Markets pare gains to trade almost flat

Indian equity benchmark pared almost all of their initial gains to trade just above water in the afternoon deal, as traders opted to book profit after five days of continuous rally. Buying in the major sectors like Realty Oil & Gas and Energy helped markets to trade slightly in green, while selling was witnessed in auto, capital goods and telecom counters. Markets managed to keep their head above water as some solace came 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. On the Global Front, all the Asian markets are trading in green as traders remained optimistic US-China trade talks as well as indications of more Chinese economic stimulus. China's Xinhua news agency reported that the US and China have made further concrete progress on the text of the trade agreement between the two sides. Back home, Lupin edged lower after the drug maker's Somerset facility was classified as Official Action Indicated (OAI) by the US health regulator. However, Mindtree surged after the company announced it will consider share buyback plan on March 20 to fend off attempts by engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) from making a hostile takeover bid.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38060.19, up by 35.87 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 37971.48 and 38369.59. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.05%, while Small cap index was down by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.44%, Oil & Gas up by 1.15%, Energy up by 1.10%, Power up by 0.33% and PSU was up by 0.33%, while Auto down by 1.32%, Capital Goods down by 0.78%, Telecom down by 0.71%, IT down by 0.66% and TECK was down by 0.60% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.28%, Reliance Industries up by 1.13%, Power Grid up by 1.12%, NTPC up by 0.89% and Indusind Bank was up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.88%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.26%, Vedanta down by 1.40%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.28% and HCL Tech was down by 1.25% were the top losers.

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. The Power Ministry and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) are working on greener options.  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.

As per World Health Organisation estimates, 240 million people globally are overexposed to lead poisoning. The lead-based metallic sheath used in power cables for earthing and anti-corrosion purposes contributes to 35-48% of the weight of cables of voltage levels ranging from 66 kV to 220 kV.

A single kilometer of cable, which weighs about 20 tonne/km has lead content of almost 8 tonne/km. The underground power cables have an average life span of 25-30 years and once they are laid, they are never dismantled.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11439.95, up by 13.10 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 11415.65 and 11530.15. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indian Oil Corp up by 3.53%, HPCL up by 2.18%, BPCL up by 2.17%, Tata Motors up by 1.44% and Reliance Industries was up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.53%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.09%, Grasim Industries down by 1.91%, Eicher Motors down by 1.67% and Vedanta was down by 1.57% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in green; Nikkei 225 surged 133.65 points or 0.62% to 21,584.50, Hang Seng increased 295.58 points or 1.02% to 29,307.84, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 73.46 points or 0.7% to 10,512.70, Jakarta Composite soared 27.85 points or 0.43% to 6,489.03, Shanghai Composite gained 68.22 points or 2.26% to 3,089.97, KOSPI rose 3.38 points or 0.16% to 2,179.49 and Straits Times was up 15.89 points or 0.5% to 3,216.07.