Local bourses add gains in afternoon deals

Adding some gains, Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green in afternoon session, on the back of buying by funds and retail investors. Investors’ sentiment got a support with Union Cabinet approving the proposal to hike the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif crops, which was made in the Budget 2018 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The MSP for paddy has been raised by around Rs 250 per quintal. The hike in MSP is one of the measures taken by the Narendra Modi government to end farmers woes in the country. Besides, the recovery in services firms’ activity, too supported the markets. Activity in India’s service industry rebounded in June from a mild contraction last month, expanding at its quickest pace in a year on the back of a surge in new business orders. The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) climbed to 52.6 last month, its highest since June 2017, from 49.6 in May.  In scrip specific development, APL Apollo Tubes was up by over a percent on planning to raise funds through allotment of Secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) on Private Placement basis, to be listed on the Debt market segment of BSE.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as trade tensions between the US and China continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Meanwhile, activity in Japan's services sector accelerated in June from the previous month as new orders grew at a faster pace, suggesting the economy gained momentum in the second quarter. The Markit/Nikkei Japan Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 51.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 51.0 in May.

Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35444.17, up by 65.57 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 35309.67 and 35454.94. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.57%, while Small cap index was up by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 0.99%, Capital Goods up by 0.39%, Energy up by 0.35%, Auto up by 0.32% and Telecom up by 0.31%, while IT down by 0.59%, TECK down by 0.51%, Oil & Gas down by 0.32%, PSU down by 0.31% and Basic Materials down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.44%, HDFC up by 1.40%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.07%, Coal India up by 1.05% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.95%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 1.32%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.01%, Yes Bank down by 0.79%, ITC down by 0.70% and ONGC down by 0.70% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to match hardening interest rates in the banking sector, the Finance Ministry has kept the interest rates on small savings schemes like Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Scheme (NSC), unchanged for the Q2 (July-September) of FY2019. The interest rates for small savings schemes are to be notified on a quarterly basis.

According to the Ministry, interest rate for the five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been retained at 8.3 percent. The interest on the senior citizens’ scheme is paid quarterly. Interest on savings deposits has been retained at 4 percent annually. PPF and NSC will fetch annual interest rate of 7.6 percent, while Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) will yield 7.3 percent and mature in 11 months. The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Account will offer 8.1 percent rate.

It further stated that term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch interest rate of 6.6-7.4 percent, to be paid quarterly, while the five-year recurring deposit is pegged at 6.9 per cent. In 2016, it had said that rates of small savings schemes would be linked to government bond yields. It added that the move is expected to see banks lowering their deposit rates in line with the small savings rate offered by the government.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10716.00, up by 16.10 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 10677.75 and 10722.85. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 3.01%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.59%, Sun Pharma up by 2.38%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.32% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.98%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 2.12%, HPCL down by 2.07%, BPCL down by 1.59%, Vedanta down by 1.38% and Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 68.50 points or 0.32% to 21,717.04, Hang Seng declined 355.14 points or 1.26% to 28,190.43, KOSPI dropped 7.30 points or 0.32% to 2,265.46 and Shanghai Composite was down by 27.22 points or 0.99% to 2,759.67. 

On the other side; Taiwan Weighted rose 6.15 points or 0.06% to 10,721.87, Straits Times added 1.34 points or 0.04% to 3,237.24 and Jakarta Composite was up by 16.30 points or 0.29% to 5,650.24.