Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in positive terrain

Local equity benchmarks continued to trade in positive terrain in early noon session with Sensex and Nifty were trading above 36,100 and 10,850 marks, respectively. Buying in frontline stocks such as Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp and NTPC were aiding sentiment, while selling in Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and Hindustan Unilever kept gains in the markets in check. Investors were getting support with the report that country's services sector activity gathered momentum in February, driven by a quicker expansion in new work orders that supported a faster increase in output and job creation. New business received by services companies rose to a greater extent in February amid strengthening underlying demand, the report said that the adding upturn in new orders in the services sector was domestically driven, as highlighted by a renewed contraction in external sales. Some support also came as income tax e-returns filed for the April-February period has grown nearly 30% compared with the corresponding period in FY18. While almost 6.4 crore taxpayers filed returns in the first 11 months of the fiscal, the government is expecting 7.6 crore returns to be filed by the end of FY19 against 6.7 crore in FY18. Meanwhile, Crisil in its latest report has said that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) move to align risk weights of banks’ exposure to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) with their respective credit ratings would beneficial for both banks and NBFCs. However, gains remain restricted as US President Donald Trump is intending to end India’s preferential trade treatment under a program that allows $5.6 billion worth of Indian exports to enter the United States duty free. India is the world’s largest beneficiary of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program and ending its participation would be the strongest punitive action against India since Trump took office in 2017.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, after China cut its economic growth target and pledged measures to support the economy amid growing challenges from rising debt and a dispute over trade and technology with the United States. Back on street, in scrip specific development, Kotak Mahindra Bank gained on entering into a partnership with C2FO, a provider of innovative working capital technology solutions, to offer its corporate customers a risk-free solution to manage working capital more efficiently.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36121.02, up by 57.21 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 35926.94 and 36154.22. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.06%, while Small cap index was up by 1.97%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 1.95%, Power up by 1.87%, Basic Materials up by 1.84%, Consumer Durables up by 1.70% and Auto was up by 1.66%, while IT down by 0.69%, and TECK was down by 0.62% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 8.13%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 6.71%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.60%, NTPC up by 2.31% and Coal India was up by 2.00%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.00%, Infosys down by 0.88%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.56%, HCL Technologies down by 0.40% and HDFC Bank was down by 0.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance is planning to set up ‘Asset Monetisation cell’ in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to expedite the monetisation of non-core assets of central public sector undertakings (CPSEs), which include mainly land and building. The cell will also deal with cases related to the sale of immovable enemy property, which refers to the assets left behind by people who migrated to Pakistan or China and are no longer citizens of India. The DIPAM will appoint transaction advisors and valuers for the assets which are proposed to be sold. It would be seeking a director level officer from the personnel department to man the cell.

Niti Aayog has been tasked with drawing up a list of non-core assets of various CPSEs, both healthy and sick ones, as a first step towards finance ministry's plan to monetise such assets and unlock value to shareholders. The report of Niti Aayog will be taken up by the alternative mechanism on disinvestment, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, following which the CPSE and the respective administrative ministry will further proceed with the monetisation process.

Recently, the Union Cabinet approved laying down of institutional framework for monetisation of identified non-core assets, especially land and building, of the CPSEs under strategic disinvestment and immovable enemy property under the custody of Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI). It also includes sale of non-core assets of any other CPSEs after approval of competent authority or the administrative ministry, and sale of such assets of sick or loss making CPSE.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10888.20, up by 24.70 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 10817.00 and 10895.75. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 8.15%, Indiabulls Housing up by 5.03%, HPCL up by 4.43%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.53% and BPCL was up by 3.22%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.32%, Wipro down by 1.52%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.02%, Infosys down by 0.98% and Dr. Reddys was down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 116.54 points or 0.53% to 21,705.50, Taiwan Weighted dropped 35.06 points or 0.34% to 10,314.82, Hang Seng decreased 36.96 points or 0.13% to 28,922.63, KOSPI fell 17.07 points or 0.78% to 2,173.59, Straits Times trembled 13.43 points or 0.41% to 3,237.65, Jakarta Composite was down by 72.29 points or 1.11% to 6,416.13. On the other hand Shanghai Composite was up by 7.79 points or 0.26% to 3,035.37.