Indian bourses continue to trade in positive territory

Key benchmark indices continued to trade in positive territory in afternoon session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters. Sentiment on the street remained positive with Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas stating that the corporate affairs ministry maintains a fairly reliable database that is not a black box. He emphasized that it is up to statistical authorities to decide on which data is representative for GDP calculation. Traders also took some support with a private report that even as employment scenario remains weak, India may see the addition of 11.5 lakh jobs in the formal sector during the first half of FY20, adding travel, hospitality and BPO/ITeS are likely to be the top contributors. However, gains remain capped as some caution prevailed in the markets ahead of index of industrial production (IIP) data for March scheduled to be released today. On the sectoral front, packaging industry remained in focus with Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan’s statement that the fast-growing Indian packaging industry needs to focus on key areas such as safety, environment protection, reusabilty and re-cyclability of material with a view to promote the growth of the sector in a sustainable way.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, despite uncertainty over the potential outcome of trade talks between China and the U.S. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37626.17, up by 67.26 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 37479.62 and 37721.98. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.36%, Realty up by 1.00%, Consumer Durables up by 0.54%, Bankex up by 0.52% and Energy was up by 0.44%, while IT down by 0.80%, TECK down by 0.48%, Oil & Gas down by 0.38%, Power down by 0.18% and FMCG was down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.42%, Tata Motors up by 1.51%, ICICI Bank up by 1.19%, Reliance Industries up by 1.12% and HDFC was up by 0.97%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 4.17%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.81%, Indusind Bank down by 1.60%, Asian Paints down by 1.53% and ONGC was down by 1.45% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the industry body, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has said the huge fund raising exercise in Indian telecom sector through rights issue reinforces the seriousness of promoters and their continued faith in fundamentals and dynamics of the market despite adverse circumstances and structural issues that need to be urgently fixed. According to COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews, it shows the seriousness of the players to continue to fund their operations adequately.

Mathews has stated that companies are facing severe economic turbulence from issues that could have been fixed by the government, viz 30 percent levies and taxes that the government continues to extract from the industry. He noted that the industry has taken a responsible call to infuse fresh funds in some very adverse circumstances. Adding further, he said the players are showing their commitment to the long-term prospects of the sector, and their concerns around structural issues and licensing regime need to be fixed at the earliest.

COAI Director General also said “this type of rigidity which comes from a control-oriented licensing regime coupled with regulations which have to obviously support that rigidity...it becomes all the more difficult for mobile industry which is heavily focused on growth, technology and changes. I think we need to relook at this, quickly.” He also expressed hopes that the new government post-election, would set out a clear roadmap to ease the burden of levies on the telecom sector, and issues including cut in licence fee and spectrum charges would be taken up at the earliest.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11319.50, up by 17.70 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 11272.25 and 11342.75. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 3.63%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.41%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 3.15%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.65% and UPL was up by 1.28%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies  down by 4.54%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.05%, Indusind Bank down by 1.56%, BPCL down by 1.48% and Bharti Infratel was down by 1.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Straits Times increased 9.24 points or 0.28% to 3,278.94, Hang Seng gained 255.37 points or 0.90% to 28,566.44, KOSPI surged 6.03 points or 0.29% to 2,108.04 and Shanghai Composite was up by 82.15 points or 2.88% to 2,933.10. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite fell 20.67 points or 0.33% to 6,178.13, Taiwan Weighted slipped by 20.68 points or 0.19% to 10,712.99, Nikkei 225 was down by 57.21 points or 0.27% to 21,344.92.