Local equities continue lackluster trade

Local equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in morning session, taking weak clues from the other Asian markets. Metal, PSU and Healthcare counters witnessed notable losses, while Auto, Consumer Durables and Realty sectors edged higher. A level of pressure was seen on frontline stocks, especially Sun Pharma, SBI and Coal India. Some cautiousness came with a private report stating that India's battered rupee will trade in a tight range in the coming year but not far from its historic low, hampered by higher oil prices and as trade tensions hurt emerging markets. The Indian currency has lost over 7% this year, with worries over the US-China trade conflict. However, losses remained capped as traders are getting some solace with Finance Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that he has once again issued hints towards a reduction in prices of more items under GST framework. The revenue collection will increase, GST on more items can be slashed. Meanwhile, a private report also state that India’s economic activity is picking up, boosted by a long-awaited recovery in consumption that’s helped cut down slack in the economy and underpinned sales of everything from cars to housing.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as trade and broader geopolitical concerns continue to weigh on over investor sentiment. Back home, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and property consultant JLL has indicated that the real estate sector in India attracted an investment of around Rs 24,011 crore during the first half of 2018 (H1 2018), boosted by a rise in consumer confidence on account of the implementation of the Real Estate. In scrip specific development, Adani Green Energy surged on acquiring 100% stake in Adani Renewable Energy Park. Beside, Eicher Motors gained on reporting 25% rise in Q1 consolidated net profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37951.24, down by 73.13 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 37911.11 and 38051.45. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.16%, while Small cap index was down by 0.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.28%, Realty up by 0.26%, Consumer Durables up by 0.25%, Consumer Disc up by 0.21%, Capital Goods up by 0.10%, while Metal down by 0.72%, PSU down by 0.66%, Healthcare down by 0.62%, Energy down by 0.51% and Utilities was down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 2.18%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.42%, Asian Paints up by 1.18%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.88% and Hero MotoCorp was up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.05%, Coal India down by 2.00%, SBI down by 1.69%, ICICI Bank down by 0.92% and NTPC was down by 0.81% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India's pharmaceutical exports rose only 3% to $17.3 billion in last financial year (FY18) as compared to $16.7 in FY17, while in financial year 2016 exports were $16.9 billion. The marginal rise in exports was on account of increasing regulatory concerns and pricing pressures in the global markets, including the US. Besides, import alerts by the US Food and Drug Administration, regulatory hurdles and currency fluctuation also contributed to slow growth in the overseas shipments.

The sector accounted for about 6% in the country's total exports of $303 billion in last financial year (FY18). It is one of the top five sectors in the exports segment. Generic drugs form the largest segment of the Indian pharmaceutical sector, with 75% market share (in terms of revenues). Over 55% of India's exports go to highly regulated markets.

India supplies 20% of global generic medicines in terms of volume, making the country the largest provider of generic medicines globally. The US is the top destination for Indian pharma exports, followed by the UK. America accounts for about 25% of the country's shipments. The other important destinations include South Africa, Russia, Nigeria, Brazil and Germany. Additionally, the government is working on measures to promote exports in Japan and China, tough registration and regulatory procedures there act as hindrance for domestic exporters.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11451.10, down by 19.60 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 11433.50 and 11478.75. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 3.24%, Yes Bank up by 2.60%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.39%, UPL up by 1.37% and Asian Paints was up by 0.99%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.30%, Coal India down by 1.79%, SBI down by 1.75%, Grasim Industries down by 1.53% and NTPC was down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI slipped 20.06 points or 0.88% to 2,283.65, Taiwan Weighted declined 33.80 points or 0.31% to 10,994.27, Straits Times tumbled 39.76 points or 1.21% to 3,286.98, Nikkei 225 lost 171.90 points or 0.77% to 22,426.49, Hang Seng fell 195.45 points or 0.69% to 28,411.85 and Shanghai Composite was down by 3.85 points or 0.14% to 2,790.53.

On the other side; Jakarta Composite was up by 28.14 points or 0.46% to 6,093.40.