Bourses continue to hold small gains in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued to hold small gains in afternoon session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters. Sentiment on the street remained positive with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statement that it will buy government securities worth Rs 25,000 crore next month through two auctions of Rs 12,500 crore each. Based on a review of the evolving liquidity conditions and assessment of the durable liquidity needs going forward, RBI has decided to conduct purchase of government securities under (OMOs). However, further gains got restricted as anxiety remained among the local traders with Care Ratings’ report warning that a possible increase in fuel prices due to the US sanctions on Iranian crude exports can have adverse impacts on the current account deficit (CAD), the rupee and inflation. There was some cautiousness too ahead of April F&O expiry and Q4 earnings. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, with the region lacking the catalyst that propelled their U.S. counterparts to record highs, stronger corporate earnings releases. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38619.68, up by 54.80 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 38571.00 and 38701.52. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.11%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.42%, Energy up by 1.00%, Telecom up by 0.79%, TECK up by 0.70% and IT was up by 0.68%, while Auto down by 1.08%, Basic Materials down by 0.69%, FMCG down by 0.67%, Power down by 0.55% and Utilities was down by 0.51% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 2.26%, HCL Technologies up by 2.03%, Indusind Bank up by 1.89%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.45% and Asian Paints was up by 1.20%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 5.29%, Tata Motors down by 5.03%, Power Grid down by 1.43%, Axis Bank down by 1.29% and Hero MotoCorp was down by 1.28% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India’s pharmaceutical exports have reported an increase of 11 percent to $19.2 billion during the financial year 2019, on the back of higher demand in regions like North America and Europe. According to a commerce ministry data, pharma exports fetched $17.27 billion in FY18 and $16.7 billion in the previous fiscal. It highlighted that North America constitutes over 30 percent of Indian pharma exports followed by Africa and the European Union with 19.37 percent and 15.92 percent respectively.

Chinese market is also gradually opening up and the government is working to push India's exports there as it holds huge potential. The other important destinations include South Africa, Russia, Nigeria, Brazil and Germany, where exports are registering growth. The sector accounted for about 6 percent of the country's total exports of $331 billion in 2018-19. It is one of the top five sectors in the exports segment.

Generic drugs form the largest segment of the Indian pharmaceutical sector holding 75 percent of the market share by revenue. India supplies 20 percent of global generic medicines in terms of volume, making the country the largest provider of generic medicines globally. Over 55 percent of India’s exports go to highly regulated markets. Higher growth in outbound shipments helps create employment opportunities, earn foreign exchange and boost economic activities.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11594.40, up by 18.45 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 11578.85 and 11620.85. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.50%, ONGC up by 2.41%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 2.21%, HCL Technologies up by 2.18% and Indusind Bank was up by 2.07%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 5.40%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.74%, Power Grid down by 1.42%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.39% and Maruti Suzuki was down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 128.98 points or 0.43% to 29,834.26, Nikkei 225 slipped 59.74 points or 0.27% to 22,200.00, KOSPI fell 19.48 points or 0.88% to 2,201.03, Jakarta Composite dropped 14.12 points or 0.22% to 6,448.70 and Shanghai Composite was down by10.18 points or 0.32% to 3,188.41.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 1.96 points or 0.02% to 11,027.64 and Straits Times was up by 6.78 points or 0.2% to 3,360.25.