Indian equities remain in green terrain

Mirroring positive global cues, Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green territory in afternoon session, with Sensex firmly trading above 39,700 mark. The indices remained positive with taking support from Arvind Panagariya’s statement that the escalating trade war between the US and China is an opportune time for India to attract the large multinationals looking for alternative locations outside the Communist country. Besides, short-covering by participants with Thursday being the last trading session of the June series of derivative contracts also supported the sentiments. Traders also took a note of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the government was negotiating with the U.S. on the issue of withdrawing the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) status to Indian business houses. He also said the U.S. move was a sign that Indian businesses had grown and could compete globally.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, as investors focused on optimistic signs ahead of Saturday’s meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39730.54, up by 138.46 points or 0.35% after trading in a range of 39633.88 and 39777.62. There were 23 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 0.74%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.67%, Auto up by 1.46%, Consumer Disc up by 0.81%, Bankex up by 0.78% and Industrials was up by 0.67%, while Energy down by 0.47%, IT down by 0.29%, TECK down by 0.26% and Oil & Gas was down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.18%, Tata Motors up by 2.95%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.18%, Axis Bank up by 1.53% and Indusind Bank was up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.12%, Power Grid down by 1.41%, Reliance Industries down by 0.78%, Bharti Airtel was down by 0.65% and ITC down by 0.36% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued norms for setting up of financial benchmark administrator (FBA) for administering significant benchmarks in the markets for financial instruments. Benchmarks administered outside India do not fall under the scope of the guidelines.

No FBA will administer a 'significant benchmark' without obtaining authorisation of the RBI under these directions. However, FBAs that were already administering the 'significant benchmark' may continue to do so till the disposal of their applications by the RBI. FBA will be a company incorporated in India with a minimum net worth of Rs 1 crore at all times. FBAs will ensure that a 'significant benchmark' is designed to be an accurate and reliable representation of the referenced (specified) financial instrument.

FBA will also ensure that the data used to construct a 'significant benchmark' is based on an active market involving arm's length transactions. Where such transactions are not available, it shall record justification for any data, information or expert judgment used to construct the benchmark. FBAs will submit to the RBI such data and reports within such timelines and in such formats as advised from time to time. They should also submit periodic return or report on their compliance with the directions or instructions issued by the central bank within such timelines and in such formats as advised from time to time.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11885.30, up by 37.75 points or 0.32% after trading in a range of 11859.45 and 11901.60. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 4.52%, Tata Motors up by 3.72%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.32%, Eicher Motors up by 2.21% and Grasim Industries was up by 1.89%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.12%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.75%, UPL down by 1.51%, Power Grid down by 1.29% and Wipro was down by 1.10% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in green; Shanghai Composite gained 16.00 points or 0.54% to 2,992.28, KOSPI rose 12.47 points or 0.59% to 2,134.32, Nikkei 225 surged 251.58 points or 1.19% to 21,338.17, Straits Times advanced 22.39 points or 0.68% to 3,323.64, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 121.35 points or 1.14% to 10,773.90, Hang Seng increased 361.36 points or 1.28% to 28,583.34 and Jakarta Composite was up by 42.83 points or 0.68% to 6,353.32.