Key indices continue to trade marginally lower in early noon deals

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 Energy, Realty and Oil & Gas stocks, while buying was witnessed in Power, Utilities and Telecom stocks. Anxiety remained on the street amid Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has underlined a need to develop a proper matrix to understand changes in the Indian economy and job creation that is happening at a rapid pace. He stated that the relation between employment generation to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will always undergo a change depending upon the profile of the economy. However losses remained limited with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley statement that the country is expected to become the third largest economy in the world by 2030 with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) touching $10 trillion, helped by consumption and investment growth. He added that GDP would be $5 trillion by 2024. Currently, the size of the Indian economy is about $2.9 trillion.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red despite better-than-expected U.S. jobs data and renewed optimism over a possible U.S.-China trade deal. Back on streets, in scrip specific development, Caplin Point Laboratories rose with its arm entering into license & supply agreement with Baxter.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38842.57, down by 19.66 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 38822.19 and 39041.25. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in mixed; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.28%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.82%, Utilities up by 0.57%, Telecom up by 0.55%, Capital Goods up by 0.27% and TECK was up by 0.25%, while Energy down by 0.86%, Realty down by 0.76%, Oil & Gas down by 0.62%, Consumer Durables down by 0.43%, Consumer Discretionary stocks was down by 0.25% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 1.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.23%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.10%, NTPC up by 1.00% and ONGC was up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.59%, Asian Paints down by 1.27%, Reliance Industries down by 1.08%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.91% and Vedanta was down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, ratings agency Crisil in its latest report has said that electric two-wheeler segment would be impacted the most in the initial phase of the 'Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India' (FAME-II) scheme with the exclusion of lead acid battery-powered such vehicles. It estimated that more than 95 percent of the electric two-wheeler models being produced now won’t be eligible for the incentive under FAME-II. It found that about 90 percent of the vehicles that availed of incentives under the FAME I scheme, which was operational between April 1, 2015, and March 31, 2019, were electric scooters.

According to the report, the phase two of FAME scheme, which is effective from April 1, will be implemented over a period of three years with a Rs 10,000 crore outlay, and will be applicable to vehicles with 'advanced batteries' (excluding lead acid ones). It noted that FAME-II continues to exclude lead acid battery-powered two-wheelers. Additionally, as per the latest eligibility criteria, it said that e-scooters ought to have a minimum range of 80 km per charge and minimum top speed of 40 kmph, along with riders on energy consumption efficiency, minimum acceleration and higher number of charging cycles. It observed that this further excludes more than 90 percent of the remaining lithium-ion battery-driven models from the subsidy.

Crisil further stated that earlier, the incentive for lithium ion battery-based two-wheelers stood at Rs 17,000 or Rs 22,000, based on the fuel savings potential and irrespective of the size of the battery. It also said that FAME-II has linked the demand incentive to the size of the battery, with the government providing Rs 10,000 per kWh of battery used for a two-wheeler. Besides, it stated that about 85 percent of the outlay would be as a demand incentive applicable to buses, passenger vehicles and three-wheelers registered for commercial usage and public transport, along with privately owned two-wheelers. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11648.65, down by 17.30 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 11639.95 and 11710.30. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 1.66%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.27%, Power Grid Corporation up by 1.10%, UPL up by 0.85% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.92%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.71%, BPCL down by 1.55%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.39% and Asian Paints was down by 1.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI fell 3.79 points or 0.17% to 2,205.82, Shanghai Composite declined 31.99 points or 0.99% to 3,214.58, Straits Times trembled 10.35 points or 0.31% to 3,312.29, Nikkei 225 slipped 23.29 points or 0.11% to 21,784.21 and Jakarta Composite was down by 75.55 points or 1.17% to 6,398.47.

On the other hand, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 96.19 points or 0.9% to 10,800.57 and Hang Seng was up by 9.33 points or 0.03% to 29,945.65.