Local barometers turn red in morning deals

Pressurized by feeble global cues, local barometer gauges slipped into negative terrain in morning deals, breaching their crucial 35,650 (Sensex) and 10,650 (Nifty) levels. IT, Energy and Consumer Durables counters witnessed notable losses, while Telecom and Metal sectors edged higher. Sentiments remain dampened tracking weakness in global equities amid fresh concerns over US-China trade talks. However, the downfall was arrested with commerce ministry’s report that India and China have held wide ranging discussions on various issues, including providing market access to domestic products in the neighbouring country. Some solace also came with Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) report that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the previous fiscal grew 18 per cent to Rs 28.25 lakh crore. FDI increased by Rs 4,33,300 crore, including revaluation of past investments, during 2017-18 to reach Rs 28,24,600 crore in March 2018 at market value. Besides, a private report stated that India wants to triple exports to Argentina, eyeing an additional $1.5 billion worth of shipments, and is seeking market access for apparel, textiles, folding bicycles and home furnishing products in the South American country.

On the global front, Asian stocks were trading in red, amid renewed US-China tensions. Concerns are being raised after the US Department filed criminal charges on Monday to officially request the extradition of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. Back home, on the sectoral front, textile industry stocks were trading mostly in red, despite Union textile ministry signed agreements with leading clothing/textile players like Raymond, Welspun, Titan, Reliance Retail and True Blue, under which these companies will procure more from the weavers directly. The initiative aims at exploring the synergy between culture and textiles and the initiative will be extended to rest of the country.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35616.72, down by 39.98 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 35532.53 and 35718.90. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.03%, Basic Materials up by 0.68%, Healthcare up by 0.51%, Metal up by 0.51% and Bankex was up by 0.24%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.82%, IT down by 0.62%, Energy down by 0.48%, Utilities down by 0.45% and TECK was down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.30%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.29%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.25%, Sun Pharma up by 1.17% and Tata Motors was up by 1.02%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.57%, Infosys down by 1.13%, HCL Tech down by 0.92%, Yes Bank down by 0.92% and Reliance Industries was down by 0.78% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to produce more scrap, Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has said the government is formulating a draft National Scrap Policy. At present, the nation’s requirement of scrap is round 8.3 million tonne (MT) and a big portion of the requirement is met via imports. The minister mentioned that a National Scrap Policy is being drafted which will be ready in a few months. This will make available nearly 7 MT scrap in the country. Steel produced out of scrap is of good quality and is environment friendly.

Singh had earlier said in order to augment the country's production capacity the government is also planning to set up scrap-based steel plants in north and west parts of India. Stressing that the scrap-based steel plants are environment-friendly, energy-efficient and cost effective, he said these plants would be on the lines of 'melt and manufacture' steel technology used in the US.

He had also mentioned India imports around six million tonne of scrap steel every year and is the second-largest importer of scrap after Turkey, adding that by 2025, the country will be able to generate 7.5 million tonne of scrap every year. He had said ‘I would like you to deliberate on the cost-benefit analysis of setting up scrap-based steel plants in north and west India. These regions are important from the perspective of scrap-availability and steel import hubs. The plants will have the capability to produce special high-grade steels, a pre-requisite for 'Make in Steel’.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10646.50, down by 15.05 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 10616.85 and 10675.50. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.71%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.03%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.88%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.57% and JSW Steel was up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 3.35%, GAIL India down by 1.80%, Power Grid down by 1.36%, HCL Tech down by 1.33% and Tech Mahindra was down by 1.22% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 52.80 points or 0.26% to 20,596.20, Jakarta Composite dropped 8.23 points or 0.13% to 6,450.48, Shanghai Composite declined 13.04 points or 0.5% to 2,583.94, Straits Times trembled 17.92 points or 0.56% to 3,181.58, KOSPI fell 4.15 points or 0.19% to 2,173.15, Hang Seng decreased 141.56 points or 0.51% to 27,435.40 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 103.39 points or 1.03% to 9,909.94.