Indian markets maintained their upside move in early noon session, with Sensex and Nifty gaining of 47 points and 13 points respectively. Utilities sector witnessed the maximum gain in trade followed by Oil & Gas, PSU and capital goods sectors. Investors’ mood was positive with report that declining imports narrowed the trade deficit to ten-month low of $13.08 billion in December 2018 as against $14.2 billion in the same month previous year. However, gains were capped as exports grew at the slowest pace in three months at 0.34% in December. Market-men also took some encouragement as the government unveiled its much-awaited national air cargo policy, which seeks to make India among the top five air freight markets by 2025, besides creating air transport shipment hubs at all major airports over the next six years. The policy will encourage code sharing/inter-line agreements between foreign and Indian carriers. In stock specific movement, shares of Indiabulls Ventures strengthened on reporting over 2-fold jump in Q3 consolidated net profit and Syndicate Bank surged on creating separate vertical to recover NPAs.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as investors assessing Brexit options. This comes after British lawmakers trounced Prime Minister Theresa May's deal to pull out Britain from the European Union (EU). Back on streets, Pharma stocks were in spotlight with a private report penning that the domestic pharma retail market registered a healthy growth rate of around 10% in 2018, nearly doubling year-on-year, maintained by higher volumes and launch of new drugs. In 2017, the market was impacted by the introduction of GST, resulting in a growth rate of 5.5%.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36365.56, up by 47.23 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 36300.82 and 36462.03. 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 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.01%, Oil & Gas up by 0.91%, PSU up by 0.85%, Capital Goods up by 0.82% and Power was up by 0.80%, while FMCG down by 0.62%, Metal down by 0.18% and Auto down by 0.09% were the losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.66%, NTPC up by 1.51%, ICICI Bank up by 1.34%, SBI up by 1.15% and Axis Bank was up by 0.97%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.01%, Bajaj Finance down by 0.88%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.84%, Asian Paints down by 0.75% and Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.71% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, continuing growth momentum for the third straight month, India's exports grew by a meagre 0.34 percent to $27.93 billion in December. The trade deficit narrowed to ten-month low of $13.08 billion in December 2018 as against $14.20 billion in the same month previous year. The overall trade deficit for April- December 2018-19 is estimated at $82.72 billion as compared to $69.63 billion during April- December 2017-18.
As per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, exports grew by 0.34% to $27.93 billion in December 2018, as compared to $27.83 billion in the same month a year ago. In Rupee terms, exports were higher by 10.48% to Rs 1,97,535.86 crore in December 2018, as compared to Rs 1,78,802.77 crore in December 2017. Cumulative value of exports for the period April- December 2018-19 was $245.44 billion as against $222.77 billion during the period April- December 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 10.18%. In Rupee terms, it was up by 19.16% to Rs 17,11,905.60 crore from Rs 14,36,614.25 crore.
Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in December 2018 were $21.11 billion, as compared to $20.88 billion in December 2017, exhibiting a positive growth of 1.08%. Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in April- December 2018-19 were $177.66 billion, as compared to $164.66 billion for the corresponding period in 2017-18, an increase of 7.90%.
Imports during December 2018 increased by 2.44% to $41.01 billion as compared to imports of $42.03 billion in December 2017, while in rupee terms it was up by 7.41% to Rs 2,90,032.95 crore from Rs 2,70,015.44 crore in December 2017. Cumulative value of imports for the period April- December 2018-19 was $386.65 billion, as against $343.34 billion during the period April- December 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 12.61% over the same period last year. In rupee terms, it was Rs 26,97,306.82 crore, up by 21.81% from Rs 22,14,370.92 crore in the same period last year.
Oil imports in December 2018 were $10.67 billion, which was 3.16% higher, compared to $10.35 billion in December 2017. Oil imports in April- December 2018-19 were $108.10 billion which was 42.85% higher as compared to $75.67 billion over the same period last year. Non-oil imports in December 2018 were estimated at $30.33 billion which was 4.27% lower, compared to $31.69 billion in December 2017. Non-oil imports in April- December 2018-19 were $278.54 billion which was 4.06% higher, compared to $267.66 billion in April- December 2017-18. Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports were $27.76 billion in December 2018, down 1.86% over the same period of last year. Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports were $253.89 billion in April- December 2018-19, up 5.32% over the same period of last year.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10902.80, up by 16.00 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 10879.30 and 10928.15. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing up by 3.11%, Wipro up by 2.56%, Indusind Bank up by 1.84%, NTPC up by 1.75% and Grasim Industries was up by 1.74%. On the flip side, UPL down by 2.34%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.12%, JSW Steel down by 1.06%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.00% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was down by 0.98% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI rose 7.06 points or 0.34% to 2,104.24, Straits Times advanced 8.90 points or 0.28% to 3,221.20, Jakarta Composite soared 12.12 points or 0.19% to 6,420.90 and Hang Seng was up by 30.27 points or 0.11% to 26,860.56.
On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 112.54 points or 0.55% to 20,442.75, Taiwan Weighted dropped 42.23 points or 0.43% to 9,763.81 and Shanghai Composite was down by 2.04 points or 0.08% to 2,568.30.
