Bourses trade in red terrain in noon deals

Key benchmark indices erased all of their gains and started trading in red terrain in early afternoon session, on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments turned pessimistic with a report that activity in India’s manufacturing sector declined marginally in May on the back of weaker expansion in output, new order growth and employment. A build up of inflationary pressures, amid persistent crude oil rally led to the input and output cost rising at the fastest pace since February, thereby impacting activity growth. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell from 51.6 in April to 51.2 in May. Some concerns also came with a report showing that India’s per capita income grew at a slower pace of 8.6 per cent to Rs 1,12,835 during the last fiscal ended March 2018. However, further losses got restricted on the back of robust growth data for the fourth quarter. Indian economy grew at 7.7 percent during January-March quarter of financial year 2017-18 compared to 6.1 percent a year ago, driven by gains in manufacturing and consumer spending. However, the GDP growth for the entire fiscal of 2017-18 was at 6.7%, lower than 7.1 percent in 2016-17. In scrip specific development, Ashok Leyland was up by over one and half percent on reporting a jump of 51% in May 2018 sales to 13,659 units, as against 9,075 units sold in the same month of last year.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, as the Trump administration's decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union rekindled fears of a global trade war. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35277.04, down by 45.34 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 35262.48 and 35438.22. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.12%, while Small cap index was down by 1.24%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.75% and Telecom up by 0.01%, while Power down by 2.35%, Utilities down by 2.03%, PSU down by 1.39%, Realty down by 0.81% and Basic Materials down by 0.79% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 5.16%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.32%, Tata Motors up by 1.94%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.94% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.50%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.73%, Power Grid down by 2.61%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.64%, Tata Steel down by 1.47% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s core sector output grew at a marginally higher pace of 4.7 percent in April 2018, as compared to 4.4% in March 2018, helped by healthy performance in segments like coal, natural gas and cement. According to data released by the ministry of Commerce and Industry, the combined Index of eight core industries stood at 124.2 in April, 2018, which was 4.7% higher compared to the index of April, 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to March, 2017-18 was 4.3%. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).   

Among eight core sectors, Coal production having 10.33% weight rose 16.0% in April, 2018 over April, 2017, and its cumulative index increased by 2.6% during April to March, 2017-18 over corresponding period of the previous year.  Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04% weight increased 2.7% in April, 2018 over April, 2017 and its cumulative index surged by 4.6% during April to March, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The Natural Gas production having 6.88% weight inched up by 7.4% in April, 2018 over April, 2017, and its cumulative index was up by 2.9% during April to March, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year. Steel production having 17.92% weight rose 3.5% in April, 2018 over April, 2017 and its cumulative index jumped by 5.6% during April to March, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Crude Oil production having 8.98% weight declined by 0.8% in April, 2018 over April, 2017 and its cumulative index fell by 0.9% during April to March, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year. Fertilizer production having 2.63% weight increased by 4.6% in April, 2018 over April, 2017, and its cumulative index rose marginally by 0.03% during April to March, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year. On the other hand, Cement production having 5.37% weight jumped 16.6% in April, 2018 over April, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 6.3% during April to March, 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10713.65, down by 22.50 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 10703.70 and 10764.75. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 5.19%, Vedanta up by 2.80%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.31%, Tata Motors up by 2.16% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.97%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 4.42%, ONGC down by 2.87%, Power Grid down by 2.75%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.59% and GAIL India down by 2.48% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; KOSPI Index increased 15.95 points or 0.66% to 2,438.96 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 74.12 points or 0.68% to 10,949.08. On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 56.38 points or 0.19% to 30,412.18, Nikkei 225 shed 30.47 points or 0.14% to 22,171.35 and Shanghai Composite dipped 24.44 points or 0.79% to 3,071.04.