Sensex, Nifty remain positive; Healthcare index top gainer

Indian equity benchmarks remained positive in late afternoon session, tracking firm opening of European markets. The broader markets were too holding their heads above neutral lines, with BSE Mid cap gaining more than half a percent. Besides, healthcare stocks shined among all the sectoral indices, followed by Auto and Oil & Gas, while Maruti Suzuki emerged as top gainer on the BSE in late noon deals. The street remained optimistic with finance minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India is likely to improve upon the fiscal deficit target this fiscal year thanks to rising goods and services tax (GST) collections. The markets participants also took support with a private report stating that consumer sentiment regarding personal finances, business and buying conditions remained stable in June despite a rate hike by RBI, as consumers said they are benefitting from the revival in growth.

However, upside remained capped, amid reports that Leading stock exchange BSE will delist as many as 222 companies from tomorrow as trading in their shares has remained suspended for over six months. Some concerns also came after Union minister Nitin Gadkari warned that taking action against every defaulting entrepreneur will chill economic activity and the country will be left with no people willing to take business risks. Meanwhile, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said the economic development of South Asia has been ‘severely hampered’ due to lack of intra-regional trade and stressed on the need for a greater push to investments, travel and tourism in the region. On the sectoral front, realty stocks traded higher, supported by Crisil’s latest report noting that average rentals of Grade A commercial properties have risen 10% in the last three years, boosting credit profiles of realty players.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, even as concerns persist over trade relations between the US and other major economies. On the data front, a report on Eurozone retails is due later in the session. Across the Atlantic, the Commerce Department's report on factory orders in the month of May could attract some attention ahead of the July 04 holiday. However, Asian markets were trading in red, ahead of the July 6 deadline when the United States is due to impose the tariffs on Chinese exports. Back home, in scrip specific development, Confidence Petroleum India edged higher after the company commissioned three more Auto LPG Dispensing stations, at Yusufguda (Hydrabad), Patancheru (Hydrabad) and Mehadipattnam in Telangana state.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35352.46, up by 88.05 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 35195.63 and 35441.33. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.65%, Auto up by 1.13%, Oil & Gas up by 0.98%, Energy up by 0.95% and TECK up by 0.83%, while Metal down by 0.18%, Consumer Durables down by 0.16%, Capital Goods down by 0.15% and Bankex down by 0.07% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 1.82%, ONGC up by 1.70%, Sun Pharma up by 1.68%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.59% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.87%, ICICI Bank down by 1.30%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.59%, HDFC down by 0.55% and SBI down by 0.37% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, raising need to support genuine decisions that aim on driving entrepreneurship, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said that taking action against every defaulting entrepreneur may hurt economic activity and will also prevent people to take initiatives. He also noted that times ahead are full of uncertainties.

Union minister further listed various suggestions such as need to distinguish between bona fide and mala fide intentions which would have made an entrepreneur to default, need to look into extraneous factors like business cycles or global situations and need to fund bona fide corporate even after their accounts turn NPAs. He alsosaid that one should not cast doubts on every action of bankers, too, noting that “How can the economy go ahead if there are such actions?'

Besides, Gadkari said that one should also forgive if the mistake is bona fide, and act sternly if any mala fide intent is observed and further noted that it is very important for the judiciary to function ‘within limits’ and avoid action for the democracy to flourish. He further said that economic policy-making needs to be ‘justification centric’, rather than getting stuck as being either people- centric or farmer-centric.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10699.10, up by 41.80 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 10630.25 and 10713.30. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 2.67%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.92%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.88%, Sun Pharma up by 1.78% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.68%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.44%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.31%, ICICI Bank down by 1.24%, HDFC down by 0.93% and Power Grid Corporation down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 declined 26.39 points or 0.12% to 21,785.54, Straits Times dropped 0.50 points or 0.02% to 3,238.44, Hang Seng fell by 409.54 points or 1.43% to 28,545.57, Taiwan Weighted lost 62.22 points or 0.58% to 10,715.72 and Jakarta Composite was down 110.84 points or 1.97% to 5,635.93. On the other side, Shanghai Composite gained 10.79 points or 0.39% to 2,786.35 and KOSPI was up by 1.22 points or 0.05% to 2,272.76.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 24.23 points or 0.32% to 7,572.08, France’s CAC increased 42.90 points or 0.81% to 5,319.66 and Germany’s DAX was up by 124.73 points or 1.01% to 12,362.90.