Sensex, Nifty turn negative in early noon deal

Indian bourses erased initial gains and turned negative in early noon session amid first phase of polling begins spanning across 20 states and Union Territories. Stocks from Metal, IT and Bankex counters were trading lower, while Telecom, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas counters were supporting the markets. Traders remain concerned as Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that rising protectionism, fluctuation in commodity prices and inadequate availability of liquidity are the three major challenges, which exporters will face in the coming months. Further, there was some cautiousness with the agricultural and processed food products export development authority (APEDA) report stating that the country's exports of agricultural and processed food products have dipped by 2.27 per cent to $16.27 billion during the April- February period of 2018-19, on account of contraction in shipments of buffalo meat, wheat and non-basmati rice. Meanwhile, the government has extended the last date for filing final sales return form GSTR-1 for March by two days till April 13. Similarly, the due date for furnishing tax deducted at source (TDS) return GSTR-7 for March has also been extended till April 12.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, following cautious words from central banks as milder US core inflation and a growing number of Fed policymakers who see policy moving in either direction have investors increasingly convinced that interest rate rises will be kept on hold. Back on home turf, in scrip specific development, Lupin gained on launching Fluoxetine Tablets USP, 60mg.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38566.36, down by 18.99 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 38529.19 and 38649.42. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.21%, while Small cap index was down by 0.07%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.12%, Capital Goods up by 0.56%, Oil & Gas up by 0.55%, Energy up by 0.42% and Industrials was up by 0.23%, while Metal down by 1.13%, IT down by 0.55%, Bankex down by 0.45%, Basic Materials down by 0.43% and TECK was down by 0.37% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.56%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.08%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.95%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.91% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.32%, Infosys down by 1.11%, Sun Pharma down by 1.05%, Yes Bank down by 1.02% and Axis Bank was down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Indian Steel Association has said that steel demand in India is likely to grow by 7.1 percent in calendar year 2019 and by 7.2 percent in the next calendar year 2020 driven by sectors like construction, capital goods and railways. As for financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21, it forecasted steel demand to grow by 7.2 percent. Besides, it noted that the country’s steel consumption is poised to cross the psychological 100-million tonne (MT) mark in 2019. 

Earlier, Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh had said that growth trend in steel consumption in India will continue, due to strong manufacturing sector, diversified demand demographics, accelerated expenditure on infrastructure, anticipated increase in GDP and strong focus on 'Make in India'.

The domestic steel body stated that investment driven sectors such as construction, capital goods and railways are likely to maintain the healthy growth momentum driven by infrastructure programmes such as Bharatmala, Sagarmala, railway track electrification, dedicated freight corridors, metro rails, etc. In addition, it said that while reduction in Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates will support the real estate demand, ongoing capacity additions in renewable energy segment would continue to boost the electrical equipment demand.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11579.40, down by 4.90 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 11568.65 and 11604.20. There were 22 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 2.47%, BPCL up by 1.44%, Cipla up by 1.35%, Dr. Reddys up by 0.97% and Indian Oil Corporation up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.26%, Sun Pharma down by 1.19%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.15%, ICICI Bank down by 1.04% and Yes Bank was down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red, Jakarta Composite dropped 51.06 points or 0.79% to 6,427.27, Hang Seng decreased 211.93 points or 0.7% to 29,907.63, Shanghai Composite declined 46.31 points or 1.43% to 3,195.62, KOSPI fell 2.63 points or 0.12% to 2,221.76 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 59.37 points or 0.55% to 10,808.77.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 surged 16.44 points or 0.08% to 21,704.01 and Straits Times was up by 6.03 points or 0.18% to 3,333.68.