Indian equity benchmarks have made slightly positive start, but failed to hold gains and slipped into red terrain in early deals on Friday as traders awaited cues from key earnings and developments on the trade front. Infosys will release its Q1 earnings results later in the day. Indian and US trade negotiators will meet today after a series of protectionist measures taken by the two governments in recent months strained ties between the strategic partners. Traders will also be eyeing on the macro economic data of industrial production for May and consumer price inflation for June to be released after the market hours. Some cautiousness prevailed among market participants with former finance minister P Chidambaram’s statement that the Union Budget 2019-20 does not chalk out a clear roadmap to take India on the path of high economic growth and lacks bold steps and structural reforms. However, downside remained capped with report that as rainfall in the first 11 days of this month was 24% more than ‘normal’, the overall season’s rain deficit came down to 12%, from 33% witnessed in June. The report said continuance of the current spell of showers for another week may help the farmers to complete the kharif sowing operations which were down by 27% until last week from the year-ago level.
On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green amid investors looking ahead for the release of Chinese trade data for June to be out later in the day to assess the impact of Beijing’s ongoing trade war with Washington. Besides, a report showed that Singapore’s economy shrinking much more than expected in the second quarter. Back home, on the sectoral front, textile stocks were buzzing with the Cotton Association further lowering its crop estimate by 3 lakh bales to 312 lakh bales for the 2018-19 season, mainly due to poor rainfalls in the South. In scrip specific development, TCS gained on launching Jile 3.0 to help companies achieve agile transformation and Vedanta jumped on aiming revenue growth of 70% in next 3 years.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38817.27, down by 5.84 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 38817.27 and 38941.10. There were 11 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining, while 2 stock remains unchanged on the index on the index.
The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.24%, while Small cap index was up by 0.08%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 0.55%, Healthcare up by 0.43%, Basic Materials up by 0.39%, Power up by 0.24% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.21%, while Telecom down by 1.05%, Auto down by 0.41%, Capital Goods down by 0.37%, Industrials down by 0.26% and Bankex was down by 0.24% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 1.76%, NTPC up by 1.09%, HDFC up by 0.93%, Yes Bank up by 0.87% and Reliance Industries up by 0.84%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.48%, Tata Motors down by 1.24%, Hero Moto down by 1.01%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.92% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.67% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, CFA Institute in its latest report titled ‘Investment Professional of the Future’ stated that India has the potential to become the world’s future investment hub and is expected to be the fastest-growing market for investment professionals over the next decade. It said as the investment industry undergoes accelerating change, the investment professional of the future must adapt and embrace new challenges and opportunities for career.
The report said expectations are for a 1.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in head count over the next 10 years for ‘core investment professionals’, defined as those working in investment industry roles involved with making investment decisions and understanding client needs. India is expected to have the highest growth rate - 2.9% CAGR. India - because of the increasing demand for financial services, its strong economic growth, and its number of capable engineers - could become the world’s investment hub.
CFA Institute said in addition to benefiting from the country’s strong economic growth and the population’s increasing demand for financial services, India enjoys strong tail winds in the form of favorable globalisation and technology trends. The report said 77% of investment leaders expect the industry’s world of work - overall workplace features, roles and skills, work methods, and compensation and incentives - to change more than it did in the past 10 years.
Besides, 60% of industry leaders surveyed expect firms to increase training and development. Benefits of providing ongoing learning opportunities include higher-quality analytical work, deeper client engagements, retention of a firm’s best people, and a stronger bench of talent. CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11568.30, down by 14.60 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 11565.95 and 11608.90. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 1.65%, UPL up by 1.59%, NTPC up by 1.01%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.90% and Reliance Industries up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.18%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.75%, JSW Steel down by 1.72%, Tata Motors down by 1.40% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.21% were the top losers.
Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 gained 28.32 points or 0.13% to 21,671.85, Straits Times strengthened 11.18 points or 0.33% to 3,361.51. Hang Seng gained 142.66 points or 0.50% to28,574.46, Kospi advanced 5.04 points or 0.24% to 2,085.62 and Shanghai Composite soared 13.36 points or 0.46% to 2,931.12. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased by 3.77 points or 0.03% to 10,839.65 and Jakarta Composite was down by 21.15 points or 0.33% to 6,395.92.
