Key gauges trim gains in afternoon session

Key Equity benchmarks trims some of their gains in afternoon session, but continued their trade in positive territory in afternoon session with the Nifty hovering around 11,300. The Sensex is trading marginally higher on value-buying in recently-battered stocks, strengthening of rupee against the dollar and positive global cues. Following with sharp gains in Tata Steel, ONGC and Coal India, likewise Metal, Oil & Gas and Basic Materials have also elevated with gains on their respective front line stocks. Trader took note of a report that SEBI has changed the fee structure for the Rs 25-trillion mutual fund (MF) industry, a decision that will hit the profits of asset management companies (AMCs) but result in savings for investors. Investors ignored a report that though the Centre may manage to achieve the debt-to-GDP ratio target of 40 per cent by FY23, the states achieving the 20 per cent target looks difficult as most of them have not budgeted so far.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investors wagered the world’s two-biggest economies have time to iron out trade differences in the wake of the latest salvos on tariffs. Back home, on scrip specific development, Tata Steel has moved up over 2% on completing acquisition of 51% equity stake in Creative Port Development. Besides, IL&FS Transportation soared with arm signing settlement agreement with NHAI.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37342.44, up by 51.77 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 37295.57 and 37530.63. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.05%, while Small cap index was down by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.92%, Oil & Gas up by 1.02%, Basic Materials up by 0.85%, PSU up by 0.79% and Telecom was up by 0.70%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.17%, Realty down by 0.27%, Consumer Disc down by 0.15%, FMCG down by 0.08%, and Healthcare was down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.47%, ONGC up by 2.19%, Coal India up by 2.08%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.81% and Bajaj Auto was up by 1.48%. On the flip side, HDFC Bank down by 0.92%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.83%, HDFC down by 0.78%, Indusind Bank down by 0.57% and Wipro was down by 0.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India and the United States are closely negotiating a discrete package of trade issues and also expected to close the deal in the next few weeks in order to remove long-standing trade irritants, with Indian farmers and US manufacturers of medical devices being amongst the main winners in a trade package under negotiation. The two countries began discussions in June that also cover India’s concerns over US steel tariffs and US problems with Indian tariffs on imported IT equipment.

The discussions are not aimed at creating a bilateral free trade agreement, but are focused on removing outstanding sources of friction. US President Donald Trump had previously called out India for unfair trade practices, having already waded into clashes with China and the European Union. At an estimated $126 billion, US goods and services trade with India last year was less than a fifth of its trade with China.

India failed to be given a waiver after the Trump administration imposed new import duties on steel and aluminium imports in March, unlike some other nations. The country retaliated by raising tariffs on several US goods but has held back from implementing them while it negotiates a package to soothe ties. The tariffs were to go into effect from Monday midnight but the government issued an order saying these had been deferred until November 2.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11297.15, up by 18.25 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 11280.25 and 11332.05. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.67%, Tata Steel up by 2.46%, Hindalco up by 2.28%, BPCL up by 2.18% and GAIL India was up by 2.12%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 2.43%, Lupin down by 1.43%, Titan down by 1.40%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.30% and Bajaj Finserv was down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng advanced 341.86 points or 1.25% to 27,426.52, Shanghai Composite jumped 38.59 points or 1.41% to 2,738.54, Nikkei 225 rose 251.98 points or 1.06% to 23,672.52, Straits Times surged 32.06 points or 1.01% to 3,171.40, Taiwan Weighted strengthen 97.06 points or 0.89% to 10,857.27 and Jakarta Composite was up by 65.52 points or 1.11% to 5,877.31.
On the flip side KOSPI was down by 0.52 points or 0.02% to 2,308.46.