Bourses gain traction; Sensex up 102 points

Indian equity benchmarks gained traction in late afternoon session, with Sensex gaining more than 100 points, despite weak opening in European markets. The most actively traded stocks like TCS, Infosys and Hindustan Unilever were adding optimism on the street.  Investors’ sentiments got improved as updated World Bank figures for 2017 showed that India is now the world's sixth-biggest economy, having muscled past France, which was pushed to the seventh spot. India's gross domestic product (GDP) stood at $2.597 trillion at the end of 2017, compared to $2.582 trillion for France. Traders also remained optimistic with the Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking India as the 57th most innovative nation in the world. The country has improved its ranking from 60th position last year. However, the broader markets failed to mirror larger markets in noon deals, while Metal index underperformed all other indices, down by over 3%. Meanwhile, Indian residents sent close to $1 billion abroad in May 2018 under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) to meet expenses for travel, studies abroad and maintenance of close relatives etc. According to Reserve Bank of India data, in the same month last year, they had sent $847 million.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, after the United States announced it would slap 10% tariffs on an extra 200 billion worth of Chinese imports in an escalating trade conflict between the world’s two biggest economies. Investors were now bracing for retaliation from Beijing. assistant minister of commerce Li Chenggang said ‘The outburst of large-scale mutual levying of tariffs will inevitably destroy Sino-U.S. trade’. Asian markets were also trading in red, amid rising trade tensions and concerns about rising inflation, the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (Amro) highlighted in a note on July 11. Back home, in scrip specific development, Active Clothing Company gained on entering into an agreement with Adidas India Marketing for marketing of their apparel and accessories in territory of Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36342.28, up by 102.66 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 36169.70 and 36346.48. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.25%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.95%, TECK up by 2.44%, FMCG up by 0.72% and Realty up by 0.57%, while Metal down by 3.17%, Basic Materials down by 1.65%, PSU down by 1.60%, Auto down by 0.86% and Oil & Gas down by 0.86% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 5.46%, Infosys up by 2.63%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.59%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.37% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 4.39%, Vedanta down by 3.74%, Tata Motors down by 2.25%, Tata Steel down by 2.10% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.80% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting promising future with India’s growing digital economy, large size of the market, demographic dividend and passion for technology, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the country offers host of business opportunities for UK investors, especially in the digital arena.

The minister further noted that the country’s digital economy also spawn opportunities in emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, start-up movement and low-cost cyber security solutions. He also mentioned that ‘While we work out the details, no one doubts the potential to make India’s digital economy worth $1 trillion, employing 5-7 million people in the next 5-7 years.'

The Minister also listed opportunities existed in areas like 'green innovation' and digital networks that are secure. Besides, he said that India and the UK share a ‘modern partnership’ cemented by strong historical ties and education and science & technology are amongst the notable areas of bilateral relationship.
India is the third largest investor in the UK and emerged as the second largest international job creator with Indian companies having created over 110,000 jobs in the UK in recent months, while The United Kingdom is also the fourth largest investor in India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10967.50, up by 20.25 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 10923.00 and 10976.65. There were 19 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 5.61%, Bharti Infratel up by 4.00%, Infosys up by 2.85%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.71% and HCL Tech up by 1.56%. On the flip side, UPL down by 4.65%, Coal India down by 4.58%, Hindalco down by 3.78%, Vedanta down by 3.78% and HPCL down by 3.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 fell 264.68 points or 1.21% to 21,932.21, KOSPI decreased 13.54 points or 0.59% to 2,280.62, Shanghai Composite lost 50.43 points or 1.82% to 2,777.20, Taiwan Weighted declined 80.05 points or 0.75% to 10,676.84, Straits Times plunged 29.42 points or 0.91% to 3,245.41 and Hang Seng was down by 370.56 points or 1.31% to 28,311.69. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 2.16 points or 0.04% to 5,883.92.

All European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 104.61 points or 1.38% to 7,587.43, France’s CAC lost 59.60 points or 1.11% to 5,374.76 and Germany’s DAX fell 159.07 points or 1.28% to 12,450.78.