Bourses trade at day’s high points

Indian equity benchmarks extended their gains in late afternoon session to trade near their intraday high points, on account of firm cues from European markets. Traders were getting encouragement with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that India is open to ideas from all sides to strengthen investors' confidence so that they can invest and participate in the country's development. Some support also came with a private report stating that domestic catalysts suggest a largely positive outlook for the bond market in the short-term, despite the recent correction in Indian bond yields.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as Ireland's trade surplus increased in May, as exports rose and imports declined. The figures from the Central Statistics Office showed that the visible trade surplus rose to EUR6.5 billion in May from EUR5.3 billion in April. Exports grew a seasonally adjusted 5.0 percent monthly in May and imports declined 8.0 percent. However, Asian markets were trading mixed.

Back home, auto industry stocks were trading higher, despite automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) said that retail sales of passenger vehicles (PV) in June declined by 4.6 per cent to 2,24,755 units as compared to the same period last year, hit by liquidity issues and delayed monsoon.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39140.53, up by 243.82 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 38845.27 and 39173.89. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.48%, while Small cap index was up by 0.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.03%, Oil & Gas up by 1.52%, Consumer Durables up by 1.52%, Power up by 1.31% and Energy up by 1.23%, while IT down by 0.29% and TECK down by 0.23% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 9.07%, Tata Motors up by 4.75%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.99%, NTPC up by 2.38% and Sun Pharma up by 2.01%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.12%, HCL Tech. down by 0.33%, Indusind Bank down by 0.31% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Indian automobile industry continued to pass through a rough drive, as retail sales of their passenger vehicles (PVs) declined 4.6% in the month of June. According to Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), PV sales stood at 2,24,755 units in June 2019 as compared to 2,35,539 units in June 2018.

As per the report, two-wheeler sales also fell by 5% to 13,24,822 units in June as compared to 13,94,770 units in the year-ago period, while commercial vehicle (CVs) sales dropped by 19.3% to 48,752 units in the reported month as against 60,378 units in June last year.

FADA also showed that three-wheeler sales dipped 2.8% to 48,447 units last month from 49, 837 units in the same period last year. Total sales across categories declined by 5.4% to 16,46,776 units in June as against 17,40,524 units in the same month last year.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11665.45, up by 77.10 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 11573.95 and 11667.55. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 9.44%, Tata Motors up by 4.85%, NTPC up by 2.27%, Titan Co up by 2.25% and BPCL up by 2.20%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.76%, UPL down by 1.23%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.19%, Hindalco down by 0.80% and Britannia down by 0.57% were the top losers.

Asian markets were 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.

All European markets were trading in green; FTSE gained 17.26 points or 0.23% to 7,548.98, CAC rose 8.41 points or 0.15% to 5,586.62 and DAX was up by 9.21 points or 0.07% to 12,396.55.