Key indices trade near neutral lines in late trade

Indian equity benchmarks are trading near neutral lines in last leg of trade as traders opted to book profit of the table after three days of continues rally. Selling in consumer durables and software pack too weighed sentiments, while traders were piling positions in realty and healthcare stocks. Sentiments also remain dampened with report that India's annual wholesale price inflation (WPI) in the month of February surged to 2.93 percent, on account of rise in the prices of food and fuel products, after falling to a 10-month low of 2.76 percent in January. On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as investors bet British lawmakers would vote to reject a disorderly no-deal Brexit, but underwhelming results from Inditex. Asian markets were exhibiting mixed trend at this point of time as traders remained anxious by poor economic data from China and a warning from President Donald Trump that the US may walk away from trade talks with China. Back home, in scrip specific developments, SpiceJet surged despite cancelling 14 flights as DGCA grounds Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft and Bharti Airtel edged higher with its arm applying for in-flight connectivity licence.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37758.03, up by 5.86 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 37693.69 and 37907.78. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.93%, Healthcare up by 0.78%, Metal up by 0.52%, Telecom up by 0.32% and Energy was up by 0.27%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.68%, Utilities down by 0.47%, IT down by 0.44%, Power down by 0.38% and TECK was down by 0.31% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.65%, Yes Bank up by 3.07%, NTPC up by 2.73%, Sun Pharma up by 2.44% and Coal India was up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 3.52%, HCL Tech down by 1.96%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.30%, ICICI Bank down by 1.00% and TCS was down by 0.63% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, breaking three-month easing trend, India’s Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation surged to 2.93% in the month of February 2019, as compared to a 10-month low of 2.76% in January and 2.74% during the corresponding month of the previous year. The rise in inflation was mainly due to hardening of prices of primary articles, fuel and power. As per the data of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, WPI for All Commodities (Base: 2011-12=100) for the month of February, 2019 rose by 0.3% to 119.5 (provisional) from 119.2 (provisional) for the previous month. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 2.75% compared to a build up rate of 2.56% in the corresponding period of the previous year. Besides, December WPI has been revised downward to 3.46% from 3.80% earlier.

Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62% declined 0.2% to 134.2 (provisional) from 134.5 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group slipped 0.2% to 143.8 (provisional) from 144.1 (provisional) for the previous and the index for ‘Minerals’ group declined by 8.0% to 139.3 (provisional) from 151.4 (provisional) for the previous month, while the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group rose by 1.0% to 126.8 (provisional) from 125.5 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas' group jumped 1.8% to 84.8 (provisional) from 83.3 (provisional) for the previous month.

Besides, the rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group increased to 3.29% in February, 2019 from 1.84% in January, 2019. Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, surged 1.7% to 101.0 (provisional) from 99.3 (provisional) for the previous month, on the back of rise in prices of mineral oils.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23% inched up by 0.2% to 118.1 (provisional) from 117.9 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the items in the group, the index for ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ group rose by 0.5% to 128.7 (provisional) from 128.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Beverages’ group rose by 0.2% to 121.6 (provisional) from 121.4 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Textiles’ group rose by 0.2% to 119.0 (provisional) from 118.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Wood and of Products of Wood and Cork ‘ group rose by 0.7% to 134.6 (provisional) from 133.7 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media’ group rose by 0.1% to 145.6 (provisional) from 145.4 (provisional) for the previous month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11341.00, down by 0.70 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 11313.75 and 11383.45. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.66%, Yes Bank up by 3.05%, NTPC up by 2.94%, Sun Pharma up by 2.38% and Vedanta was up by 1.34%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 3.70%, HCL Tech down by 1.98%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.28%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.24% and HPCL was down by 0.99% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mix; Hang Seng increased 43.94 points or 0.15% to 28,851.39 Jakarta Composite soared 34.68 points or 0.54% to 6,412.26, KOSPI rose 7.27 points or 0.34% to 2,155.68 and Straits Times was up by 2.05 points or 0.06% to 3,197.64.

On the flip side, Nikkei 225 slipped 3.22 points or 0.02% to 21,287.02 Taiwan Weighted dropped 24.67 points or 0.24% to 10,348.65 and Shanghai Composite was down by 36.27 points or 1.2% to 2,990.68.

All the European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 26.66 points or 0.37% to 7,185.85, France’s CAC gained 39.75 points or 0.75% to 5,346.13 and Germany’s DAX was up by 45.36 points or 0.39% to 11,617.77.