Weak trade continues on Dalal Street

Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in afternoon deals, as caution set in ahead the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India’s fifth bi-monthly policy review. The mood of the markets remained impacted with Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that the country’s economy is likely to bounce back during the fourth quarter at a faster rate to match the overall projection for the current fiscal, but, he added that the economy is unlikely to recover in the third quarter from the slow pace during the last quarter. The market participants overlooked a monthly survey indicating that the country's services sector activity in November expanded at the quickest pace since July, driven by new work orders and favourable market conditions, which in turn led to a continued rise in jobs. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index rose to a four-month high of 53.7 in November, from 52.2 in October. On the sectoral front, shares of paper companies were trading higher amid reports that the government has imposed anti-dumping duty on uncoated copier paper imports from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red, following a bloodletting on Wall Street as goodwill generated by a truce between the U.S. and China over trade evaporated in confusion over what the two sides had agreed upon. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35954.37, down by 179.94 points or 0.50% after trading in a range of 35863.59 and 36048.65. There were 10 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.95%, while Small cap index was down by 0.98%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 2.75%, Basic Materials down by 1.80%, Auto down by 1.61%, Power down by 1.59% and Industrials down by 1.33%, while there were no gaining indices on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 0.92%, Yes Bank up by 0.51%, HDFC up by 0.51%, Wipro up by 0.49% and HDFC Bank up by 0.31%. On the flip side, Tata Motors  DVR down by 3.12%, Tata Motors down by 2.76%, Tata Steel down by 2.75%, Vedanta down by 2.55% and Coal India down by 2.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) dispute settlement body has decided to establish a panel to assess if high customs duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products infringes global trade norms. India had asked the Geneva-based multilateral body to set up the dispute panel against the US for imposing high import duties on certain steel and aluminium products, as both the countries failed to resolve the issue in a bilateral consultation process under the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.

Consultation is the first step of the dispute settlement process in the organization. If the two countries are not able to reach a mutually agreed solution through consultation, a country can request for a WTO dispute settlement panel to review the matter. Imposition of high import duties on these items by the US has impacted exports of these products by Indian businesses. The US move is also not in compliance with global trade norms.

Besides, India, Russia, Norway, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, and European Union have also dragged the US in the WTO on Washington's move to impose 25% and 10% import duties on certain steel and aluminium products, respectively, which triggered global trade tensions. India has a significant export interest to the US on the steel and aluminium sector. As per estimates, India exports steel and aluminium goods worth about $1.6 billion a year to the US. The US had imposed these duties on grounds of national security.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10803.60, down by 65.90 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 10781.40 and 10821.05. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 1.82%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.24%, HCL Tech. up by 1.07%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.06% and HDFC up by 0.53%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.69%, Grasim Industries down by 3.00%, Tata Motors down by 2.82%, Tata Steel down by 2.80% and JSW Steel down by 2.60% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 116.72 points or 0.53% to 21,919.33, Straits Times fell 24.92 points or 0.79% to 3,142.87, Taiwan Weighted dipped 166.80 points or 1.68% to 9,916.74, Hang Seng decreased 440.21 points or 1.64% to 26,820.23, KOSPI was down by 13.04 points or 0.62% to 2,101.31, Shanghai Composite dropped 14.73 points or 0.56% to 2,651.23 and Jakarta Composite shed 41.33 points or 0.68% to 6,111.53.