Indian equity benchmarks made a pessimistic start and are trading marginally in red in early deals, as traders remained on sidelines ahead of Services PMI data for the month of October to be released later in the day. Traders were concerned with a private report stating that overseas investors pulled out a massive Rs 38,900 crore (over $5 billion) from the capital markets in October, the steepest outflow in nearly two years, on rising crude oil prices, depreciating rupee and worsening current account deficit. With this, the total outflow from the capital markets (equity and debt together) has reached over Rs 1 lakh crore so far this year. Sentiments also remain dampened with an another private report saying with global crude prices remaining elevated, the rupee is likely to be under pressure, and may touch the 76 levels against the US currency over the next three months.
Global cues too remained dismal with all the Asian markets trading in red at this point of time amid concern over whether trade tensions with China can be mended. The US markets ended lower on Friday amid contradictory accounts of expectations for a near-term resolution to a protracted US-China trade clash coupled with steep drop by Apple.
Back home, losses remain capped as traders took some support with report that about 75 lakh new tax filers have been added to the income tax payers list in the country this fiscal till now. The target for the taxman is to add 1.25 crore fresh tax filers by the end of the 2018-19 financial year that ends in March next year. Select stocks related to banking sector remained on buyers’ radar with report that the Finance Ministry is likely to finalise the second round of capital infusion for public sector banks (PSBs) towards the end of this month taking into account the latest quarter’s performance.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 34986.93, down by 24.72 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 34848.49 and 35123.41. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.32%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.67%, Healthcare up by 0.75%, IT up by 0.52%, TECK up by 0.32% and FMCG was up by 0.32%, while Power down by 1.54%, Utilities down by 0.73%, Energy down by 0.36%, Oil & Gas down by 0.31% and PSU was down by 0.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 2.07%, ONGC up by 1.62%, Sun Pharma up by 1.38%, SBI up by 1.28% and Yes Bank up by 0.93%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 3.07%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.97%, Indusind Bank down by 1.75%, ICICI Bank down by 1.50% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.83% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, expressing optimism over growth of Indian economy, the NITI Aayog’s chief executive officer Amitabh Kant said that if the women workforce increases to 48% from the 24% present, the country can add an additional $700 billion to its economy. He added that for this, attention should be on women’s health and education. He also said that India can grow at a rate of 9% to 10% only if there is gender parity.
Elaborating further he said only 24% of the women in the country work, while the percentage is 48 across the world. In order to achieve this, men have to push women into employment. He said there is a need to create jobs for women for which their education and nutrition, especially in rural areas and eastern parts of the country, were imperative.
Talking about challenges India faces to achieve growth, Kant said creation of a world-class infrastructure like in China is a challenge to India where there is a mismatch between demand and supply. He also said that the government should take up greenfield infrastructure projects on roads and airports and allow private sector for operations and maintenance.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10541.70, down by 11.30 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 10498.40 and 10558.80. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.14%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.08%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.76%, ONGC up by 1.62% and HCL Tech up by 1.48%. On the flip side, Indian Oil Corporation down by 4.11%, NTPC down by 3.26%, HPCL down by 2.62%, BPCL down by 2.43% and Power Grid Corporation down by 1.98% were the top losers.
All the Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 declined 287.06 points or 1.31% to 21,956.60, Taiwan Weighted decreased 92.43 points or 0.94% to 9,814.16, Straits Times dropped 57.70 points or 1.89% to 3,058.69, Jakarta Composite slipped 2.56 points or 0.04% to 5,903.73, Hang Seng tumbled 701.15 points or 2.72% to 25,785.20, KOSPI shed 30.88 points or 1.5% to 2,065.12 and Shanghai Composite was down by 26.64 points or 1.01% to 2,649.84.
