Markets made sluggish start; Sensex dips below 38,100 mark

Bears took control on Dalal Street and markets are trading with a cut of over half a percent in early deals, as traders remained concern on report that US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned any retaliatory tariff by India in response to the United States' planned withdrawal of trade privileges will not be appropriate under WTO rules. India has raised the prospect of higher import duties on more than 20 US goods if US President Donald Trump presses ahead with a plan announced in March to end the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for India. India is the biggest beneficiary of GSP, which allows preferential duty-free imports of up to $5.6 billion from the South Asian nation. Market participants shrugged private report that the number of business-to-business (B2B) startups has jumped four times to 3,200 in 2018 from 800 in 2014, enabling faster growth of the ecosystem, attracting investments worth USD 3.7 billion from USD 797 million, during the period.

On the global front  Asian markets are trading in red on Wednesday as the weak cues overnight from Wall Street amid worries about escalating US-China trade tensions. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer confirmed that the US plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent on Friday.

Back home, IT stocks edged lower despite report that India's IT and business services market May grow by over eight per cent to reach $ 13.1 billion by the year-end and expand further to $ 14.3 billion by 2020. The IT services market is slated to reach $ 10 billion by December 2019, growing at 9.1 per cent annually. Solar stocks remained in focus on report that India needs faster implementation of roof-top solar projects to meet the 175 gigawatts of renewable energy target by 2022.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38080.62, down by 196.01 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 38026.38 and 38248.57. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index shed 0.15% while, Small cap index was down by 0.29%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal was up by 0.14%, while Energy down by 1.02%, Realty down by 0.69%, Oil & Gas down by 0.54%, TECK down by 0.54% and IT was down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation up by 0.73%, ICICI Bank up by 0.70%, Indusind Bank up by 0.60%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.55% and Sun Pharma Industries was up by 0.46%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.43%, Reliance Industries down by 1.41%, NTPC down by 1.34%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.21% and Vedanta was down by 1.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, In order to facilitate private companies in India and the US, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has made a case for a government-to-government agreement between both the countries. The commerce minister stated ‘public policies may sometimes create challenges for corporate but if we have a government-to-government agreement, we can clearly spell out the certainty, stability, forward-looking policies and this will facilitate companies to prepare their corporate plans.

He further expressed hope that problems being faced by businesses in India and the US can be sorted out in a way that benefits both the countries. He added one needs to look at big picture and make sure that irritants are tackled in a manner that helps foster this relationship. The remarks assumes significance as Indian companies are raising issues like restrictive visa regime in the US, American firms are flagging concerns related to India's intellectual property policies and e-commerce norms.

Besides, he said India's economy is expected to touch $5 trillion in the next 7-8 years and $10 trillion by 2035 and in this, US companies can help. These numbers are possible to achieve only when India has friends like the US. With this growth, US companies will also benefit.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11430.85, down by 67.05 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 11420.95 and 11479.10. There were 14 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 1.13%, Power Grid Corporation up by 0.70%, ICICI Bank up by 0.63%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 0.52% and Coal India was up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 3.51%, ONGC down by 1.49%, NTPC down by 1.45%, Reliance Industries down by 1.41% and HDFC was down by 1.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in red; Straits Times decreased 31.08 points or 0.94% to 3,321.70, Hang Seng declined 206.79 points or 0.70% to 29,156.23, Taiwan Weighted slipped 69.82 points or 0.64% to 10,917.32, Jakarta Composite fell 38.89 points or 0.62% to 6,258.43 and Shanghai Composite decreased 3.24 points or 0.11% to 2,923.15, Nikkei 225 tumbled 375.24 points or 1.71% to 21,548.48 and KOSPI was down by 3.18 points or 0.15% to 2,173.81.