Bourses trim gains to come off day’s high

Key Indian benchmarks trimmed most of their gains in afternoon session to come off their intraday high points, as Oil & Gas, Telecom and Healthcare shares witnessed selling. Investors failed to draw any sense of relief with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statement that it will infuse Rs 12,500 crore of liquidity into the system through purchase of government bonds. Based on an assessment of prevailing liquidity conditions and also of the durable liquidity needs going forward, the RBI has decided to conduct purchase of five government securities. On the sectoral front, shipping sector remained in focus with Minister of Shipping (Independent Charge) Mansukhlal Mandaviya’s statement that creating job potential by increasing the number of seafarers will be one of the priority areas for the Shipping Ministry. He said another focus area for the ministry will be implementing international best practices at Alang ship-breaking yard. On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, following new hope on the trade front and strong gains on Wall Street.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39148.45, up by 102.11 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 39146.90 and 39435.80. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.89%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.69%, Metal up by 0.55%, Bankex up by 0.52%, Consumer Durables up by 0.49% and Power was up by 0.40%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.89%, Telecom down by 0.77%, Healthcare down by 0.54%, Auto down by 0.45% and Energy was down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.29%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.42%, Power Grid up by 1.57%, NTPC up by 0.91% and HDFC was up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 4.62%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.28%, Tata Motors down by 1.99%, Sun Pharma down by 1.27% and Tata Motors - DVR was down by 1.24% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a top American Senator Robert Menendez has urged US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer to reinstate India into the Generalized System of Preference (GSP), which President Donald Trump has terminated. The US terminated preferential tariffs to Indian exports after determining that it has not committed to provide ‘equitable and reasonable access to its markets’ for the US. The termination is effective from June 5.

Menendez said “I hope we can work to solve our issues with India so they can be reinstated into the GSP.” But at the same time, he appeared to be supportive of the concerns of the Trump administration with regard to India. He also said “You have to know that if I'm a trading partner I want to have some predictive ability and when I make a deal with you and then you start tariffs on me for something that has absolutely nothing to do with trade then that is unpredictable.”

Lighthizer said “We at USTR are very much focused on changing these rules where they are unfair to American farmers, ranchers, workers, and businesses. This has included renegotiating KORUS, which you are aware, and NAFTA, which you have just discussed and will discuss further.” He added “We also have been reviewing GSP eligibility; actively engaging in TIFA talks with many, many countries; and reviewing the rules and functions of the WTO. USTR has also been active in enforcing the existing obligations of our trading partners.” He said “We've brought many WTO cases. We've filed counter notifications at the WTO and worked with other WTO members on a proposal to improve compliance with the existing WTO notification obligations.”

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11706.75, up by 15.25 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 11702.40 and 11802.50. There were 20 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 3.47%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.58%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.54%, Power Grid up by 1.62% and NTPC was up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 9.49%, Yes Bank down by 4.53%, UPL down by 3.22%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.42% and Indian Oil Corporation was down by 2.41% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Hang Seng increased 626.41 points or 2.28% to 28,125.18, Nikkei 225 surged 361.16 points or 1.72% to 21,333.87, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 208.60 points or 1.97% to 10,775.34, Shanghai Composite gained 28.98 points or 1% to 2,919.14, KOSPI rose 26.07 points or 1.24% to 2,124.78, Straits Times advanced 45.62 points or 1.41% to 3,284.35 and Jakarta Composite was up by 57.25 points or 0.91% to 6,314.58.