Local equities continue to trade flat

Local equities continued to trade flat with caution in the morning session, owing to selling pressure in frontline blue-chip counters. Oil & Gas, Bankex, Energy and Metal counters witnessed notable losses, while Auto and Realty sectors edged higher. Traders took note of a private report stating that instead of blaming the central bank at every opportunity for its poor stewardship of the economy, India’s finance ministry should reflect on its own record, especially its five failures of fiscal policy in almost as many years. The most obvious is the goods and services tax. However, more losses on the street were arrested as investors were getting some support came with a private report stating that Goods and Services Tax is a step in the right direction which will usher in growth and investment in the country. The Indian economy is likely to grow at an average rate of 7% or more in the coming year. The markets also drew some solace with a report that Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will likely consider several proposals aimed at providing relief to smaller taxpayers a segment that is believed to be struggling after losing exemptions enjoyed by them in the pre-GST regime. Besides, a report also stated that Central Statistics Office has forecast India's GDP will rise to Rs 188.4 lakh crore and per capita GDP to Rs 1,41,447 in the current fiscal year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed; despite the positive cues overnight from Wall Street, with investors trading cautiously as they await concrete details on the US-China trade talks that concluded in Beijing. Investors also digested official data that showed China's inflation for December came in below expectations. Back home, a private report stated that India's December retail inflation is expected to have eased to its lowest since June 2017 as food costs fell and fuel prices rose at a slower pace.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36248.61, up by 35.70 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 36127.33 and 36269.31. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.58%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.66%, Auto up by 0.62%, Industrials up by 0.59%, Capital Goods up by 0.56% and Healthcare was up by 0.51%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.46%, Bankex down by 0.31%, Energy down by 0.25%, Metal down by 0.10% and Telecom was down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.47%, NTPC up by 1.30%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.08%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.00% and Infosys was up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.47%, Axis Bank down by 0.87%, Asian Paints down by 0.63%, HDFC down by 0.49% and HCL Tech was down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, indicating benefits of using electric mobility, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government's electric mobility programme will promote manufacturing and job creation and reduce dependency on oil import, besides reducing pollution. He underlined that electric mobility is an attractive, sustainable and profitable solution to mitigate adverse impact of climate change and the threat to public health caused especially by vehicular emission.

Adoption of electric vehicles will reduce dependence on oil imports and promote power capacity addition in India thereby enhancing energy security of the country and will further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector and also positively impact the pollution level in the cities.

With an aim to maximise the use of electric mobility in their own departments, the government has installed charging points at the North Block. The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) has signed an agreement with Energy Efficiency Services (EESL), an entity under the Ministry of Power, and deployed 15 electric vehicles (EVs) for its officers. With the induction of these 15 vehicles being provided on lease basis for a period of five years, DEA is expected to save over 36,000 litres of fuel every year besides leading to reduction of over 440 tonnes of CO2 annually.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10843.90, down by 11.25 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 10825.35 and 10859.35. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 1.54%, Tata Motors up by 1.53%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.04%, NTPC up by 0.78% and Eicher Motors was up by 0.74%. On the flip side, IndusInd Bank down by 2.54%, HPCL down by 2.03%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.65%, Wipro down by 1.40% and Hindalco was down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Jakarta Composite soared 25.91 points or 0.41% to 6,298.15, Straits Times advanced 18.92 points or 0.6% to 3,176.99, Shanghai Composite gained 4.47 points or 0.18% to 2,548.81 and KOSPI was up by 1.15 points or 0.06% to 2,065.86.

On the other side, Hang Seng decreased 33.90 points or 0.13% to 26,428.42, Taiwan Weighted dropped 37.12 points or 0.38% to 9,701.19 and Nikkei 225 was down by 227.04 points or 1.11% to 20,200.02.