Sensex, Nifty trade in green

Indian equity bourses were trading in green in late afternoon session, on account of firm opening in European markets. The street were getting relief with  the CriSidEx survey stating that micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are becoming more optimistic about their business prospects. The CriSidEx index rose to 128 in Q3FY19, the highest score since its inception. In comparison, the index was at 107 in Q3FY18. Adding some comfort, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said that India and Russia are working to address and resolve trade and investment issues to facilitate and increase private sector cooperation between the countries. The market participants took a note of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee (MPC) statement in minutes released on Thursday that India needs to take steps to boost economic growth as the inflation outlook remains low. 

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as Eurozone's private sector expanded at the fastest pace in three months in February, led by stronger growth in services, while manufacturing contracted. The preliminary survey data from IHS Markit showed that the flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 51.4 from 51 in January. Asian markets were trading mixed, as investors continued to closely watch high-level talks between US and Chinese trade negotiators in Washington, as the two sides face a March 1 deadline to avoid a further escalation in tariffs.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35910.54, up by 12.19 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 35795.79 and 35941.69. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.42%, while Small cap index was up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 1.48%, Oil & Gas up by 1.18%, PSU up by 1.17%, Power up by 1.02% and Metal up by 1.02%, while Bankex down by 0.27%, Consumer Durables down by 0.10% and Energy down by 0.02% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 3.09%, Vedanta up by 2.49%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.01%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.83% and NTPC up by 1.79%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.38%, Reliance Industries down by 0.94%, HDFC Bank down by 0.86%, ITC down by 0.38% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, maintaining a stable outlook for automobile sector, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that the automobile sales are expected to remain tepid in the first half of 2019-20. However, the agency is hopeful about growth in demand during the second half of the year, on the back of the upcoming implementation of BS-VI emission norms.

The report estimated moderate growth in the passenger vehicle (PV) segment during next fiscal, while high single-to-low double-digit growth in the commercial vehicle segment and steady growth in the two-wheeler segment in the next fiscal, on a year-on-year basis.

On the cost front, Ind-Ra noted that BS-VI implementation from April 1, 2020 will make vehicles costlier across all segments and added that as per industry estimates, the cost of petrol variant PVs and two-wheelers could increase 10-15 per cent and that of diesel variant by 20-25 per cent.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10798.00, up by 8.15 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10758.40 and 10801.55. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil Corporation up by 4.39%, HPCL up by 3.66%, Yes Bank up by 3.00%, Vedanta up by 2.64% and BPCL up by 2.25%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.63%, Reliance Industries down by 0.96%, GAIL India down by 0.95%, HDFC Bank down by 0.93% and Cipla down by 0.89% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng increased 186.38 points or 0.65% to 28,816.30, Shanghai Composite gained 47.07 points or 1.71% to 2,798.87, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 3.39 points or 0.03% to 10,322.92 and KOSPI rose 1.84 points or 0.08% to 2,230.50. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 7.70 points or 0.23% to 3,270.21, Nikkei 225 slipped 38.72 points or 0.18% to 21,425.51 and Jakarta Composite was down by 49.32 points or 0.75% to 6,488.45.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 13.57 points or 0.19% to 7,180.96, France’s CAC rose 16.02 points or 0.31% to 5,212.13 and Germany’s DAX was up by 34.45 points or 0.30% to 11,457.73.