Sensex, Nifty trade with volatility

Key Indian equity benchmarks were trading with volatility in late afternoon session, on account of mixed cues from European markets. Losses led by FMCG, Metal and Telecom stocks, weighed on the domestic sentiments. Anxiety spread among the investors with ICRA’s latest report indicating that a recent policy change favouring advanced degree holders for visas in US will lead to a hit on IT companies' profitability as the number of H1-B visas approved gets reduced. But, the markets were managing to trade in green, taking support with reports that 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. On the sectoral front, airline stocks were in focus, with Ministry of Civil Aviation's vision document stating that India's air passenger traffic is expected to grow six-fold to 1.1 billion and the number of operational airports increases to around 200 in 2040.

On the global front, European markets were trading mixed, as Germany's gross domestic product rose a price-adjusted and chain-linked 1.5 percent from 2017, when it expanded 2.2 percent. Growth was the weakest since 2013, when the economy expanded 0.5 percent. Asian markets were trading in green, even though Japan's core machinery orders slowed sharply in November in a sign corporate capital expenditure could lose momentum as bruising US-China trade war spills into the global economy.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36340.26, up by 21.93 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 36278.61 and 36462.03. There were 13 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining, while 2 stocks remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.24%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.82%, PSU up by 0.68%, Capital Goods up by 0.61%, Energy up by 0.60% and Utilities up by 0.57%, while FMCG down by 0.90%, Metal down by 0.48%, Telecom down by 0.21%, Auto down by 0.20% and Realty down by 0.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 2.27%, Indusind Bank up by 1.94%, Infosys up by 1.16%, SBI up by 1.11% and ICICI Bank up by 0.99%. On the flip side, ITC down by 1.23%, Asian Paints down by 1.02%, HDFC down by 0.95%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.91% and Vedanta down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to protect the domestic industry, the government is mulling hike in import duty on iron ore, as lower import duty encourages steel players to go for import rather than utilising the local ore. Iron ore is a key raw material used in the steel making.

The matter is under discussion among different ministries including steel. Besides, the government is also considering to cut export duty on iron ore and the commerce and industry ministry has sought views of steel and mines ministry on the issue. Recently, the Karnataka government informed regarding issues of the sector in the state and sought a hike in the import duty on the mineral.

Meanwhile, iron ore exports in 2017-18 dipped to $ 1.47 billion from $ 1.53 billion in the previous fiscal. Karnataka is the largest iron ore producing state in the country. The other major producers include Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Jharkhand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10896.00, up by 9.20 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10876.90 and 10928.15. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 3.11%, Yes Bank up by 2.49%, Wipro up by 2.12%, Indusind Bank up by 1.98% and BPCL up by 1.84%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 1.49%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.45%, UPL down by 1.37%, ITC down by 1.16% and HDFC down by 1.15% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Hang Seng increased 71.81 points or 0.27% to 26,902.10, KOSPI rose 8.92 points or 0.43% to 2,106.10, Jakarta Composite soared 4.58 points or 0.07% to 6,413.36, Shanghai Composite gained 0.08 points to 2,570.42 and Straits Times advanced 9.50 points or 0.3% to 3,221.80. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted dropped 42.23 points or 0.43% to 9,763.81 and Nikkei 225 slipped 112.54 points or 0.55% to 20,442.75.

European markets were trading mixed; France’s CAC gained 21.50 points or 0.45% to 4,807.67 and Germany’s DAX was up by 5.87 points or 0.31 0.05% to 10,897.66. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 6.40 points or 0.09% to 6,888.62.