Markets off day's high in afternoon deals

Indian equity benchmarks pared most of the gains to come off their day’s highs in afternoon session but remained in green terrain on account of buying in front line blue chip counters, tracking gains in Asian and global markets. The sentiments were still getting some support with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that focus of the central bank in coming months will be on corporate governance reforms in the banking and non-banking space to improve transparency and accountability. However, the markets trimmed most of their gains, as anxiety spread among the traders with India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) data which showed that a delay in the arrival of monsoon has pushed the country’s rainfall deficiency in the first nine days of June to 45%. Monsoon made an onset over Kerala on June 8, a week after its normal arrival date. This has also delayed its arrival in different parts of the country. Traders also took a note of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Survey showing that consumer confidence dropped to 97.3 in May 2019, after a sharp upsurge of 104.6 in the March 2019 round.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, after the U.S. removed the threat of tariffs against Mexican imports on Friday and China released better-than-expected trade data for May. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39696.51, up by 80.61 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 39666.36 and 39979.48. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.06%, while Small cap index was down by 0.51%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.43%, TECK up by 1.26%, FMCG up by 0.87%, Power up by 0.63% and Capital Goods was up by 0.60%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.23%, PSU down by 0.68%, Energy down by 0.51%, Bankex down by 0.32% and Realty was down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.70%, TCS up by 1.61%, Tata Steel up by 1.61%, HCL Tech. up by 1.45% and Sun Pharma was up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.54%, Tata Motors down by 1.98%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.66%, Coal India down by 1.42% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was down by 1.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS) has showed that consumer confidence dropped to 97.3 in May 2019, after a sharp upsurge of 104.6 in the March 2019 round. It noted that weakening confidence is primarily attributable to the deterioration in sentiments on jobs, price levels and the economy.

RBI has said that while there were negative sentiments with sign of deterioration as against last round with respect to employment situation and price level, the respondent expressed positive sentiments with sign of deterioration on the economic situation, income and spending behavior. It also noted that for the one year ahead expectations compared with current situation, the consumer confidence fell to 128.4 in May as against the all-time high of 133.4 in March.

According to the survey, the respondents expressed negative sentiments with sign of deterioration compared to last round when it came to price level expectations. It also said that there were positive sentiments with sign of deterioration on responses about economic situation, employment, income and spending. It pointed out that the one year ahead outlook also turned out to be less optimistic, more than 60 per cent of respondents expect improvement in the general economic situation in the year ahead.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11885.20, up by 14.55 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 11882.65 and 11975.05. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 2.56%, Britannia Industries up by 2.39%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.93%, Infosys up by 1.70% and TCS was up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 4.07%, BPCL down by 3.71%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.41%, Tata Motors down by 2.21% and Indian Oil Corporation was down by 2.01% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite gained 22.88 points or 0.81% to 2,850.68, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 157.27 points or 1.51% to 10,566.47, KOSPI rose 27.16 points or 1.31% to 2,099.49, Straits Times advanced 25.95 points or 0.82% to 3,192.24, Nikkei 225 surged 249.71 points or 1.2% to 21,134.42, Hang Seng increased 577.15 points or 2.14% to 27,542.43, Jakarta Composite was up by 94.81 points or 1.53% to 6,303.93.