Indian equities remain in green terrain

Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in green territory in afternoon session, on buying by funds and retail investors. Sentiments remained positive with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that GST collection of states and union territories (UTs) increased to Rs 5.18 lakh crore in the full financial year 2018-19, up from Rs 2.91 lakh crore collected in nine months of 2017-18. However, gains were limited as anxiety remained among the local traders with Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) stating that the contraction in India’s exports in June is a reflection of sluggish global demand and rising tariff war. It also said only 9 out of 30 major product groups were in positive territory during June, including some plantation and agri sector, iron ore, pharma, electronic goods and jute manufacturing and rest all major sectors, including almost all labour-intensive segments, were in the negative zone in June. On the sectoral front, stocks related to steel sector were trading in red with Union Minister for Steel Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement that the country’s total steel exports fell 34 percent in 2018-19 to 6.36 million tonne (MT) compared to the preceding fiscal.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mixed, as investors' awaited U.S. retail sales data and corporate earnings to gauge the health of the world's biggest economy. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39008.98, up by 112.27 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 38845.27 and 39062.51. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.37%, while Small cap index was up by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.39%, Oil & Gas up by 1.35%, Consumer Durables up by 1.32%, Utilities up by 0.92% and PSU was up by 0.92%, while IT down by 0.58% and TECK was down by 0.51% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 4.50%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.99%, Yes Bank up by 3.92%, NTPC up by 1.80% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 1.74%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.78%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.26%, HCL Technologies down by 1.00%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.46% and HDFC Bank was down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the market research firm IHS Markit in its latest India Business Outlook survey has stated that business sentiment in India fell in June 2019 to its lowest level since June 2016, as companies were worried about the sustainability of the economic upturn, water shortages, public policies and regulation. That apart, it said companies are also concerned about potential rupee depreciation pushing prices for imported materials upwards, lack of skilled labour, likely tax hikes, financial difficulties and customers increasingly demanding discounts.

According to the survey, predictions of softer activity growth underpin the downward revisions of profit outlook, subdued hiring plans and relatively muted capital expenditure. It noted that the net balance of private sector companies foreseeing output growth in the year ahead fell from 18 percent in February to 15 percent in June - this matches the data of June 2016, and also October 2009 when aggregate figures became available.

However, the report stated that hopes of pro-business government policies and a better financial flow continue to underpin optimism towards output and profitability growth in the year ahead. On the employment front, it said companies plan to expand capacity by hiring additional workers amid predictions of a pick-up in demand.
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11624.55, up by 36.20 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 11573.95 and 11639.75. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 4.50%, Yes Bank up by 4.08%, BPCL up by 2.10%, Titan Company up by 2.07% and NTPC was up by 1.84%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.82%, UPL down by 1.37%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.26%, HCL Technologies down by 1.02% and Wipro was down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mixed; Hang Seng increased 37.52 points or 0.13% to 28,592.40, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 9.62 points or 0.09% to 10,886.05, KOSPI rose 9.39 points or 0.45% to 2,091.87 and Straits Times was up by 8.62 points or 0.26% to 3,356.57.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 6.50 points or 0.22% to 2,935.69, Jakarta Composite lost 19.82 points or 0.31% to 6,398.41 and Nikkei 225 was down by 150.65 points or 0.69% to 21,535.25.