Benchmarks trade flat with negative zone

Indian equity benchmarks were trading marginally lower in early noon session, with Sensex and Nifty trading below 38,700 and 11,600 respectively. There was some cautiousness with Crisil report which stated that the Bharat Stage (BS) - VI emission standards would affect the auto-casting industry slightly. It expects that the industry will grow 9-11 percent due to an expected advance sales ahead of the new regulations to be implemented from April 2020. However, losses remained limited as the World Bank in its latest report on South Asia has said that India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to accelerate moderately to 7.5% in the fiscal year 2019-20 (FY20), supported by continued investment strengthening, particularly private-improved export performance and resilient consumption. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as optimism about Chinese measures to boost economic growth lifted mainland markets, however, worries about U.S. earnings and a crucial Brexit summit this week limited gains. Back on street, in scrip specific development, Tata Motors shined on launching ‘SAMARTH’ program for commercial vehicle drivers in India.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38696.46, down by 4.07 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 38620.09 and 38850.66. 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 0.64%, while Small cap index was down by 0.53%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.70%, TECK up by 0.37%, Energy up by 0.24%, FMCG up by 0.20% and Healthcare was up by 0.11%, while Telecom down by 1.99%, Basic Materials down by 0.89%, Metal down by 0.78%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.65%, Consumer Durables was down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.96%, Yes Bank up by 1.63%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.34%, Coal India up by 0.84% and TCS was up by 0.83%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.47%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.06%, Tata Steel down by 1.36%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.21% and Bajaj Finance was down by 1.06% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry's arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has initiated anti-dumping investigation on the imports of aluminium and zinc coated flat products from China, Vietnam and Korea. The application was filed by JSW Steel Coated Products, which accounts for more than 60 percent of the total production of these flat products in India. The company asked for an anti-dumping probe and imposition of duty on imports of flat rolled product of steel, plated or coated with alloy of aluminum and zinc, from these countries.

If established that dumping has caused material injury to domestic players, DGTR would recommend imposition of antidumping duty on the imports. It has found sufficient evidence of dumping of the goods by these countries. It said “the authority hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry...to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of antidumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry.”

The period of investigation for the present investigation is from October 2017 to September 2018. However, for the purpose of injury investigation, the period will also cover the data of 2015-18. The product offers resistance to corrosion, and is used in many applications and sectors including solar power projects, roofing, white goods and appliances, furniture and substrate for colour-coated steel.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11594.30, down by 10.20 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 11574.15 and 11638.25. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 2.20%, Wipro up by 2.12%, Yes Bank up by 1.54%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.42% and Coal India was up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.48%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.16%, Indiabulls Housing down by 2.68%, UPL down by 1.56% and Tata Steel was down by 1.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, KOSPI rose 9.84 points or 0.45% to 2,220.44, Straits Times advanced 3.25 points or 0.1% to 3,318.67, Nikkei 225 surged 13.81 points or 0.06% to 21,775.46, Jakarta Composite soared 49.90 points or 0.78% to 6,475.63, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 35.13 points or 0.33% to 10,835.70 and Hang Seng was up by 94.21 points or 0.31% to 30,171.36. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 12.50 points or 0.39% to 3,232.31.