Markets trade flat with positive bias

Indian equity benchmarks were trading flat with positive bias in morning session, as investors braced for US tariffs against China. Some support came with a report that India’s home loans touched double-digit mark as a percentage of GDP in the financial year 2018. Housing credit grew 16% in FY18, taking the mortgage penetration to a double-digit mark of 10% for the first time in FY18, up from 9.5% in FY17. Some comfort also came with Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari’s statement that he had expedited 280 national highway projects which would now be completed before the Lok Sabha elections next year. The markets also drew some solace with a private report stating that the Centre is planning to change labour laws in order to raise the basic income of salaried employees. The government’s intention is to put a stop to employers keeping their employees’ basic income low to reduce their contributions to social security schemes like provident fund and gratuity. Traders overlooked a report that Private equity (PE) investments saw 50% decline in value terms in May at $1,180 million amid fall in big-ticket deals and cautious investor approach. Traders also shrugged off a report that inflation based on wholesale prices shot up to a 14-month high of 4.43% in May on increasing prices of petrol and diesel as well as vegetables. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation stood at 3.18% in April and 2.26% in May last year.

On the global front, Asian market were trading mostly in red, as investors awaited developments on the trade front ahead of the expected unveiling of US tariffs targeting China. Clues from the European Central Bank on Thursday on its bond-buying program also led to major moves in currency markets overnight. Back home, in scrip specific development, Alembic Pharma gained on receiving EIR from USFDA for Panelav facility. Beside, Siti Networks advanced on getting nod to sell entire stake in non-material subsidiary company namely Siti Bhatia Network Entertainment. 

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35626.49, up by 26.67 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 35522.63 and 35666.07. There were 10 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.50%, IT up by 0.67%, TECK up by 0.47%, Energy up by 0.36%, Consumer Durables was up by 0.33%, while Power down by 0.71%, PSU down by 0.69%, Utilities down by 0.66%, Telecom down by 0.66% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.42% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.60%, Sun Pharma up by 1.65%, Reliance Industries up by 1.13%, Infosys up by 0.91% and ICICI Bank was up by 0.79%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.58%, Power Grid down by 0.95%, Asian Paints down by 0.76%, ONGC down by 0.74% and SBI was down by 0.64% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that 280 national highway projects would be completed before the Lok Sabha elections next year. These include 127 National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) projects and 153 ministry projects, which were scheduled for completion by June 2019. In addition, he said that there are about 100 projects that are going to be completed by December 2018.

For the current financial year (FY19), the Minister said the construction target of NHAI has also been revised upwards from 5,058 km to 6,000 km. the Government is expected to surpass the target of 40 km a day of road building by March 2019. At present, the rate of road building is about 27 km a day. He further said that these infrastructure projects are aimed at fast-tracking schemes to deliver world-class amenities to people with no ‘political interest’.

Pointing out that delayed land acquisition, lack of timely clearances, and other factors led to delays in project, Gadkari said steps are being taken to address these issues. He highlighted that the performance of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh in sorting out these issues and helping expedite the highways projects. States like Bihar and Odisha on the other hand, need to greatly improve their performance in this regard. The projects of Maharashtra and the Northeastern states remain to be reviewed.

The Minister also stated that while the modern road infrastructure and expressways are coming up and several are existent, the government will now consider scraping the policy of mandatory speed Governors in all new transport vehicles. Speed governors limit commercial vehicles to a maximum speed of 80 kmph.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10820.65, up by 12.60 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 10788.90 and 10831.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.60%, Cipla up by 2.88%, Lupin up by 1.77%, Sun Pharma up by 1.68% and UPL was up by 1.52%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.77%, HPCL down by 1.65%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.52%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.31% and Grasim Industries was down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng slipped 40.25 points or 0.13% to 30,399.92, Shanghai Composite fall 27.59 points or 0.91% to 3,016.57 and KOSPI Index was down by 13.21 points or 0.55% to 2,410.27.

On the other side, Taiwan Weighted surged 8.9 points or 0.08% to 11,022.88 and Nikkei 225 was up by 86.23 points or 0.38% to 22,824.84.