Indian bourses trim gains in afternoon deals

Key benchmark indices gave up most of their early gains in afternoon deals but continued to trade in positive territory, led by Realty, Metal and Auto stocks. The indices remained positive with Asian Development Bank’s report that India's growth is set to pick up and is expected to grow 7.2% in the current fiscal on strengthening consumption. Some support also came with report by Nasscom stating that gowing adoption of Big Data, analytics, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things is expected to push cloud market in India to grow 3-fold to $7.1 billion by 2022. However, the market trimmed most of their gains, as anxiety remained among the local traders with private report that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has collected Rs 1,117,416.5 crore (11.17 lakh crore) in total direct taxes in FY 2018-19, a shortfall of around Rs 83,000 crore or 7.4 percent of the Rs 12 lakh crore collection target. On the sectoral front, select banking stocks were trading in red  after ICRA’s Vice President & Sector Head - Financial Sector Ratings, Anil Gupta stating that Supreme Court’s decision to quash RBI circular can lead to negative impact for banks if the loans are not resolved.

On the global front, Asian market are trading in green as trade talks between the US and China made progress and on upbeat economic data from the US and China.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39165.15, up by 108.50 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 39141.09 and 39270.14. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.28%, Metal up by 1.01%, Basic Materials up by 0.64%, Auto up by 0.40 and Bankex up by 0.30%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.07%, Telecom down by 0.69%, Capital Goods down by 0.65%, PSU down by 0.44% and Healthcare was down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.11%, HCL Technologies up by 2.00%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.82%, HDFC up by 1.63% and Indusind Bank was  up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.50%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.47%, Sun Pharma down by 0.65%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.63% and Infosys was down by 0.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its flagship report has said that India's Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is set to pick up at 7.2 percent in 2019, on the back of strengthening consumption. It also said that the country’s economy is also expected to clock a growth rate of 7.3 percent in 2020 as policy rates are cut and farmers receive income support, bolstering domestic demand.

According to the report, growth slowed to 7 percent in 2018 from 7.2 percent in fiscal 2017, with weaker agricultural output and consumption growth curtailed by higher global oil prices and lower government expenditure. It also said that sub-region wise, Southeast Asia will sustain growth at close to 5 percent this year and the next. It pointed out that strengthening domestic demand will offset weaker export growth. It added that strong consumption, spurred by rising incomes, subdued inflation, and robust remittances, should boost economic activity in the sub region.

ADB further said that export demand, on the other hand, is likely to soften in 2019 in line with the weaker global environment and a muted forecast for semiconductor exports, before picking up slightly in 2020. It also said that growth, overall, remains solid with domestic consumption strong or expanding in most economies around the region. This is softening the impact of slowing exports. It added that uncertainty clouding the outlook remains elevated.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11729.70, up by 16.50 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 11721.85 and 11761.00. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 5.53%, Tata Steel up by 2.38%, JSW Steel up by 2.02%, HCL Technologies up by 1.87% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.78%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 3.56%, GAIL India down by 1.71%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.63%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.61% and Larsen & Toubro was down by 1.50% were the top losers.

All Asian market are trading in green; Taiwan Weighted strengthened 14.08 points or 0.13% to 10,704.38, Straits Times advanced 29.41 points or 0.9% to 3,309.19, Hang Seng increased 306.54 points or 1.03% to 29,931.21, Shanghai Composite gained 42.14 points or 1.33% to 3,218.96, KOSPI rose 26.09 points or 1.2% to 2,203.27 and Nikkei 225 was up by 207.90 points or 0.97% to 21,713.21.