Indian equities add some losses in afternoon deals

Adding some losses, Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade lower in the afternoon session, as investors braced for March quarter corporate earnings beginning this week. IT majors TCS and Infosys will report their Q4 numbers on April 12. The sentiments remained in lackadaisical mood with a report that Indian economy may be moving towards a slowdown as the country has off-late witnessed a drop in several key economic indicators. After a fall in auto sales, a shortfall in collection of direct taxes among others, now household savings in the country too have declined. Moreover, a further rise in crude oil prices owing to concerns over exports from the war-torn Libya affected the market sentiment. However, losses got restricted with the World Bank’s report 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. Traders also took a note of private report that India's retail inflation is expected to have accelerated in March on slightly higher food prices but remain under the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4 percent.

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 home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38616.97, down by 83.56 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 38602.18 and 38850.66. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.80%, while Small cap index was down by 0.55%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.26%, FMCG up by 0.20%, Oil & Gas up by 0.19%, Realty up by 0.18% and Healthcare was up by 0.10%, while Telecom down by 1.59%, Basic Materials down by 0.92%, Consumer Durables down by 0.79%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 0.72% and Metal was down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Technologies up by 1.92%, Coal India up by 1.76%, Yes Bank up by 1.62%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.42% and TCS was up by 0.72%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.42%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.16%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.61%, Tata Steel down by 1.01% and SBI was down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Ratings agency Crisil in its latest report has said that the Bharat Stage (BS) - VI emission standards will affect the auto-casting industry slightly. It also 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. Besides, it said that auto-casting players are putting in place a mechanism to offset reduction in internal combustion engines demand for such engines which are to be replaced by lithium ion and other such higher performing batteries. It added that the country will skip the BS-V emissions norms and transition to BS-VI norms from next April. These norms are expected to impact the whole automobile industry barring the tractor segment.

According to the report, the auto industry is set to change significantly with BS-VI emission norms and thrust on electric vehicles (EVs). It also expects the new emission norms to affect the auto-casting industry only slightly as these norms will only have a more near-term impact, while the effect of electric vehicles will be felt in the medium-to-long term. While two-wheelers will feel the brunt, it said the net value of auto-castings within this segment is expected to remain largely unchanged. It added that the proliferation of EVs poses a threat to traditional engines.

Ratings agency does not envisage significant changes in the case of cars and utility vehicles, because of the low share of diesel variants. However, it said that commercial vehicles space will see major changes in engine components and the exhaust management systems, which have a low impact on auto-casting. Besides, it warned that amid the thrust on EVs, major casted engine components such as cylinder heads, cylinder blocks, and gear housing (around 50 percent of casted components) run the risk of becoming obsolete. It noted that to deal with such a situation, the industry is working with global and original equipment manufacturers to develop motor housing, battery housing, knuckles, and turbochargers, to be used in EVs.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11575.60, down by 28.90 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 11569.70 and 11638.25. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Technologies up by 2.15%, Wipro up by 2.05%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.97%, Coal India up by 1.89% and Yes Bank was up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.43%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.89%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.37%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.43% and Adani Ports &SEZ was down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 63.60 points or 0.21% to 30,140.75, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 51.03 points or 0.47% to 10,851.60, Jakarta Composite soared 47.25 points or 0.74% to 6,472.98, Nikkei 225 surged 40.94 points or 0.19% to 21,802.59, Straits Times advanced 4.49 points or 0.14% to 3,319.91 and KOSPI was up by2.96 points or 0.13% to 2,213.56.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by15.24 points or 0.47% to 3,229.57.