Benchmarks trim losses; trade continues in red

Indian bourses pared most of their initial losses in afternoon deals but continued to trade in red, on the back of sustained selling activities by market-participants amid weakness across Asian peers. The mood on the street remained cautious with Bibek Debroy, the head of Prime Minister’s economic advisory panel, stating that India lacks good data on economy and jobs as it is majorly an informal economy. Some concerns also came in with domestic ratings agency ICRA’s report that India Inc witnessed a dip in both revenue growth as well as margins in the December quarter compared to the preceding three months. The analysis is based on the aggregate numbers reported by 648 listed companies, which shows a revenue growth of 17.3% in Q3 down from 19.4% in the preceding three months. However, most of losses on the bourses got trimmed with SBI Research’s report saying that the economy is likely to grow at 6.6-6.7% in the third quarter and 7.2% for the full financial year. The yearly SBI composite index for February saw a marginally rise to 50.60 (a score of under 50 indicates negative growth).

On the global font, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as investors struggled to maintain momentum from the previous day's trade talks-fuelled surge. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35992.80, down by 220.58 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 35714.16 and 36054.00. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.48%, while Small cap index was down by 0.81%.

The sole gaining sectoral index on the BSE was Auto up by 0.27%, while Realty down by 1.68%, Capital Goods down by 0.89%, Utilities down by 0.87%, Bankex down by 0.87% and PSU down by 0.77% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.93%, TCS up by 1.45%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.00%, Coal India up by 0.54% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.33%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.74%, ICICI Bank down by 1.55%, Vedanta down by 1.49%, HDFC down by 1.47% and Infosys down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that India’s goods and services exports, which are recording healthy growth so far, would surpass $500 billion in fiscal 2018-19, despite challenges being faced on the global trade front.

Prabhu has stated that the ministry is working on identifying new products and new markets to further push the shipments. For the period between April 2018 and January 2019, exports (merchandise) grew 9.52 percent to $271.8 billion. India export services worth about $130-150 billion per year. 

Talking about proposed new industrial policy, he said everything is ready including an action plan for the implementation of the policy and only Cabinet's approval is required. The new industrial policy aims at boosting manufacturing sector growth, promote foreign technology transfer and attract overseas investments.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10827.80, down by 52.30 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 10729.30 and 10842.15. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.93%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.19%, TCS up by 1.55%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 1.44% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.31%, NTPC down by 1.85%, Vedanta down by 1.55%, ICICI Bank down by 1.52% and HDFC down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 235.39 points or 0.81% to 28,723.91, Shanghai Composite declined 3.01 points or 0.1% to 2,958.27, KOSPI fell 5.96 points or 0.27% to 2,226.60, Straits Times trembled 12.40 points or 0.38% to 3,259.95, Nikkei 225 slipped 78.84 points or 0.37% to 21,449.39 and Jakarta Composite dropped 17.51 points or 0.27% to 6,507.85.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 0.62 points or 0.01% to 10,391.55.