Indian equities remain in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green territory in afternoon session, on buying by funds and retail investors despite weakness in other Asian markets. The indices remained positive with taking support from report that India’s industrial production grew 4.9 percent in April, as compared with 4.4 percent in March. Traders also took note of Ministry of Shipping’s statement that a total of 224 projects -- entailing an investment to the tune of Rs 1.85 lakh crore have been awarded by March 2018 under Sagarmala programme. However, gains were limited as anxiety remained among the traders with report that that India’s retail inflation hit a four-month high after jumping to 4.87 percent in May from April’s 4.58 percent driven by costlier food and fuel. Retail inflation, measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI), had fallen to 2.18 percent in May 2017. On the sectoral front, Telecom stocks were trading lower despite Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said that a new telecom policy aiming to attract investment of $100 billion in the digital communications sector is likely to be in place by July 2018.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as investors braced for a Federal Reserve policy decision later in the day and any clues it might give on future rate hikes that could alter the course of global economic growth and corporate earnings.

Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35789.78, up by 97.26 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 35715.96 and 35877.41. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.17%, while Small cap index was up by 0.29%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.33%, IT up by 1.12%, TECK up by 0.83%, Consumer Durables up by 0.77% and Realty up by 0.56%, while Telecom down by 0.71%, Capital Goods down by 0.34%, Oil & Gas down by 0.32%, Metal down by 0.28% and Utilities down by 0.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.89%, Axis Bank up by 2.09%, TCS up by 2.02%, Sun Pharma up by 1.68% and SBI up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.69%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.16%, HDFC down by 0.81%, ONGC down by 0.79% and NTPC down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to examine the possibility of allowing unlisted Indian companies to directly list equity overseas while also allowing foreign companies to list directly on the Indian bourses, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted an expert committee. At present, Indian firms can only use the depository receipts route - American Depository Receipts (ADR) or Global Depository Receipts (GDR) - to list on the overseas exchanges. Similarly, companies incorporated outside India can access the Indian capital markets only through the International Depository Receipt (IDR) route.

However, Indian firms can list their debt securities directly on international exchanges as what is known as 'Masala Bonds'. Considering the evolution and internationalisation of the capital markets, SEBI said that it would be worthwhile to consider facilitating companies incorporated in India to directly list their equity share capital abroad and vice versa.

The committee will examine in detail the economic case for permitting direct listing of Indian companies overseas and vice versa. It would also examine various legal, operational and regulatory constraints in facilitating companies incorporated in India to directly list their equity share capital abroad and vice versa. The committee will also make recommendations for a suitable framework in which to facilitate such direct listing. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10865.70, up by 22.85 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 10842.65 and 10888.90. There were 28 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.85%, Cipla up by 3.31%, Lupin up by 2.53%, Axis Bank up by 2.02% and TCS up by 2.02%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.74%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.73%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.50%, Vedanta down by 0.94% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 341.22 points or 1.1% to 30,761.84, Shanghai Composite was down by 33.99 points or 1.1% to 3,045.81 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI shed 4.89 points or 0.28% to 1,759.27.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted increased 28.42 points or 0.26% to 11,173.21 and Nikkei 225 was up by 88.03 points or 0.38% to 22,966.38.