Benchmarks trade in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks have made a cautious start and are trading in red in morning deals, as traders remained anxious with the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) statement that the arrival of the monsoon in the national capital is likely to be delayed by two-three days, though the city is expected to receive normal rainfall. It said normally, the monsoon reaches Delhi by June 29. Since there is a delay in its onset in the southern peninsula, the wind system is likely to take two-three days longer to reach northwest India. However, losses remained capped as some solace came with report that a G-20 surveillance note expects India’s economy to grow 7.3% in 2019 and 7.5% in 2020. Traders took note of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that the RBI expects the government to continue to be broadly prudent on the fiscal side. He said the government has broadly maintained the fiscal deficit glide path and RBI expects it to remain broadly fiscally prudent going forward.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading in green at this point of time in green on Friday, as investors waited for concrete signs of progress in the US-Mexican trade standoff. The US markets ended higher on Thursday, as investors speculated that the US and Mexico are getting closer to a resolution over immigration issues that would delay the tariffs threatened by President Donald Trump.

Back home, textile stocks remained in focus with report that India, which is emerging as a global textile hub with huge potential, needs to develop man-made fibre to remain competitive in the global market and it aims to be a $350 billion industry by 2025. The steel stocks remained buzzing with CARE Ratings’ report that India’s steel consumption is expected to grow by 5%-6% this year, on the back of government’s expenditure towards infrastructure and construction. It added that with NDA being voted back to power, the focus will continue to remain on infrastructure development.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39401.50, down by 128.22 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 39279.47 and 39614.51. There were 14 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.07%, while Small cap index was down by 0.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.07%, Basic Materials up by 0.47%, Metal up by 0.44%, Capital Goods up by 0.35% and PSU was up by 0.26%, while Healthcare down by 0.85%, Utilities down by 0.44%, FMCG down by 0.39%, Energy down by 0.37% and Bankex was down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta up by 2.27%, Yes Bank up by 0.59%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.55%, SBI up by 0.53% and Tata Motors up by 0.41%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.73%, Sun Pharma Industries down by 1.51%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.93%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.82% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a G-20 surveillance note has said that Indian economy is expected to grow 7.3% in 2019 and 7.5% in 2020. The note said recent manufacturing indicators point to a tentative rebound in Asian and Latin American countries except India. The note comes ahead of the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meetings on June 8-9. It has been prepared by International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff but does not necessarily reflect the views of the IMF Executive Board.

The note showed that in India, reforms to hiring and dismissal regulations would help incentivise formal job creation. It added that combined with an increase in female labour force participation, would help absorb the country’s large demographic dividend. In commodity exports, economic diversification remains essential for sustained strong growth.

It said global growth is projected to remain stable at around 3.6% but will rely on weights shifting toward countries with relatively higher growth rates, mainly G-20 emerging markets such as China and India. The April 2019 World Economic Outlook (WEO) revised down projections for global growth to 3.3% in 2019, 0.4 percentage points lower than projected in the October 2018 WEO.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11817.95, down by 25.80 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 11769.50 and 11870.50. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing up by 2.62%, Vedanta up by 2.36%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.83%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.07% and Yes Bank up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 2.42%, Cipla down by 2.40%, Sun Pharma Industries down by 1.68%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.41% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading in green; Nikkei 225 gained 123.43 points or 0.59% to 20,897.47, Straits Times jumped 11.99 points or 0.38% to 3,158.17 and KOSPI was up by 6.78 points or 0.33% to 2,075.89.