Benchmarks trade flat in early noon session

Indian benchmarks have cut their gains to trade mixed in early noon session, with Sensex up by 34 points, while Nifty was down by 6 points. Traders were seen piling positions in Capital Goods, Telecom and Industrials sector, while selling was witnessed in Metal, IT and Basic Materials sector stocks. Some concern came as Process Plant and Machinery Association of India (PPMAI) has expressed concern on surge in metal and capital goods imports from countries such as Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan with whom India has pacts to promote free trade. It said that the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) along with lack of reciprocity is adversely hurting the steel manufacturers as well as the capital goods industry. However, losses remained restricted as the income tax (I-T) department has notified the modified norms for startups to enable them to seek 'angel tax' exemption for investments of up to Rs 25 crore. The modified norms will be effective retrospectively from February 19, 2019, when the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) relaxed the norms for startups. Meanwhile, India is exploring various options, including approaching the WTO dispute body, to deal with the US decision to withdraw import incentives for about 2,000 domestic goods under the trade preference scheme. On March 5, the US decided to withdraw import duty benefits, which was in the range of 1-6 per cent, under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as optimism about progress in trade talks between the U.S. and China started wearing off. Back on street, Mahindra & Mahindra edged up as the company foresees developing electric vehicle (EV) only platforms in the long term although it will continue to leverage on its internal combustion engine vehicle platforms to develop EVs in the short term.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36670.03, up by 33.93 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 36640.91 and 36749.30. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.55%, Telecom up by 0.95%, Industrials up by 0.91%, FMCG up by 0.41% and Energy was up by 0.34%, while Metal down by 0.68%, IT down by 0.53%, TECK down by 0.47%, Basic Materials down by 0.18% and Healthcare was down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.64%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.75%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.32%, Tata Motors up by 0.82% and Reliance Industries was up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.27%, Vedanta down by 2.02%, Coal India down by 1.73%, Infosys down by 1.30% and ONGC was down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has said that the government has given the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over 2 crore farmers so far under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme. He noted that many states are seriously showing interest to implement the scheme and sending the data.

The minister further stated that some states such as West Bengal are not keen to roll out the scheme and therefore not providing the data. He said ‘to such states, I only urge to keep the politics aside else the electorate will teach them a lesson.’ Besides, he said that the government has shifted the farm policy approach from production-centric to income-centric. He added that farmers have begun to understand and are going in a big way toward income-oriented farming.

The PM-KISAN was announced in the interim Budget 2019-20 on February 1, 2019. Under the Scheme, Rs 6,000 will be given per year to small and marginal farmer families having combined land holding/ownership of up to 2 hectares. On February 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  officially launched Rs 75,000-crore PM-KISAN scheme in  Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, by transferring the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to over one crore farmers. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11047.00, down by 6.00 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 11038.35 and 11077.95. There were 17 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.50%, HPCL up by 1.68%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.62%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.40% and Power Grid Corporation up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.34%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.07%, Vedanta down by 2.04%, Wipro down by 1.98% and Zee Entertainment was down by 1.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 140.80 points or 0.65% to 21,456.01, Hang Seng decreased 232.71 points or 0.8% to 28,804.89, Shanghai Composite declined 16.26 points or 0.52% to 3,085.84, Taiwan Weighted dropped 45.47 points or 0.44% to 10,311.68 and KOSPI was down by 13.73 points or 0.63% to 2,161.87. On the other hand Straits Times was up by 1.25 points or 0.04% to 3,224.09.