Benchmarks trade in green in early deals on Thursday

Indian equity benchmarks made a negative start on Thursday but managed to erase all of the losses and entered into green territory in early deals. Some support came in with report that the government has decided to waive registration charges for electric vehicles. The move, aimed at promoting electric vehicles (EVs) in India, comes at a time when the country plans high penetration of such vehicles by 2030. Besides, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has rejected the claims of former CEA Arvind Subramanian regarding over-estimation of GDP growth after 2011, saying his analysis ignores data on services and agriculture and shows blind trust in a private firm CMIE. However, some cautiousness prevailed in the markets on report that the United States has told India it is considering caps on H-1B work visas for nations that force foreign companies to store data locally. The US government plan to cap H-1B visas issued each year to Indians at between 10% and 15% of the annual quota. There is no current country-specific limit on the 85,000 H-1B work visas granted each year and an estimated 70% go to Indians.

 On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in green after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged overnight but opened the door to a potential rate cut on the horizon. The US markets had closed higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged as widely expected. Back home, on the sectoral front, NBFCs stocks were buzzing with a private report indicating that facing a record amount of debt that’s about to mature, India’s non-bank financing companies are finding their troubles worsening as a crisis of credibility starts to bite.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39181.28, up by 68.54 points or 0.18% after trading in a range of 38933.78 and 39193.72. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.19%, while Small cap index was down by 0.30%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.95%, Energy up by 0.74%, Oil & Gas up by 0.64%, Consumer Durables up by 0.57%, Realty up by 0.49%, while IT down by 0.88%, TECK down by 0.69%, Basic Materials down by 0.35%, FMCG down by 0.31%, Industrials down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.45%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.27%, Coal India up by 0.87%, Reliance Industries up by 0.82% and HDFC up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.20%, TCS down by 0.90%, Tata Motors down by 0.87%, Infosys down by 0.68% and Indusind Bank down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, amid the problems faced by kirana stores, traders and retailers from foreign competition, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said the government will not allow foreign companies to operate in multi-brand segment and necessary action will be taken against people indulging in predatory pricing. He added that the pretext of B2B (business-to-business) no entry will be allowed for multi-brand retail.

Goyal also stated that predatory pricing will not be allowed and necessary action will be taken against defaulters. He added that the draft e-commerce policy will be finalised only after taking into account every suggestion received by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). He asked the traders to use government e-marketplace and MUDRA scheme to promote their business.

Besides, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has demanded early formulation of e-commerce policy. It said a regulatory authority should be constituted to regulate and monitor the e-commerce business with adequate powers to penalise or take action against entity which violates the policy. According to FDI policy, India permits foreign direct investment in the multi-brand retail sector with a cap of 51% ownership by overseas players.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11704.10, up by 12.65 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 11635.05 and 11710.70. There were 25 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.31%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.52%, BPCL up by 1.29%, Indian Oil Corporation up by 1.26% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.28%, UPL down by 2.29%, Britannia Industries down by 2.11%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.64% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.56% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng increased 284.25 points or 1.01% to 28,486.39, Nikkei 225 surged 145.17 points or 0.68% to 21,479.04, Shanghai Composite gained 75.19 points or 2.58% to 2,992.99, Straits Times advanced 24.13 points or 0.73% to 3,312.30, KOSPI rose 3.39 points or 0.16% to 2,128.17 and Taiwan Weighted strengthened 0.40 points or 0% to 10,775.74, while Jakarta Composite lost 4.74 points or 0.07% to 6,334.52.