Bourses off day’s high

Key Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their gains in late afternoon session to come off their intraday high points, following weak European markets. Higher Inflation data along with heavy selling at Telecom and Capital Goods counters weighted on the domestic sentiments. India’s retail inflation edged higher to 4.87% in the month of May 2018, as compared to 4.58% in April 2018, continuing its rising trend for the second straight month. Anxiety also spread among the investors, as industry body CII warned that rate hike by the Reserve Bank will increase the cost of doing business and impact capital expenditure by India Inc. Besides, major industry losers like Tata Steel, Adani Ports & SEZ and Bharti Airtel, also dragged the key indices down from the day’s high in late noon deals.  

However, positive data of industrial production helped the markets to keep their heads in green terrain. Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew at a faster rate of 4.9% in the month of April 2018 as against a growth rate of 3.2% in the same month of 2017. The factory output once again came back to growth trajectory, mainly on the back of pick-up in manufacturing as it contributes more than three-fourths to the index. In March of this year, industrial production had grown at 4.4%. Some support also came with a report that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has extended the refund fortnight for fast track clearance of pending dues to exporters by two days till June 16.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as investors look towards central bank meetings for directional cues. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points when it ends a two-day policy meeting later in the day. Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Tata Communications traded higher after the company and NEP Broadcast Solutions, a division of NEP Group, successfully completed the remote production and broadcast of VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) for Star Sports, the number one sports broadcaster in India and subsidiary of 21st Century Fox.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35809.90, up by 117.38 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 35715.96 and 35877.41. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index slightly higher by 0.03%, while Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.43%, Healthcare up by 1.29%, TECK up by 1.08%, Consumer Durables up by 0.97% and Bankex up by 0.55%, while Telecom down by 0.93%, Capital Goods down by 0.32%, Oil & Gas down by 0.14%, Metal down by 0.03% and Industrials down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 4.03%, TCS up by 2.58%, SBI up by 2.02%, Sun Pharma up by 1.91% and Axis Bank up by 1.67%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.07%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.26%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.93%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.77% and ONGC down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, continuing its rising trend for the second straight month, India’s retail inflation edged higher to 4.87% in the month of May 2018, as compared to 4.58% in April 2018 and 2.18% in May 2017. Rising prices of food items such as vegetables and fruits coupled with high fuel rates lifted the Consumer Price Index (CPI)  to a four-month high in the reported month. Further, consumer food price inflation, a metric to gauge changes in monthly kitchen costs, surged to 3.10% in May from 2.80% in the previous month.

As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme, the CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base 2012=100 for May 2018, stood at 4.88%, 4.72% and 4.87% respectively, compared to 2.30%, 2.13% and 2.18% respectively in May 2017. The index value of CPI for combined stood at 137.8. The data also showed that Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural and Urban for May 2018 stood at 3.85% and 1.66%, respectively, compared to 3.63% and 1.29%, respectively in April 2018. The index value of CFPI for combined stood at 136.5 for the month of May.

According to the data, inflation of food and beverages rose to 3.37% in May 2018 from 3.00% in April 2018. Within the food items, the inflation spiked for vegetables to 8.04%, fruits to 12.33%, Cereals & products to 2.78%, oils and fats to 2.46% and spices to 1.54%. However, the inflation eased for meat and fish to 3.53%, egg to 5.78%, milk and products to 3.20% in May 2018. While, the inflation for clothing and footwear was higher at 5.47%, the CPI inflation of fuel and light surged to 5.80% in May 2018.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10872.35, up by 29.50 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 10842.65 and 10893.25. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.94%, Cipla up by 2.89%, Lupin up by 2.40%, TCS up by 2.40% and Hindalco up by 2.14%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.28%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 1.85%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.53%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.19% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.02% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 377.91 points or 1.22% to 30,725.15, Shanghai Composite decreased 30.01 points or 0.97% to 3,049.80 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.69 points or 0.1% to 1,762.47. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted increased 28.42 points or 0.26% to 11,173.21 and Nikkei 225 increased 88.03 points or 0.38% to 22,966.38.

European Markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 26.94 points or 0.21% to 12,815.36 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.64 points or 0.11% to 7,695.17. On the flip side, France’s CAC increased 9.1 points or 0.17% to 5,462.47.