Barometer gauges move in narrow range; Nifty, Sensex back in green zone

Indian markets were moving in a narrow range with Nifty and Sensex back in green zone on account of buying in IT, TECK and Consumer Durables stocks. Some level of optimism persisted on the street with RBI data showing that bank credit rose by a healthy 14.41 percent during the fortnight to October 26 despite the overall increase in lending rates, for first time in over five years. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the indirect tax reform had only a 'transient' impact on growth and that too for two quarters, hitting out at the 'critics and cynics' who blame GST for growth deceleration. However, gains remain capped due to profit booking in index heavyweights like Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp and Vedanta. Weak rupee also kept a lid on the gains. Besides, traders remained cautious with private report stating that corporate earnings have failed to keep pace with the trajectory of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) over the past 10 years. The combined net profit of listed companies has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1 per cent, against 12.9 per cent growth in India’s GDP at nominal prices during the period.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after a soft opening as the markets looked to rebound from Friday’s weakness, although investors remained wary of lingering U.S.-China trade tensions and shaky oil prices. Back home, some concerns also came with Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan stating that demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes along with implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime are the two major headwinds that held back the country’s economic growth last year. He also stressed that 7% gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is not sufficient to meet the country’s needs. On the sectoral front, Auto stocks was in focus with SIAM data showing that car sales grew marginally by 0.38 per cent to 1,85,400 units last month as compared to 1,84,706 units in October last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35183.64, up by 25.09 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 35094.33 and 35333.22. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.04%, while Small cap index down by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.71%, TECK up by 1.32%, Consumer Durables up by 0.79%, Healthcare up by 0.30% and Capital Goods up by 0.20%, while Telecom down by 1.14%, Realty down by 0.94%, PSU down by 0.65%, Auto down by 0.64% and Power down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.16%, TCS up by 1.63%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.05%, Tata Steel up by 0.99% and Indusind Bank up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.76%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.95%, Adani Ports down by 1.62%, Power Grid down by 1.54% and Vedanta down by 1.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, halting three months of consecutive decline, sales of domestic passenger vehicles (PVs), the largest segment by volumes in the country, increased by 1.55 per cent to 2,84,224 units in October from 2,79,877 units in the corresponding month last year. According to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), car sales grew marginally by 0.38 per cent to 1,85,400 units last month as compared to 1,84,706 units in October last year.

SIAM has pointed out that positive growth in PV sales witnessed in October is reflective of the overall trend in the automobile industry. It noted that overall, the data shows pretty healthy growth and there is a positive movement in the automobile industry. Besides, it showed that motorcycle sales last month grew 20.14 per cent to 13,27,758 units compared to 11,05,140 units in October 2017. It also noted that total two-wheeler sales in October were up 17.23 per cent to 20,53,497 units as against 17,51,608 units in the year-ago period.

The data further indicated the commercial vehicle segment - which includes light, and medium, and heavy vehicles - logged an impressive 24.82 per cent growth to 87,147 units in October as against 69,816 units in the year-ago month. It added that vehicle sales across categories registered a growth of 15.33 per cent to 24,94,426 units from 21,62,869 units in October 2017.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10599.15, up by 13.95 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 10571.55 and 10645.50. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.12%, Titan Co up by 2.97%, Infosys up by 2.35%, HCL Tech. up by 2.15% and Cipla up by 1.53%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 3.94%, Tata Motors down by 2.66%, Hindalco down by 2.22%, Adani Ports down by 2.09% and Bharti Infratel down by 1.97% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 50.410 points or 0.2% to 25,652.33, Shanghai Composite advanced 16.83 points or 0.64% to 2,615.70, Taiwan Weighted increased 1.20 points or 0.01% to 9,831.21 and Nikkei 225 was up 19.63 points or 0.09% to 22,269.88. On other hand, Straits Times decreased 18.03 points or 0.59% to 3,059.94, KOSPI declined 9.89 points or 0.48% to 2,076.20 and Jakarta Composite was down 47.94 points or 0.82% to 5,826.21.