Local equities trim some initial gains

Local equity benchmarks trimmed some of their initial gains in morning session but managed to remain in green territory. Traders were seen piling positions in Telecom, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas sector, while selling was witnessed only in Auto sector stocks. Some concern came after the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report stated that unemployment rate in India rose to 7.2 percent in February 2019, the highest since September 2016, and up from 5.9 percent in February 2018. However, market managed to trade in positive terrain as traders were getting some support with World Bank’s report that it will provide a $250-million loan for the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) to help women in rural households develop viable enterprises for farm and non-farm products. An agreement in this regard was signed between the World Bank and the Government of India. Some optimism also came with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stating that it would infuse Rs 12,500 crore into the financial system through open market operations (OMO). The decision is based on an assessment of liquidity conditions and also of durable liquidity needs.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as investors awaited fresh clues on the progress of US-China trade negotiations, with a weaker Wall Street finish capping broader gains. Back home, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that the thrust of the government is to lower the tax rate and increase the tax base and keep the revenue collections moving up. He also said that the indirect tax collections will further increase in future.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36515.07, up by 72.53 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 36456.82 and 36640.27. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.56%, while Small cap index was up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.32%, PSU up by 1.03%, Capital Goods up by 0.86%, Oil & Gas up by 0.84% and Industrials was up by 0.81%, while Auto down by 0.09% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 1.75%, SBI up by 1.50%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.35%, Vedanta up by 1.34% and ONGC was up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.29%, Sun Pharma down by 1.25%, Axis Bank down by 1.17%, Yes Bank down by 1.05% and HCL Tech was down by 1.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that e-commerce has revolutionized the retail sector in India and it will play a major role in the country's growth story going forward. Further, he stated that driven by the growth in India's retail market, the country's Gross domestic product (GDP) will also witness an increase and result in more job opportunities.

He added e-commerce market has brought a revolution in India's retail sector and nobody can stop it now. According to Kant, India is currently growing at over 7% and if the country has to grow at 9%, then e-commerce market will have to play a major role.

Recently, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) had revised downwards country's growth estimate for the full fiscal (FY19) to 7% from 7.2%. Besides, he noted that traditional retail market and modern retail market (e-commerce) will co-exist in India even as the consumer behaviour is changing.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11013.85, up by 26.40 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 10998.85 and 11052.45. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.50%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.68%, ICICI Bank up by 1.76%, BPCL up by 1.52% and SBI was up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.37%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.21%, Yes Bank down by 1.16%, Axis Bank down by 1.15% and Sun Pharma was down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Hang Seng increased 122.93 points or 0.42% to 29,084.53, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 32.38 points or 0.31% to 10,337.64, Shanghai Composite gained 26.14 points or 0.86% to 3,080.39 and Jakarta Composite was up by 11.91 points or 0.18% to 6,453.19.

On the other hand, Straits Times trembled 0.60 points or 0.02% to 3,233.47, KOSPI fell 4.11 points or 0.19% to 2,175.12 and Nikkei 225 was down by 133.59 points or 0.61% to 21,592.69.