Domestic equities continue firm trade

Indian equity benchmarks continued firm trade in morning session, tracking other Asian markets coupled with investors shifting their focus on June earnings. Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Hindalco, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports are early gainers, while the shares of IndusInd Bank and TCS slipped ahead of Q1 earnings. Sentiments remained optimistic on a report that Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu and South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-Chong have signed agreements. Both the ministers discussed about the growth in business relationship of the countries. Investors took some encouragement with NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar making a case for promoting Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in states, saying it would help in doubling farmers’ income by 2022. Investors also took support from BSE Managing Director and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan’s statement that there was no need to 'panic' over risk management firm Kroll's observations about Indian economy as the country was a thought leader in corporate governance worldwide. The traders overlooked report that the US-China trade war will impact foreign investment into the country, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will have to sell foreign currencies to defend the rupee at the 69 level to a dollar.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, as US stocks gained overnight on hopes of strong corporate earnings, boosting positive sentiment across Asia, however trade tensions between the US and China continued to linger. Back on domestic turf, in scrip specific development, State Bank of India (SBI) advanced over 1% with report that the bank in the international market to raise dollar funds through its maiden issuance of green bonds. The bank was looking to raise at least $500 million. Besides, Gayatri Projects surged on emerging as lowest bidder for two Expressway projects.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36131.00, up by 196.28 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 36019.63 and 36167.78. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.98%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.90%, Telecom up by 1.24%, Energy up by 1.14%, IT up by 0.81%, Basic Materials up by 0.80%, while Healthcare was down by 0.30% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 1.84%, Axis Bank up by 1.79%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.62%, Yes Bank up by 1.28% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 1.00%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.64%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.60%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.39% and Mahindra & Mahindra was down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in an effort to double farmers’ income by 2022, NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar has made a case for promoting Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in states. Under ZBNF, neither fertilizer nor pesticide is used and only 10% of water is to be used for irrigation as compared to traditional farming technique. Farmers use only local seeds and produce their own seeds.

Kumar further highlighted that states can promote ZBNF under the two farm sector schemes- Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. Also, he stated that 50 lakh farmers are working on zero budget farming in different states and added that not only it has potential for India but it also has global potential. Besides, NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand, who is an expert in agriculture, has said that such methods could be scaled up nationally only after they have been scientifically proven to be correct and there is proper manual for these.

Recently, in order to raise formers’ income, the government had raised the minimum support price (MSP) at which the government will buy all Kharif crops for the 2018-19 season. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the MSP of 14 Kharif (summer-sown) crops. Seven of these 14 crops had reported hikes of nearly 20% or more as compared to the MSP of these crops in 2017-18. The most popular kharif crop, paddy, has, however, got a hike of nearly 13% (from Rs 1,550 per quintal in 2017-18 to Rs 1,750 per quintal in 2018-19).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10907.55, up by 54.65 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 10876.65 and 10918.15. There were 30 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining, while one stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.25%, HCL Tech. up by 2.23%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.10%, UPL up by 1.96% and Reliance Industries was up by 1.83%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 1.28%, Sun Pharma down by 0.84%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 0.83%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.73% and GAIL India was down by 0.69% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading in green; Taiwan Weighted gained 33.17 points or 0.31% to 10,753.45, Straits Times surged 41.12 points or 1.26% to 3,269.94, Shanghai Composite soared 0.97 points or 0.03% to 2,816.08, Jakarta Composite advanced 62.41 points or 1.06% to 5,869.79, Nikkei 225 rose 248.37 points or 1.11% to 22,300.55, Hang Seng strengthened 90.55 points or 0.31% to 28,779.05 and KOSPI was up by 13.19 points or 0.57% to 2,298.99.