Benchmarks trade slightly in red in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made a cautious start and are trading tad below their neutral lines in early deals on Thursday. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of third-quarter corporate earnings for the financial year 2018-2019, with Tata Consultancy services (TCS) reporting quarterly results later in the day. The company is expected to continue to deliver healthy earnings in October-December quarter though furloughs could impact some growth. However, losses remain capped as traders took some encouragement with PwC-Ficci survey showing that India Inc expects over seven percent growth in the next 12 months on the back of a number of policy initiatives taken by the government. As per the report, the Indian economy is likely to grow at an average rate of 7% or more in the coming year. It added that India Inc is upbeat about the future of the economy as growth is to be driven by strong domestic demand and an increased focus on export markets.

On the global front, most of the Asian counters trading in green at this point of time after Chinese inflation data came in below expectations. The US markets ended higher for fourth straight session on Wednesday after the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting confirmed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's recent remarks suggesting the central bank will take a patient approach to further interest rate increases.

Back home, Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu urged the finance ministry to make the process of refund of GST input tax credit online. In scrip specific developments, Ashok Leyland surged on bagging orders from IRT, UPSRTC, CTU for 2580 buses and Bajaj Consumer Care gained on reporting 9% rise in Q3 net profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36203.54, down by 9.37 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 36127.33 and 36269.31. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.38%, while Small cap index was up by 0.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.68%, Auto up by 0.49%, Capital Goods up by 0.47%, Industrials up by 0.45% and FMCG was up by 0.36%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.63%, Telecom down by 0.57%, Bankex down by 0.47%, Energy down by 0.30% and PSU was down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.34%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.94%, NTPC up by 0.86%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.83% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.75%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.11%, Axis Bank down by 1.23%, HCL Tech. down by 0.60%, Asian Paints down by 0.59% and HDFC down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and PwC in their latest survey report stated that India Inc expects Indian economy likely to grow over 7% in the next 12 months on the back of a number of policy initiatives taken by the government. India Inc is upbeat about the future of the economy as growth is to be driven by strong domestic demand and an increased focus on export markets.

As per the report titled ‘The India Manufacturing Barometer 2019’, the key driving factors for growth of economy includes strong public sector driven infrastructure development, easing out of business and regulatory processes, and opening up of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in several sectors, including simplification of FDI rules for large investments. The industry believes that the GST will help attract foreign and domestic investment across new locations. It will contribute to improving logistics which includes ease of procuring, enabling efficient supply chains and rationalizing its cost.

According to the survey report, about 76% of respondents were optimistic about the prospects of Indian economy for the coming year, representing a significant jump over last year (63%). The survey is based on the sample of companies that contribute around 12% to the manufacturing Gross Domestic Product of the country. The sectors include automobiles, chemicals, electrical machinery, food processing, leather, pharmaceuticals and textiles.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10846.70, down by 8.45 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10825.35 and 10859.35. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 1.69%, Tata Motors up by 1.09%, Eicher Motors up by 0.76%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.73% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.27%, HPCL down by 2.24%, Indusind Bank down by 2.11%, BPCL down by 1.46% and Axis Bank down by 1.13% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets are trading in green; Straits Times gained 19.84 points or 0.63% to 3,177.91, Hang Seng rose 97.16 points or 0.37% to 26,559.48, Jakarta Composite jumped 25.79 points or 0.41% to 6,298.03, KOSPI added 1.01 points or 0.05% to 2,065.72 and Shanghai Composite was up by 5.74 points or 0.23% to 2,550.08.