Bourses end volatile day in green terrain

Indian equity indices ended volatile session in green terrain on Wednesday, with Sensex and Nifty keeping their heads above crucial psychological levels of 39,800 and 11,900, respectively. Markets made a cautious start of day, as the finance minister stated that India's state-owned banks had classified Rs 1.50 trillion ($21.76 billion) worth of loans as wilful defaults in 2018-19, with the biggest lender State Bank of India accounting for nearly a third. Adding worries among traders, India’s services sector activity contracted in the month of June, as weak sales, competitive pressures and unfavourable taxation all hampered output. As per the survey report, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index eased to 49.6 in June from 50.2 in May.

However, bourses remained in green for the most part of the day and ended higher, amid reports that Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal took a decision to set up a Cooperative Sector Exports Promotion Forum (CSEPF) under the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) which will work with 20 states and union territories in the area of export to achieve an agriculture export target of $60 billion by 2022. Some support also came with after Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey said that in coming months about 2.5 lakh new jobs will be created in the IT sector through the comprehensive skill Development programme.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, after Spain's service sector growth improved to the most in last three months in June on stronger gains in new work. The data from IHS Markit showed that the Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 53.6 in June from 52.8 in May. Asian markets ended in red, as China's private sector expanded at the slowest pace in eight months in June driven by slower growth in services activity and contraction in manufacturing. The survey data from IHS Markit showed that the Caixin composite output index fell to 50.6 in June from 51.5 in May.

Back home, the Information Technology (IT) stocks ended lower after credit rating agency, CRISIL’s report stated that scaling up and the need to build digital capabilities will lead to faster consolidation among the mid-tier information technology companies in India. Further, stocks related to the sugar industry remained in watch amid a report showing that sugar prices are expected to remain stable or slightly higher at Rs 34-35 per kg in the coming months following the surplus situation even as the production is likely to fall during 2019-20.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 22.77 points or 0.06% to 39,839.25, while the CNX Nifty was up by 6.45 points or 0.05% to 11,916.75.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 39,934.99 and 39,732.38, respectively and there were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.11%, while Small cap index was up by 0.26%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.76%, Capital Goods up by 0.57%, PSU up by 0.55%, Power up by 0.47% and FMCG was up by 0.41%, while IT down by 0.86%, TECK down by 0.66%, Consumer Durables down by 0.11%, Healthcare down by 0.09% and Auto down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.79%, ITC up by 1.08%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.93%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.59% and Power Grid up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.44%, Vedanta down by 1.32%, Infosys down by 1.14%, Yes Bank down by 1.04% and Tata Motors down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government is likely to impose anti-dumping duty on imports of certain kinds of steel products from the EU, Japan, the US and South Korea, as the commerce ministry has started an investigation into an alleged dumping of the item following complaints from domestic players. Commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has initiated the probe as it has found evidence of dumping of ‘coated/plated tin mill flat rolled steel products’ from these countries.

The DGTR in its notification has said that the authority accordingly initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping, and consequent injury to the domestic industry to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping. If it would established that dumping is impacting domestic players, it would recommend imposition of a certain amount of anti-dumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry.

The final call to impose the duty would be taken by the Finance Ministry. Two firms including Tinplate Company of India have filed an application for imposition of anti-dumping duty on the imports. The product under consideration is mainly used for packaging of both edible and non-food items. The period of investigation covers January-December 2018. However, for the purpose of injury investigation, the period will also cover the data for the 2015-18 period. The purpose of anti-dumping duty is to eliminate injury caused to the domestic industry by the unfair trade practices.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 11,945.20 and 11,887.05. There were 24 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 7.50%, Indusind Bank up by 3.99%, ITC up by 1.22%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.19% and Grasim up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.74%, GAIL India down by 1.91%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.44%, Vedanta down by 1.37% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.33% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 51.15 points or 0.68% to 7,610.34, France’s CAC increased 39.02 points or 0.7% to 5,615.84 and Germany’s DAX was up by 92.20 points or 0.74% to 12,618.92.

Asian markets ended lower on Wednesday as lingering worries about trade tensions and slowing global economic growth dented investors' appetite for risk. Underlying sentiment remained cautious ahead of an US holiday on Thursday and the release of US non-farm payrolls data for June on Friday. Chinese shares ended lower after survey data from IHS Markit showed China's private sector expanded marginally in June despite contraction in manufacturing. The Caixin composite output index fell to 50.6 from 51.5 in May, signaling the weakest growth since last October. The services Purchasing Managers' Index dropped more-than-expected to 52.0 in June from 52.7 in the previous month as the U.S.-China trade conflict impacted business confidence rather heavily. The expected reading was 52.6. Further, Japanese shares closed down as a higher yen and losses in Chinese stocks dented sentiment. Meanwhile, Japan's services sector maintained its growth trend in June, driven by output and improved demand, survey data from IHS Markit showed today. The corresponding index rose to 51.9 from 51.7 in May, extending its upward trend into a thirty-third month.