Lackluster trade continues on Dalal Street

Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in afternoon session, as investors remained cautious ahead of U.S.-China trade talks. Some concern also came in with a private report stating that the credit to micro and small enterprises in June decelerated by 2.4% from March 2018 and it also said that MSME exports appear to be affected more by GST implementation. However, traders got some relief 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. Separately, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said that India needs to improve its wage policies to promote 'inclusive growth' even as low pay, gender wage gap and informality remain pervasive. In the currency front, the rupee emerged strong, and was trading at 69.71 against US Dollar, higher by 12 paise.

On the global front, Asian counters were trading in green, supported by hopes Beijing and Washington would dial back trade hostilities, though comments from the U.S. president about the yuan and Federal Reserve policy capped gains and weighed on the dollar. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38268.24, down by 10.51 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 38213.87 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 was up by 0.44%, while Small cap index was up by 0.21%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.89%, Power up by 0.70%, Oil & Gas up by 0.50%, Utilities up by 0.49% and Industrials up by 0.39%, while Realty down by 1.19%, Bankex down by 0.42%, Telecom down by 0.31%, Metal down by 0.17% and FMCG down by 0.15% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.81%, Coal India up by 2.53%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.29%, Tata Motors up by 1.35% and Reliance Industries up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.17%, SBI down by 1.19%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.15%, ICICI Bank down by 0.87% and Axis Bank down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has reviewed proposed agriculture export policy and new industrial policies. He also scrutinized various export promotion strategies. He said that the government working on new initiatives to take India's exports to the next level.

In March 2018, a draft Agri Export Policy has been released by the Commerce Ministry, which is aimed at doubling agricultural exports and integrate Indian farmers and farm products to the global value chain. Besides, the new industrial policy will replace the old policy of 1991 which was prepared against the backdrop of balance of payment crisis. The proposed industrial policy aims at promoting emerging sectors and modernising existing industries. It will also look to reduce regulatory hurdles and encourage adoption of frontier technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence.

Last year, in August, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) floated a draft industrial policy aiming to create jobs for the next two decades, promote foreign technology transfer and attract $100 billion FDI annually.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11553.30, up by 1.55 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 11539.60 and 11581.75. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 2.94%, Coal India up by 2.78%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.77%, Wipro up by 2.74% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.39%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.14%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.34%, BPCL down by 1.33%, SBI down by 1.24% and ICICI Bank down by 0.96% were the top losers.

All the Asian counters were trading in green; Hang Seng increased 115.47 points or 0.42% to 27,713.49, Straits Times was up by 2.29 points or 0.07% to 3,207.00, KOSPI surged 22.18 points or 0.98% to 2,270.06, Taiwan Weighted rose 93.15 points or 0.86% to 10,792.20, Shanghai Composite added 35.02 points or 1.28% to 2,733.49, Jakarta Composite increased 46.17 points or 0.78% to 5,938.36 and Nikkei 225 was up by 20.73 points or 0.09% to 22,219.73.