Key gauges continue to keep head above water

Key equity gauges trimmed some of their early gains but somehow managed to keep their head above water, as traders were waiting for Karnataka elections results before taking any big positions as exit polls announced on Saturday indicated hung assembly. Market-men continued to get some support with Fitch’s report stating that India’s economic growth will accelerate to 7.3 per cent in the current fiscal and 7.5 per cent in the next as money supply has recovered to its pre-demonetisation level and disruptions related to the rollout of GST have diminished. 

Global cues too were aiding sentiments with most of the Asian counters trading in green, as investors were focusing on the U.S.-China trade talks this week after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will help Chinese technology company ZTE Corp. Back home, gains remained capped on report that continuing downward trend, the country's foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.426 billion to $418.940 billion in the week to May 4, due to decrease in foreign currency assets. In the previous week, the reserves had fallen by $3.216 billion to $420.366 billion.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35570.26, up by 34.47 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 35506.34 and 35642.72. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.56%, while Small cap index was down by 0.40%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.68%, PSU up by 0.41%, Oil & Gas up by 0.38% and Bankex up by 0.13%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.28%, IT down by 0.55%, Industrials down by 0.44%, Auto down by 0.43% and TECK down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.47%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.46%, NTPC up by 1.76%, SBI up by 1.71% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.85%, Tata Motors down by 1.50%, ICICI Bank down by 1.32%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.04% and TCS down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has cleared Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs 3,250 crore in the month of April 2018. The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), under Ministry of Finance in its statement has said that out of total five proposals, three were approved, one rejected and one returned to the applicant on grounds of being premature.

The Finance Ministry has cleared proposals included that of Hindustan Infralog which sought approval for foreign investment from DP World Global Investment BV, Netherlands amounting to 65% of paid-up share capital. It added that proposal of Hindustan Infralog will bring FDI up to Rs 3,250 crore. The other two proposals CVC Asia Pacific (Singapore) Pte and Alcon Laboratories (India) cleared by the Finance Ministry will not result in flow of FDI.

Besides, the Ministry rejected the proposal of Kora Research Advisors India LLP. Moreover, it has sought further information in case of proposals of Northvale Capital Partners which intends to acquire up to 100% of the share capital of a non-operational investment holding company Vadodara Stock Exchange, a derecognised stock exchange.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10818.35, up by 11.85 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 10801.50 and 10834.85. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.47%, Sun Pharma up by 2.46%, SBI up by 1.88%, NTPC up by 1.79% and HPCL up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.56%, Titan Company down by 1.54%, ICICI Bank down by 1.27%, Vedanta down by 1.06% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 8.01 points or 0.43% to 1,854.52, Shanghai Composite rose 9.02 points or 0.29% to 3,172.28, Taiwan Weighted increased 93.41 points or 0.86% to 10,952.39, Nikkei 225 added 115.86 points or 0.51% to 22,874.34 and Hang Seng was up by 339.86 points or 1.09% to 31,461.92. 

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 45.04 points or 0.76% to 5,911.79 and KOSPI Index was down by 2.33 points or 0.09% to 2,475.38.