Sensex, Nifty continue to trade in positive terrain

Indian stock markets continued to trade in positive terrain in early noon session with Sensex and Nifty trading above 39100 and 11750 levels respectively despite subdued Asian peers. Sentiments remained up-beat as the group of 25 influential American lawmakers has urged the US Trade Representative not to terminate the GSP programme with India after the expiry of the 60-day notice on Friday, saying the country's companies seeking to expand their exports to India could be affected. The Generalized System of Preference (GSP) is the largest and oldest US trade preference programme and is designed to promote economic development by allowing duty-free entry for thousands of products from designated beneficiary countries. However gains remain limited as the Finance Ministry in its monthly economic report for March has said that the Indian economy slowed down slightly in the fiscal year 2018-19 (FY19), though it is still fastest growing major economy. The proximate factors responsible for this slowdown include declining growth of private consumption, tepid increase in fixed investment, and muted exports. Meanwhile, Chartered accountants’ body ICAI has released the e-version of compendium of revised Indian Accounting Standards that incorporates new standard on leases among other amendments.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, amid thin holiday trade and as investors awaited the release of key U.S. jobs data and other directional cues. Back on street, in scrip specific development, Tata power edged up despite reporting a fall of 92.13% in its consolidated net profit at Rs 107.32 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 1,364.33 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39132.87, up by 151.44 points or 0.39% after trading in a range of 38961.76 and 39172.76. There were 23 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.29%, while Small cap index was down by 0.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.40%, Realty up by 1.20%, Bankex up by 0.91%, Power up by 0.80% and PSU was up by 0.64%, while IT down by 1.09%, TECK down by 0.79%, Healthcare down by 0.42%, FMCG down by 0.33% and Basic Materials was down by 0.02% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.83%, Tata Motors up by 1.83%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.77%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.43% and NTPC was up by 1.42%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.01%, HCL Technologies down by 1.41%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.41%, Tata Steel down by 0.60% and Vedanta was down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) in its latest data has indicated that the 12 large non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad loans accounts initiated by banks as directed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for resolution through insolvency process had total outstandings claim of Rs 3.45 lakh crore as against their liquidation value of Rs 73,220.23 crore.

As per the IBBI data, creditors have taken haircut of as high as 90 percent in case of the resolved accounts so far. It noted that this shows the huge gap between the value of the assets and the outstandings the firms had accumulated. It also said that of these, resolution plans in respect of six corporate debtors have been approved. It added that out of these six, Bhushan Steel has the highest realisation claims so far, and Alok Industries has the lowest at 11 percent.

The insolvency regulator further stated that due to the failure to implement the approved resolution plan in Amtek Auto, the process has restarted. It also said that other accounts are at different stages of the process. It also states out of those six resolved cases, the outstanding dues admitted in the case of Electrosteel stood at Rs 13,175 crore and the amount realised was a mere Rs 5,320 crore, or 40.38 per cent realisation of the claims.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11757.65, up by 32.90 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 11719.65 and 11768.25. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.07%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.01%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.91%, NTPC up by 1.65% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 1.54%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.06%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.61%, Britannia down by 1.60%, HCL Technologies down by 1.55% and Wipro was down by 1.38% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI fell 12.40 points or 0.56% to 2,200.35, Jakarta Composite dropped 87.57 points or 1.37% to 6,286.85 and Straits Times was down by 4.23 points or 0.12% to 3,389.10.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 85.23 points or 0.77% to 11,089.72 and Hang Seng was up by 120.84 points or 0.4% to 30,065.02.