Markets turn negative

Erasing all of their gains, equity benchmarks turned negative in late afternoon session, tracking weak European markets. The street got cautious, as the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in its latest payroll data showed that job creation declined by 1.73% in February 2019 to 15.03 lakh compared to 15.30 lakh in the same month last year. Some concerns also came with a private report stating that the India Volatility Index shot up to a three-year high of 24.05 on April 22, amid rising uncertainty over the new government formation and soaring crude oil prices. The India VIX, the fear gauge for domestic equities, rose 5.76 per cent to settle at 24.05, after an intra-day high of 24.56.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as Denmark's consumer confidence weakened in April. The survey data from Statistics Denmark showed that the consumer confidence index fell to 3.7 in April from 3.8 in March. The index measuring consumers' view regarding the past economic situation in Denmark rose to 5.9 in April from 5.0 in the previous month. However, Asian markets were trading in green, after Taiwan's unemployment rate fell slightly in March. The Directorate General of Budget Accounting & Statistics or DGBAS reported that the jobless rate dropped to an unadjusted 3.68 percent in March from 3.72 percent in February. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate rose 3.72 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38639.66, down by 5.52 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 38612.23 and 38832.61. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.09%, while Small cap index was down by 0.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.38%, Consumer Durables up by 1.22%, Healthcare up by 1.03%, Realty up by 0.70% and Oil & Gas up by 0.47%, while Utilities down by 0.91%, Telecom down by 0.83%, Power down by 0.55%, Capital Goods down by 0.39% and Metal down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.54%, ONGC up by 3.04%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.84%, Reliance Industries up by 1.73% and Coal India up by 1.29%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 1.29%, Tata Steel down by 1.27%, Power Grid down by 1.05%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.92% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) Delegation has discussed concerns of the Chamber related to the growth of the economy, exports, liquidity , Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), NBFCs, Affordable Housing and Real Estate sector with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor. A delegation led by Rajeev Talwar, President of PHDCCI along with D K Aggarwal, Senior Vice President of PHD Chamber and Sanjay Aggarwal, Vice President of PHD Chamber met Governor of RBI, Shaktikanta Das.

Delegation gave various suggestions to the RBI such as increase the limit for classifying over dues of MSMEs to 180 days from the current level of 90 days as working capital cycle of MSMEs keeps prolonging due to delays in realisation of their bills/receivables and the loans given by banks to NBFCs for the purpose of on-lending to MSMEs should be treated as indirect finance to MSMEs eligible for classification under the Priority Sector lending of banks.

It has also urged that at-least one year period should be considered for eligibility of MSMEs’ stressed and NPA accounts for eligibility under the restructuring scheme. All such Accounts which turned into defaulters or became NPAs after January 01, 2018 should be covered under the policy of RBI for being eligible for restructuring. It also suggested further cut in the repo rate in the coming quarters.

Besides, Delegation said that infrastructure financing should ideally be carried out by specialist players like Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs). IFCs should be allowed to deploy a minimum of 50% of their total assets in infrastructure loans, while the rest may be deployed towards financing allied and ancillary activities for infrastructure projects, which are essentially non-infra in nature.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11594.30, down by 0.15 points or 0.00% after trading in a range of 11582.95 and 11645.95. There were 21 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 4.02%, Sun Pharma up by 3.54%, ONGC up by 2.98%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.80% and Reliance Industries up by 1.72%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 1.73%, NTPC down by 1.58%, BPCL down by 1.40%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.30% and Tata Steel down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Jakarta Composite gained 58.76 points or 0.92% to 6,473.50, Nikkei 225 surged 41.84 points or 0.19% to 22,259.74, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 37.97 points or 0.35% to 11,025.68 and KOSPI was up by 3.86 points or 0.17% to 2,220.51. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 7.37 points or 0.22% to 3,350.33, Hang Seng decreased 9.36 points or 0.03% to 29,953.90 and Shanghai Composite was down by 14.17 points or 0.44% to 3,200.87.

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC lost 10.77 points or 0.19% to 5,569.61 and Germany’s DAX slipped by 25.13 points or 0.21% to 12,197.26, while UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 27.08 points or 0.36% to 7,486.96.