Local equities continue lackluster trade

Pressurized by weak global cues, local equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in morning session, with losses of around one third a percent. A level of pressure was seen on frontline stocks, especially Hindustan Unilever and Mahindra & Mahindra. Consumer Durables, Auto and Bankex counters witnessed notable losses, while Healthcare and IT sectors edged higher. Some cautiousness came with a report that the monthly CPI and IIP data has showed signs of double trouble, with inflation rising and factory output slowing. The September CPI Inflation rose, albeit moderately, to 3.77% from 3.69% in the previous month, although, inflation is still within the 4% range of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Investors took note of report that the government may not go for another round of import duty hike on any more items and could take other measures to contain the impact of rupee slide on current account deficit (CAD). However, losses remained capped as traders are getting some solace with Economic Affairs Secretary S C Garg’s statement that structural reforms in areas like taxation and bankruptcy are helping the Indian economy in building resilience to global shocks and maintain a robust growth rate despite challenges. Besides, SBI reported that the RBI is not expected to hike key lending rates in the current fiscal.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as investor worries continued about global trade tensions and prospects for economic growth. Back home, in scrip specific development, Allcargo surged on investing Rs 1,000 crore in 4 logistics parks. Beside, Vakrangee touched the roof on launching over 40 NextGen Vakrangee Kendras.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34611.23, down by 122.35 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 34588.52 and 35008.65. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.85%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 1.84%, IT up by 0.71%, TECK up by 0.54%, Energy up by 0.51% and Telecom was up by 0.25%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.14%, Auto down by 0.98%, Bankex down by 0.82%, Consumer Disc down by 0.81% and Capital Goods was down by 0.71% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.59%, Sun Pharma up by 1.58%, ITC up by 1.40%, Reliance Industries up by 0.99% and Tata Motors was up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 3.83%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.28%, ICICI Bank down by 2.15%, Axis Bank down by 1.98% and Larsen & Toubro was down by 1.68% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, halting two-month easing trend, India’s retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) inched up to 3.77% in the month of September 2018, as compared to a 10-month low of 3.69% recorded in August 2018 and 3.28% in September 2018. The rise is mainly on account of higher fuel and food prices coupled with depreciating rupee. However, the inflation rate has remained well within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) medium-term inflation target of 4% with (+/-) 2% range. Besides, the annual rate of food price inflation, which accounts for about half of the consumer price index (CPI), rose to 0.51% in September, against 0.29% in August, though it was lower than 1.25% in September 2017.

As per the data of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme, the CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base2012=100 for September 2018, stood at 3.34%, 4.31% and 3.77% respectively, compared to 3.15%, 3.44% and 3.28%, respectively in September 2017. The index value of CPI for combined stood at 140.3. The data also showed that Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural and Urban for September 2018 stood at 0.94% and (-) 0.22%, respectively, compared to 1.31% and 1.25%, respectively in September 2017. The index value of CFPI for combined stood at 138.9 for the month of September.

In categories such as cereals, meat and fish, eggs, milk products, retail inflation showed an upward trend. However, in fruits the inflation rate moderated in September. The Food and beverages inflation was at 1.08% in September, while Pan, tobacco and intoxicants stood at 5.57%. Moreover, during September, clothing and footwear inflation was at 4.64%, housing inflation at 7.07%. In fuel and light category, the rate of price rise was at 8.47% in September. Also, miscellaneous category which includes items like household goods and services, health, transport and communication, recreation and amusement, Education, personal care and effects etc witnessed inflation rate of 5.65%.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10437.15, down by 35.35 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 10425.30 and 10524.60. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 3.69%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.98%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 1.88%, Cipla up by 1.78% and Hindalco was up by 1.65%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 3.70%, Hindustan Unilever down by 3.64%, Eicher Motors down by 2.74%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.55% and ICICI Bank was down by 2.27% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI slipped 14.70 points or 0.68% to 2,147.15, Straits Times fell 10.98 points or 0.36% to 3,058.19, Hang Seng dropped 287.54 points or 1.13% to 25,513.95, Taiwan Weighted lost 127.61 points or 1.29% to 9,918.20, Shanghai Composite decreased 20.65 points or 0.8% to 2,586.26 and Nikkei 225 was down by 367.38 points or 1.65% to 22,327.28.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite was up by 10.95 points or 0.19% to 5,767.44.