Benchmarks continue to trade in fine fettle

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in fine fettle in late afternoon session, with Sensex and Nifty holding 335 and 90 points, respectively, tracking firm European markets. The major industry players like Reliance Industries, Yes Bank and HDFC collectively contributing to the gains, while Energy index gained the most among all other sectoral indices with the gains of around 4%. Domestic sentiments were optimistic with report that the GST Council may consider reduction in tax rates on host of items with low revenue implications as part of the tax rationalisation exercise in its next meeting on July 21. Adding some comfort, the estimated savings and gains since the inception of Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) stood at over Rs 90,000 crore as on March 31 this year. Traders continued to take encouragement with the World Bank’s latest report stating that Indian economy has now become world’s sixth-biggest economy in 2017. The country pushed France to the seventh spot and ranked ahead of several European Union (EU) states.

However, some gains got trimmed, on the back of selling witnessed in Realty and TECK stocks. Besides, the broader markets were trading in red terrain, contradictory to the larger peers. Some concerns came with a private report stating that global debt rose to a record $247 trillion in the first quarter, more than $29 trillion higher than the end of 2016. On the sectoral front, selected stocks of logistics companies traded higher, amid ICRA’s latest report that the industry is likely to grow at 8-10% over the medium term, with continuous demand on the back of pick up in industrial activity and consumption-led sectors.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as investors consolidated steep losses from the previous session when heightened fears of an escalation to the US-Sino trade war soured sentiment. Traders looked forward to corporate earnings. Asian markets were trading in green, on expectations that the US threats to expand tariff hikes is bluff and bluster and trade agreements will ultimately be reached. Back home, in scrip specific development, Alembic Pharmaceuticals gained after the company received tentative approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) Ticagrelor Tablets, 90 mg.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36601.49, up by 335.56 points or 0.93% after trading in a range of 36422.08 and 36699.53. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.42%, while Small cap index was down by 0.10%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 3.81%, Oil & Gas up by 2.10%, Bankex up by 1.10%, Capital Goods up by 0.68% and PSU up by 0.52%, while Realty down by 0.89%, TECK down by 0.82%, Auto down by 0.80%, IT down by 0.76% and Consumer Disc down by 0.58% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 5.43%, Yes Bank up by 2.11%, HDFC up by 2.06%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.75% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.14%, Infosys down by 2.08%, Vedanta down by 1.90%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.79% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, maintaining a stable outlook for the Indian logistics industry, credit rating agency, ICRA in its latest report has said that the industry is likely to grow at 8-10% over the medium term, with continuous demand on the back of pick up in industrial activity and consumption-led sectors.

As per the report, various factors like increasing preference for outsourcing logistics activities, improvement in logistics infrastructure and emergence of logistics start-ups, would also drive the growth of logistics industry. Further in the long term, prevalence of trends like rise in integrated logistics, e-commerce logistics, investments in warehousing and penetration of technology in the sector, in tandem with the ongoing shift towards organized logistics players, would also induce a structural shift in the industry.

ICRA further noted that demand for the freight in the country has picked up during the second half of FY18, as industrial output and consumption-driven sectors recovering from initial impacts of GST and added that advantage of the improvement in freight demand has been taken by transporters to pass on the increase in diesel prices to their customers during the latter half of the year, as against freight rate cuts undertaken earlier in the year, in light of weak demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11038.75, up by 90.45 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 10999.65 and 11078.30. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 5.12%, BPCL up by 3.11%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.71%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.64% and Bajaj Finserv up by 2.38%. On the flip side, UPL down by 2.82%, Bajaj Auto down by 2.29%, Infosys down by 2.14%, Vedanta down by 2.09% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.07% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 increased 255.75 points or 1.15% to 22,187.96, KOSPI was up by 4.44 points or 0.19% to 2,285.06, Shanghai Composite surged 60.53 points or 2.13% to 2,838.30, Taiwan Weighted soared 61.54 points or 0.57% to 10,738.38, Straits Times edged higher 6.40 points or 0.2% to 3,255.48, Hang Seng zoomed 169.14 points or 0.59% to 28,480.83 and Jakarta Composite inched was up by 8.50 points or 0.14% to 5,901.86.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 32.13 points or 0.42% to 7,624.09, France’s CAC rose 5.78 points or 0.11% to 5,359.71 and Germany’s DAX was up by 4.41 points or 0.04% to 12,421.54.