Thornton in its latest International Business Report (IBR), a quarterly global business survey, has stated that India slipped to the 6th position in the business optimism index for the first quarter of 2018. It added that the business sentiment in the country was ‘weakest’ since 2014. It also said that the confidence has been shaken since the third quarter of 2017 with weakness in Indian rupee and a surge in oil prices. However, globally, the business optimism is at an all-time high, with index at net 61 percent, the highest figure recorded in 15 years of research.

As per the report, India is at the sixth place in the index with a score of 89, while the top five nations are Austria, Finland, Indonesia, the Netherlands and the US. In respect of India, it said that the underlying pessimism is reflected in other parameters as well including revenue, selling prices, profitability, employment and exports expectations. Indian businesses have been citing regulations and red tape, availability of skilled workforce, lack of ICT infrastructure and shortage of finance as the biggest growth constraints. The report conclusion was based on a quarterly global business survey of 2,500 businesses in 37 economies.

The IBR noted that even after India’s significant jump in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking, the country still continues to rank 1st or 2nd in quoting these reasons as the key hurdles for growth. Grant Thornton India LLP CEO Vishesh C Chandiok has said that the reversal in sentiment amongst mid- sized business in India in the last three quarters is startling and hoped that policy makers would sit up and take note. He added that ‘With oil climbing, and India firmly in an election year, we ought to brace for a volatile economic environment in the days ahead. Export oriented businesses should see better days’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10721.65, up by 3.85 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 10689.85 and 10726.10. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.60%, Yes Bank up by 1.56%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.56%, Tata Steel up by 1.54% and Vedanta up by 1.52%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 3.05%, BPCL down by 2.59%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.04%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.13% and ICICI Bank down by 1.00% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite gained 1.75 points or 0.06% to 3,163.25, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI surged 18.31 points or 1% to 1,846.51, Taiwan Weighted increased 28.45 points or 0.27% to 10,719.83, Jakarta Composite gained 45.64 points or 0.79% to 5,820.36 and Hang Seng was up by 122.38 points or 0.4% to 30,525.19.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 declined 102.32 points or 0.45% to 22,406.37 and KOSPI Index was down by 6.22 points or 0.25% to 2,443.59.