Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in positive terrain

Indian stock markets continued to trade in positive terrain in the early noon session due to buying in Realty, Oil & Gas and Energy stocks. Buying in frontline stocks such as NTPC, Power Grid Corporation and Tata Motors were aiding sentiment, while selling was witnessed in Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp and Vedanta. Sentiment remained positive with report that overseas investors poured in more than Rs 20,400 crore in the domestic capital market in the first half of March, mainly driven by positive global cues. Some optimism also came with a report that US has said that the door is open if India is prepared to bring a serious proposal to the table to address the issues related to trade and market access. Meanwhile, in order to protect environment from ill-effects of lead-based equipment, the Power Ministry may issue soon new norms for bringing greener options of electricity transmission cables like aluminium. Aluminium-based cable sheaths are greener and cheaper alternative than lead and switching to greener alternatives is an obvious choice to protect the environment and health concerns.

On the global front,  Asian markets were trading in green as investors tracked a positive lead from Wall Street on optimism over the China-US trade talks, while attention turns to the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting this week. Back on street, in scrip specific development, NHPC edged up on getting approval to raise $100 million via External Commercial Borrowing (ECB). Ratnamani Metals surged on securing domestic order of Rs 298 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38110.84, up by 86.52 points or 0.23% after trading in a range of 38028.45 and 38369.59. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.09%, while Small cap index was down by 0.16%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.45%, Oil & Gas up by 1.11%, Energy up by 1.03%, Power up by 0.57%, Bankex up by 0.55%, while Auto down by 1.49%, Consumer discretionary down by 0.62%, Telecom down by 0.50%, Healthcare down by 0.28%, Metal down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.59%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.56%, Tata Motors up by 1.55%, Axis Bank up by 1.50% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.52%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.21%, Vedanta down by 1.34%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.11% and Bajaj Auto was down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s merchandise exports continued their growth momentum for fifth straight month. Exports grew by 2.44% in the month of February 2019, over the same month of last year, on account of growth in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, handloom, engineering goods and chemicals. However, imports fell 5.41% in the reporting month as compared to corresponding month of 2018, mainly on account of sharp decline in inward shipments of gold and petroleum products. As a result, trade deficit, gap between imports and exports, narrowed to $9.60 billion in February 2019, as against the deficit of $12.30 billion in February 2018. Though, the trade deficit has widened to $165.52 billion during the 11 months of the current fiscal from $148.55 billion compared to the year-ago period.

As per the data released by the Commerce Ministry, merchandise exports grew by 2.44% to $26.67 billion in February 2019, as compared to $26.03 billion in the same month a year ago. In Rupee terms, exports were higher by 13.34% to Rs 1,89,931.49 crore in February 2019, as compared to Rs 1,67,583.64  crore in February 2018. Cumulative value of exports for the period April-February 2018-19 was $298.47 billion as against $274.21 billion during the period April-February 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 8.85%. In Rupee terms, it was up by 18.26% to Rs 20,88,290.32 crore from Rs 17,65,895.27 crore.

Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in February 2019 were $19.87 billion, as compared to $18.90 billion in February 2018, exhibiting a positive growth of 5.14%. Non-petroleum and Non Gems and Jewellery exports in April-February 2018-19 were $217.43 billion, as compared to $201.95 billion for the corresponding period in 2017-18, an increase of 7.66%.

On the other hand, imports during February 2019 declined by 5.41% to $36.26 billion as compared to imports of  $38.34 billion in February 2018, while in rupee terms it was up by 4.66% to Rs 2,58,271.75 crore from Rs 2,46,779.79 crore in February 2018. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-February 2018-19 was $464.00 billion, as against $422.76 billion during the period April-February 2017-18, registering a positive growth of 9.75%. In rupee terms, it was Rs 32,46,190.43 crore, up by 19.23% from Rs27,22,592.19 crore in the same period last year.

Oil imports in February 2019 were $9.38 billion, which was 8.05% lower, compared to $10.20 billion in February 2018. Oil imports in April-February 2018-19 were $128.72 billion which was 31.98% higher compared to $97.53 billion, over the same period last year. Non-oil imports in February 2019 were estimated at $26.89 billion which was 4.45% lower, compared to $28.14 billion in February 2018. However, non-oil imports in April-February 2018-19 were $335.28 billion which was 3.09% higher, compared to $325.23 billion in April-February 2017-18. Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports were $24.30 billion in February 2019, up 3.72% over the same period of last year. Non-Oil and Non-Gold imports were $305.73 billion in April-February 2018-19, up 3.97%, over the same period of last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11455.50, up by 28.65 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 11430.10 and 11530.15. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil Corporation up by 3.40%, BPCL up by 2.31%, HPCL up by 2.15%, Tata Motors up by 1.81% and Axis Bank up by 1.56%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 3.39%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.08%, Eicher Motors down by 1.93%, Grasim Industries down by 1.84% and Vedanta was down by 1.65% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green, KOSPI rose 0.72 points or 0.03% to 2,176.83, Straits Times advanced 12.47 points or 0.39% to 3,212.65, Shanghai Composite gained 38.72 points or 1.28% to 3,060.47, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 56.33 points or 0.54% to 10,495.57, Hang Seng increased 242.16 points or 0.83% to 29,254.42, Nikkei 225 surged 126.11 points or 0.59% to 21,576.96 and Jakarta Composite soared 16.72 points or 0.26% to 6,477.90.