Local equities trade in fine fettle

Local equity benchmarks are trading in fine fettle in morning session, ahead of August retail inflation data due later in the day. FMCG, IT and Metal counters were on the priority list of the buyers. Power Grid, Adani Ports and Hindustan Unilever exhibited a smart performance. Besides, the Indian rupee opened at a fresh record low and was trading just 10 paise away from hitting the 73-mark against the US dollar following advances in international crude oil prices. Some comfort came with financial services secretary Rajiv Kumar’s statement that the government has doubled the pecuniary limit to Rs 20 lakh for filing applications in the debt recovery tribunals (DRTs) to declutter them and help them focus on high-value matter. Some optimism also came with a private report that the rupee plunge has prompted the government to step up its scrutiny of high-value and relatively non-essential imports such as those of gold and certain electronic items to gauge their debilitating impact on trade and current account balance. Investors were also taking note of a report that the recent increase in petrol and diesel prices is likely to give state governments a windfall gain of around Rs 22,700 crore over and above the budget estimates for current fiscal.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as investors see no end in sight for trade tensions. The region’s currencies have also been hit by prospects for tighter US monetary policy following a raft of strong American economic data. Back home, in scrip specific development, Toyam Industries surged on inking pact with SPN, PVR. Besides, Narayana Hrudayalaya gained with arm inking agreement with Imperial Hospital in Bangladesh.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37503.78, up by 90.65 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 37370.14 and 37638.16. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.41%, while Small cap index was down by 0.73%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.19%, IT up by 0.40%, TECK up by 0.29%, Metal up by 0.28% and Energy up by 0.24%, while Realty down by 1.28%, Consumer Durables down by 1.14%, Auto down by 0.72%, Consumer Disc down by 0.66% and Telecom was down by 0.46% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 2.46%, Adani Ports up by 2.02%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.94%, Vedanta up by 1.55% and ONGC was up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.32%, Tata Motors down by 1.95%, Axis Bank down by 1.91%, ICICI Bank down by 1.75% and Tata Motors - DVR was down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting strong performance of the secondary steel sector and various initiatives taken by Government to improve performance of steel sector, the Steel Ministry has said that it is expecting India to rise to the second position in global steel output after China. The Ministry further underlined that growing in conjunction with the primary steel sector, the secondary steel sector holds enormous potential for growth and opportunities in the country.  Currently, with about 6% share in the total world crude steel production, India occupies the third position behind China and Japan. The steel industry in India contributes nearly 2% to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Moreover, the ministry highlighted that one of the significant aspects of the secondary steel sector is that it reaches out to millions of people in the rural areas, meeting rural demand. The ministry further added that this sector has certain specific advantages over the primary steel sector such as lower capital and land requirements and the capability to produce special sections and customized products.  The secondary steel sector comprises various sub-sectors such as sponge iron units, re-rolling mills, cold rolling mills, galvanising units, wire drawing units, and tinplate producers with annual production capacity of less than 1 million tonne and they meet the country's demand for value added steel products.

Besides, enumerating the steps to promote secondary steel producers besides instituting award, the government stated these included supporting energy efficiency projects and R&D activities, strengthening institutional support and protecting domestic producers from below-cost import from foreign countries through anti-dumping measures. The ministry will be giving away awards to the secondary steel sector on September 13, 2018 in New Delhi. The awards have been instituted in order to encourage the secondary steel sector as it plays a key role as a growth engine for the national economy and employment generation.

Additionally, the National Steel Policy 2017 has set a target of 300 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of production capacity by 2030. The production capacity in 2017-18 has already reached 137.97 million tonnes (MT). The World crude steel production in 2017 registered a growth rate of about 5.3% as compared to the previous year. The global production in 2017 stood at 1691.2 million tonnes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11301.95, up by 14.45 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 11264.25 and 11340.10. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 2.27%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.99%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.95%, Grasim Industries up by 1.57% and ONGC was up by 1.49%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 3.10%, Titan Company down by 2.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.52%, Axis Bank down by 2.38% and Tata Motors was down by 2.32% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Hang Seng slipped 102.89 points or 0.39% to 26,319.66, Taiwan Weighted lost 77.88 points or 0.73% to 10,674.42, Straits Times declined 3.36 points or 0.11% to 3,106.55, KOSPI dropped 6.56 points or 0.29% to 2,276.64, Shanghai Composite fell 8.91 points or 0.34% to 2,655.89 and Nikkei 225 was down by 76.93 points or 0.34% to 22,587.76.

On the other side, Jakarta Composite was up by 21.78 points or 0.37% to 5,852.90.