Local bourses continue to trade above water

Indian equities gained marginal strength to continue their trade in green terrain in the late afternoon session on back of buying in front line counters of L&T, Reliance Industries, NTPC and Power Grid, while selling was witnessed in Tata Motors, Vedanta and Tata Steel. Traders got some support with Moody's Investors Service’s report that the Indian economy is expected to grow by around 7.5 per cent in 2018 and 2019 as it is largely resilient to external pressures like those from higher oil prices. Some optimism came with SBI’s report that the country’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.7 per cent in the April-June quarter on the back of pick up in leading indicators like cement production, sale of vehicles and bank credit. However, gains remain capped on report that government has imposed standard conditions for as many as 25 sectors like steel, coal and oil, seeking environment clearance (EC) for expansion of existing projects or new projects.

On the global front, European markets are trading in green after the latest round of US-China tariffs kicked in, hurting trade-sensitive autos stocks but boosting demand for sectors seen as more insulated from an escalating trade dispute. Also, most of the Asian markets are trading in green at this point of time. Back home, Reliance Industries (RIL) trade with traction after the company becomes first Indian company to cross Rs 8 trillion in market cap. Stocks of L&T also edged higher as board approves share buyback proposal.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38327.51, up by 41.76 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 38227.36 and 38487.63. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.08%, while Small cap index down by 0.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.35%, FMCG up by 1.07%, IT up by 1.07%, Healthcare up by 1.00% and TECK was up by 0.86%, while Metal down by 1.77%, Bankex down by 0.99%, Basic Materials down by 0.86%, PSU down by 0.80% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.25% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.86%, Reliance Industries up by 1.78%, NTPC up by 1.74%, Power Grid up by 1.47% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.74%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.94%, Vedanta down by 2.30%, Tata Steel down by 1.79% and SBI was down by 1.71% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has revised import policy from free to restricted and imposed few restrictions on import of bio-fuels, that include ethyl alcohol and other denatured spirits, bio-diesel, petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals other than crude, through an amendment in import policy.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in its notification said the import of these items, which was free earlier, will now only be allowed for non-fuel purpose on actual user basis as per the National Bio-Fuel Policy.

The government also said export of beach sand minerals has been brought under state trading enterprise and shall be canalised through Indian Rare Earths Limited. Export of rare earth compounds classified as beach sand minerals, permitted anywhere in the export policy, will now be regulated.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11581.65, up by 10.75 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 11546.70 and 11620.70. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.49%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.82%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.23%, NTPC up by 2.18% and Lupin was up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.78%, Hindalco down by 2.87%, Indian Oil down by 2.76%, BPCL down by 2.64% and HPCL was down by 2.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green; Straits Times surged 52.92 points or 1.63% to 3,252.81, Shanghai Composite jumped 10.02 points or 0.37% to 2,724.63, Jakarta Composite rose 19.29 points or 0.32% to 5,963.59, Taiwan Weighted advanced 58.93 points or 0.54% to 10,863.13, KOSPI gained 9.27 points or 0.41% to 2,282.60, Nikkei 225 was up by 48.27 points or 0.22% to 22,410.82.On the other hand, Hang Seng was down by 137.12 points or 0.49% to 27,790.46.

European markets are trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 18.89 points or 0.25% to 7,593.13, France’s CAC jumped 15.95 points or 0.29% to 5,436.56 and Germany’s DAX was up by 13.49 points or 0.11% to 12,399.19