Benchmarks manage to keep head above water in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks are trading flat in early deals and are somehow managing to keep their head above water, as traders are taking some comfort with a private report stating that India has been remarkably resilient in the recent turmoil in emerging market equities largely driven by macro stability, low policy uncertainty, improving growth and domestic flows. Market participants also got some solace with Retirement fund body the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) payroll data suggesting that as many as 47.13 lakh jobs were created during September 2017 to June this year. Adding to the optimism, Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu reviewed two proposed policies- on agriculture export and new industrial policy to take the country’s exports to a new level.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading in green at this point of time, as investors optimistically looking ahead Wednesday’s release of the minutes from this month’s FOMC meeting as well as a meeting of central bankers later this week. The US markets rose on Monday on optimism over trade talks between the United States and China, though they fell from session highs after President Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve’s raising interest rates.

Back home, aviation sector stocks are trading mostly in green with report that giving in to demand from the airlines, the GST Council may propose to bring Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) under the indirect tax regime in its next meeting. Steel sector stocks are trading mixed with report that India’s steel ministry has strongly opposed the inclusion of finished steel products in the proposed regional free-trade agreement, saying it would have an adverse impact on the industry that’s recovering from a crisis.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38282.50, up by 3.75 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 38233.22 and 38402.96. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.02%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.39%, TECK up by 0.27%, Utilities up by 0.15%, Auto up by 0.14% and Power was up by 0.14%, while Realty down by 1.12%, Consumer Durables down by 0.59%, Metal down by 0.57%, Healthcare down by 0.42% and Energy down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 0.93%, Asian Paints up by 0.93%, Wipro up by 0.81%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.77% and HDFC Bank up by 0.66%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 1.19%, ICICI Bank down by 0.96%, SBI down by 0.93%, ONGC down by 0.89% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to achieve the target of doubling farmer’s income by 2022, the Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said that there is a need to boost crop productivity using fewer resources. He also pointed out that export of water guzzling crops like paddy was not in the interest of the nation or its farmers.

Chand said ‘We should aim to get more productivity from less resource if we want to double farm income by 2022’. He also highlighted rising per capita consumption of edible oils that has led to huge imports of cooking oils.

Earlier, Ramesh Chand had said MSP hike for crops and adoption of model APMC Act by states would help in doubling farmers’ income by 2022. These actions, including fostering competitive markets, are in line with the government’s target of doubling farmers’ income in five years. He said the growth in agriculture sector is close to 5 per cent which is reasonable to achieve the target.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11556.15, up by 4.40 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 11542.50 and 11581.75. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.76%, UPL up by 1.99%, GAIL India up by 1.61%, Coal India up by 1.44% and Bharti Infratel up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 1.26%, Titan Co down by 1.10%, Grasim Industries down by 0.96%, ICICI Bank down by 0.95% and Tata Steel down by 0.94% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 gained 57.52 points or 0.26% to 22,256.52, Taiwan Weighted increased 63.70 points or 0.59% to 10,762.75, Straits Times rose 2.07 points or 0.06% to 3,206.78, Jakarta Composite jumped 42.15 points or 0.71% to 5,934.34, Hang Seng added 131.61 points or 0.47% to 27,729.63, KOSPI surged 19.95 points or 0.88% to 2,267.83 and Shanghai Composite up by 38.66 points or 1.41% to 2,737.13.