Indian markets trade flat with negative bias

Paring all their gains, Indian markets are trading flat with negative bias in the early noon deals on the back of some selling in IT, TECK and FMCG stocks. Some concerns came with commerce and industry ministry’s data showing that growth of eight infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.3% in September, the lowest in the last four months, as production of crude oil and natural gas declined. However, losses remained capped with report that the country's manufacturing sector activity improved in October, as firms scaled up production and employment levels amid strong rise in new business order flows. Traders took note of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the government is committed to economic reforms to ensure an environment that fosters investments after India climbed in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking. Besides, strengthening of rupee against the US dollar also helped indices cap their losses.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green as investors’ sentiments got some support from another robust Wall Street session, while the pound rallied on a report Britain has secured a deal that would give its financial services firms continued access to European markets after Brexit. Back home, stocks related to handloom and agriculture sector was in focus with report that the US revoked duty-free concessions on import of at least 50 Indian products, mostly from handloom and agriculture sectors, reflecting the Trump administration's tough stand on trade-related issues with India.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34437.38, down by 4.67 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 34373.18 and 34679.93. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.27%, while Small cap index up by 1.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 4.01%, Industrials up by 2.59%, Realty up by 1.71%, Basic Materials up by 1.18% and Metal up by 0.90%, while IT down by 1.76%, TECK down by 1.59%, FMCG down by 0.74% and Telecom down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 7.82%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.92%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.72%, Indusind Bank up by 2.71% and Tata Motors up by 2.52%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.01%, Wipro down by 1.95%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.80%, TCS down by 1.54% and ITC down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the growth of eight core infrastructure industries slowed to four-month low of 4.3% in September 2018, as production of crude oil and natural gas declined. According to data released by the ministry of Commerce and Industry, the combined Index of eight core industries stood at 127.2 in September, 2018, which was 4.3% higher compared to the index of September, 2017. Its cumulative growth during April to September, 2018-19 was 5.5%. The Eight Core Industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).    

Among eight core sectors, Coal production having 10.33% weight rose 6.4% in September, 2018 over September, 2017, and its cumulative index increased by 9.6% during April to September, 2018-19 over corresponding period of the previous year. Petroleum Refinery production having 28.04% weight increased 2.5% in September, 2018 over September, 2017 and its cumulative index surged by 6.6% during April to September, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.

The Natural Gas production having 6.88% weight declined by 1.8% in September, 2018 over September, 2017, and its cumulative index was down by 0.8% during April to September, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. On the flip side, Steel production having 17.92% weight jumped by 3.2% in September, 2018 over September, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 3.5% during April to September, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year.

Fertilizer production having 2.63% weight increased by 2.5% in September, 2018 over September, 2017, and its cumulative index rose by 1.8% during April to September, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. Cement production having 5.37% weight jumped 11.8% in September, 2018 over September, 2017 and its cumulative index increased by 14.4% during April to September, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. On the other hand, Crude Oil production having 8.98% weight declined by 4.2% in September, 2018 over September, 2017 and its cumulative index fell by 3.4% during April to September, 2018-19 over the corresponding period of previous year. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10378.30, down by 8.30 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10356.80 and 10441.90. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 7.92%, Larsen & Toubro up by 5.13%, Indiabulls Housing up by 4.36%, HPCL up by 2.74% and Indusind Bank up by 2.61%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 3.40%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.66%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.40%, GAIL India down by 2.30% and Infosys down by 2.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 353.730 points or 1.4% to 25,333.42, Shanghai Composite increased 12.65 points or 0.48% to 2,615.43, Jakarta Composite increased 1.11 points or 0.02% to 5,832.76, Straits Times increased 39.64 points or 1.3% to 3,058.44 and Taiwan Weighted increased 42.61 points or 0.43% to 9,844.74.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 decreased 232.81 points or 1.07% to 21,687.65 and KOSPI decreased 3.61 points or 0.18% to 2,026.08.