Local equities trim some initial gains

Local equity benchmarks trimmed some of their initial gains in morning session but managed to trade in green territory. Traders were seen piling positions in Capital Goods, Industrials and Realty sector, while selling was witnessed in IT, FMCG and TECK sector stocks. Some optimism also came with Fitch report that the BJP’s ‘apparent landslide victory’ is likely to improve business sentiment and outlook for private investment. It added that from a credit rating perspective, Fitch would focus on the extent of the next government’s efforts to improve India’s weak fiscal finances. Traders took note of a report that India has stopped importing oil from Iran after American waivers granted to eight buyers expired early this month, becoming the latest country to comply with the US sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme. Besides, a report stated that with poll uncertainty behind, investors will now be keen to know the future course of action to boost economy, solution to ease liquidity situation and measures to address financial sector dislocation.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, after a Wall Street selloff as investors remained concerned about the possibility of a protracted trade war. Back home, Moody's Investors Service report stated that its credit view on India will depend on policies of the new government and expressed hope that the country would continue with its fiscal consolidation plan.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38891.06, up by 79.67 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 38824.26 and 39223.85. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.43%, while Small cap index was up by 0.60%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 2.08%, Industrials up by 1.43%, Telecom up by 1.33%, Realty up by 1.25% and BANKEX was up by 0.69%, while Energy down by 0.66%, Consumer Durables down by 0.66%, IT down by 0.27%, FMCG down by 0.18% and TECK was down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.82%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.57%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.91%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.49% and SBI was up by 1.20%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.87%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.20%, Reliance Industries down by 1.12%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.06% and HCL Tech was down by 0.91% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the ratings agency, ICRA has said negative growth in domestic air traffic was seen on account of on Jet Airways grounding. The discontinuation of operations by Jet Airways has impacted about 14 per cent of the total industry capacity. The agency mentioned the moderation in capacity, which started in February when the now-defunct Jet Airways began grounding its fleet in a staggered manner and, which eventually led to shuttering of operations around mid-last month, has also resulted in an increase of 30-40 per cent in airfares in March as compared to September last year.

It further added that this, de-growth in domestic passenger traffic, is primarily attributable to adverse impact on the industry capacity which has been hit hard due to grounding of Jet Airways aircraft starting February on account of liquidity constraints and eventual discontinuation of its operations from April 18. However, the domestic passenger traffic remained on an upswing between July 2013 and March 2019, after witnessing year-on-year de-growth in June 2013.

Meanwhile, it said that the consequent increase in airfares due to the demand-supply imbalance has impacted the industry passenger load factors (PLFs). During April all airlines except GoAir have reported a year-on-year decline in PLFs. Overall, the domestic passenger traffic growth for January-April period has been muted at 2.5 per cent, significantly lower than the 24.6 per cent growth witnessed during the year-ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11676.65, up by 19.60 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 11658.10 and 11775.55. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 4.52%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.81%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.18%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.65% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 1.52%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 2.99%, Titan Company down by 1.61%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.37%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.10% and Indiabulls Housing Finance was down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 96.01 points or 0.45% to 21,055.13, KOSPI fell 16.35 points or 0.79% to 2,043.24, Straits Times trembled 9.32 points or 0.29% to 3,151.40 and Shanghai Composite was down by 1.12 points or 0.04% to 2,851.40.

On the other side, Jakarta Composite soared 21.25 points or 0.35% to 6,053.95, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 41.15 points or 0.4% to 10,349.52 and Hang Seng was up by 60.71 points or 0.22% to 27,327.84.