Local equity benchmarks pared some of their initial losses to trade flat in morning session. Traders took note of a report that India is engaged with the US for an ‘amicable solution’ on the issue of imposing retaliatory customs duties against America's move to hike tariffs on certain steel and aluminium products. Some comfort also came with Union Minister Giriraj Singh’s statement that Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is estimated to have generated over 11,13,000 jobs during the three years to 2017-18. The PMEGP is a credit linked subsidy scheme, for setting up of new micro-enterprises and to generate employment opportunities in rural as well as urban areas of the country through KVIC.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as investors awaited further moves in global trade disputes. Back home, on the sectoral front, PSU Bank gained around 1% with report that the finance ministry is assessing the needs of 2-3 more banks and fund infusion in them would be done by the end of the second quarter of the current fiscal. The ministry has already finalised capital infusion of Rs 11,336 crore in five public sector banks (PSBs) to help them meet their interest payment commitments. In scrip specific development, Tata Motors strengthened on launching AMT variant of SUV Nexon. Besides, Tata Power gained on setting up Electric Vehicle charging stations in Hyderabad.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36397.24, up by 23.80 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 36310.17 and 36515.58. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.38%, while Small cap index was down by 0.76%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.95%, Metal up by 0.55%, Auto up by 0.44%, Utilities up by 0.31% and Realty was up by 0.23%, while Healthcare down by 0.61%, IT down by 0.57%, TECK down by 0.49%, Telecom down by 0.47% and Capital Goods was down by 0.26% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta up by 2.40%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.75%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.63%, Tata Motors up by 1.57% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 1.56%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.11%, Coal India down by 0.80%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.58%, TCS down by 0.54% and Hero MotoCorp was down by 0.53% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, in order to establish an institutional framework for co-operation in the civil aviation sector, the Union Cabinet has approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) amongst BRICS Nations. It approved the signing of MoU amongst BRICS Nations on the Regional Aviation Partnership Cooperation viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The objective is that BRICS countries will benefit from the establishing of an institutional framework to cooperate in the field of civil aviation.
Among the areas of cooperation, following areas have been identified: the countries will co-operate in the areas of public policies and best practices in regional services, regional airports, airport infrastructure management and air navigation services. Technical cooperation between regulatory agencies, innovation, environment sustainability, initiatives, qualification and training, will also be among the areas where the five countries would look to work together.
The MoU signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and other BRICS member states and has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges amongst the BRICS nations. India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and has been consistently registering double-digit growth for more than three years.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10972.00, down by 8.45 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10936.95 and 11006.50. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 2.82%, Titan Co up by 2.13%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.97%, Tata Motors up by 1.85% and ONGC was up by 1.68%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 4.24%, HPCL down by 3.02%, UPL down by 2.12%, BPCL down by 1.83% and Indian Oil Corporation was down by 1.58% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng declined 3.17 points or 0.01% to 28,114.25, KOSPI slipped 7.03 points or 0.31% to 2,283.08, Shanghai Composite fell 15.12 points or 0.55% to 2,772.14 and Nikkei 225 was down by 10.68 points or 0.05% to 22,783.51.
On the other side, Taiwan Weighted gained 4.72 points or 0.04% to 10,847.18, Jakarta Composite strengthened 12.60 points or 0.21% to 5,903.33 and Straits Times was up by 31.14 points or 0.95% to 3,271.64.
