Lackluster trade continues on Indian equity markets

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in red zone in early noon session, with Sensex and Nifty trading below at 38,850 and 11, 650 levels, respectively. Traders were seen in selling position for IT, TECK, Metal and Energy stocks, while buying was witnessed in Realty, Auto, Healthcare and Consumer Durables stocks. Market participants were cautious ahead of RBI's bi-monthly monetary policy review, scheduled to be announced later the day. The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is holding a three-day meeting between April 2-4 for the first policy statement for financial year 2019-20. The sentiments got spoiled as the country's services sector activity eased in March with slowest pace of output growth in six-months due to a slower expansion in new work, leading to weakest rate of hiring since last September. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index fell to 52 in March from 52.5 in February, indicating the slowest expansion since last September.  However, losses remained under control with Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that India's exports are expected to reach $32.38 billion in March, the highest in any month so far, on account of healthy growth in sectors such as pharmaceuticals. He said that exports would cross $331 billion mark in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investors awaited developments on trade talks between the United States and China, who appear closer to signing a deal, nudging bond yields higher globally and softening the safe-haven yen. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump fired a fresh trade salvo on India, calling it as one of the highest taxing nations in the world. Trump slammed the country for imposing 100 per cent tariffs on American products, including the iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Back on street, on scrip specific development, Shriram Transport Finance rose on getting approval for raising of funds through upsizing the existing Medium Term Note Programme established for Rs 5,000 crore to a Global Medium Term Note Programme up to $ 2 billion by way of public/ private issue of debt securities in international markets and External Commercial Borrowings up to $750 million.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38830.27, down by 46.85 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 38784.91 and 38939.35. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.10%, while Small cap index was down by 0.31%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.70%, Auto up by 0.43%, Healthcare up by 0.28%, Consumer Durables up by 0.27% and Consumer Discretionary was up by 0.22%, while IT down by 1.01%, TECK down by 0.87%, Metal down by 0.78%, Energy down by 0.70% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.70% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.69%, Asian Paints up by 1.45%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.31%, Tata Motors up by 1.04% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 0.93%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 2.17%, Yes Bank down by 1.64%, ONGC down by 1.12%, Infosys down by 0.95% and Tata Steel was down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant has said that the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will have to bring a new set of regulations to ensure that borrowers repay their debt on time, following the Supreme Court's (SC) decision to strike down the RBI's February 12, 2018 circular as ultra vires as it allows rationalisation of the (Insolvency and) Bankruptcy Code. He also noted that such a move ensuring timely repayment and resolution of stressed assets is essential for long-term growth.

Kant has stated that a lot of work has been done by the government and the RBI to bring in financial discipline and good regulation to end crony capitalism. In what is being seen as a jolt to the bad assets resolution framework, the Supreme Court quashed the stringent RBI circular which mandated banks to recognise even one-day defaults and finding a resolution within 180 days failing which the account in question has to be sent to bankruptcy courts if it is Rs 2,000 crore and above.

NITI Aayog CEO further said that radical reforms will be required to accelerate growth from the present levels. He also said “We will have to focus more on manufacturing that will result in higher exports which deliver higher margins per unit of sale, and will also create jobs as we cannot grow without jobs.” Adding further, he said agriculture will also need to be focused on and called for scrapping the APMC and Essential Commodities Acts. He made it clear that agriculture cannot grow on subsidies and can develop only through market interventions. He also said the country has become data-rich before actually becoming rich economically, stressing that the vast quantum of data being generated is a big asset, leading to a slew of changes, including an end to physical bank branches and branch managers.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11632.30, down by 11.65 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 11615.95 and 11661.30. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing up by 2.32%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.77%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.77%, Asian Paints up by 1.49% and Bharti Airtel was up by 1.41%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 2.38%, Hindalco down by 2.34%, Yes Bank down by 1.72%, UPL down by 1.50% and BPCL was down by 1.20% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI rose 5.31 points or 0.24% to 2,208.58, Shanghai Composite gained 22.58 points or 0.7% to 3,238.88, Straits Times advanced 6.80 points or 0.21% to 3,318.07, Jakarta Composite soared 13.33 points or 0.21% to 6,489.40 and Nikkei 225 was up by 5.31 points or 0.02% to 21,718.52. On the flip side, Hang Seng was down by 148.78 points or 0.5% to 29,837.61.