Domestic equities continue to trade on a flat note

Domestic equities continued to trade in flat in early afternoon session, with both Sensex and Nifty were trading below their crucial 38,250 and 11,550 marks respectively. Selling in Sun Pharma, Yes Bank and SBI dampened sentiments, while buying in blue chip stocks such as Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank and Wipro helped markets to cap losses. Traders remained cautious with NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that India needs to cut down on oil imports and switch towards electric mobility, and stressed on the Centre’s focus towards urban mobility. The Indian rupee recovered 25 paise from the day's low point of 72.03 after a marginally higher opening at 71.95 per dollar. However, some relief came with Commerce and Industry minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that India seeks US partnership to boost various sectors and grow the bilateral trade to $ 500-600 billion from $ 125 billion currently, with a good strategy under a stipulated time.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as investors feared a new round of Sino-US tariffs could come at any moment, while a slump in US chip stocks rippled through the tech sector. Back home, on the sectoral front Auto stocks remained in focus with transport minister Nitin Gadkari statement that Electric vehicles and vehicles that run on alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and ethanol will not require permits to ply on roads. In scrip specific developments, Tata Steel surged on unveiling new sustainable technology for steel production and Welspun Corp gained on bagging order for supply of 220 KMT of Pipes.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38225.41, down by 17.40 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 38067.22 and 38331.19. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index surged 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.35%, Consumer Durables up by 0.91%, Auto up by 0.82%, FMCG up by 0.55% and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services was up by 0.53%, while Bankex down by 0.52%, PSU down by 0.48%, Power down by 0.38% and Utilities was down by 0.14% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Auto up by 3.08%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.18%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.90%, Tata Motors up by 1.83% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 3.92%, Yes Bank down by 3.10%, SBI down by 2.04%, Power Grid down by 1.71% and ONGC was down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has urged the US to take a ‘balanced and sensitive’ view on the issue of proposed changes in America's H-1B visa policy as this could effect the people-to-people links that are crucial for energising bilateral ties. During the first 2+2 dialogue between the two countries, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sought US Secretary of State Micheal Pompeo’s support for nurturing people-to-people exchanges.

Sushma Swaraj stated that in view of the friendship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, Indians feel the US will not do anything against their interests.  She said “I have asked him (Pompeo) that he should make sure that people continue to have this confidence.”  Besides, the ministers of both countries highlighted the unmatched people-to-people ties between their countries and recognised the benefits to both nations and the world from these ties, including the free flow of ideas and collaboration in health, space, oceans, and other areas of science and technology.

The H1B visa is an employment-based, non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The Trump administration is pushing for a reform of the H-1B system, saying some IT companies were abusing the US work visas to deny jobs to American workers. However, the US had recently extended by over five months the temporary suspension of premium processing for H1-B visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, as part of its efforts to clear the backlog.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11543.35, up by 6.45 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 11484.40 and 11566.45. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Auto up by 3.03%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.53%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.12%, Tata Motors up by 1.85% and Lupin was up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 4.13%, Yes Bank down by 3.11%, SBI down by 1.74%, Power Grid Corpn. down by 1.63% and HCL Tech was down by 1.35% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Straits Times lost 19.15 points or 0.61% to 3,128.54, Taiwan Weighted fell 82.23 points or 0.76% to 10,842.07, Hang Seng tumbled 119.71 points or 0.45% to 26,855.11, KOSPI declined 11.85 points or 0.52% to 2,275.76 and Nikkei 225 was down by 191.45 points or 0.86% to 22,296.49.

On the other hand Shanghai Composite advanced 7.42 points or 0.27% to 2,699.01 and Jakarta Composite was up by 20.22 points or 0.35% to 5,796.32.