Benchmarks trim losses in early noon deals

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their losses in early noon session, but continued to trade below the neutral lines with Sensex and Nifty trading below at 36,800 and 10,950 levels respectively amid weakness across Asian peers. Traders were remain concerned with National Securities Depository’s (NSDL) report  which stated that foreign portfolio investments in Indian equity market saw a major dip in the month of July. FPI pullout from equity stood at a 9-month high of over Rs 12,000 crore in July. Meanwhile, the World Bank in its latest report showed that India has now taken a backseat to be the seventh largest economy globally with UK and France now ahead of it. As per the data, India grew to $2.73 trillion economy in 2018. In 2017, the country stood at the fifth spot with its size at $2.65 trillion. However, downside remained capped  with Indian Meteorological Department’s (IMD) statement that rainfall during the season’s second half (August-September) will likely be 100% of LPA with a model error of +/-8%, and for the season as a whole 96% (+/-4%). Monsoon precipitation intensified in July, allowing overall rainfall to be 104% of the benchmark Long Period Average (LPA) for the month and further acceleration in farming activities.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in red following the overnight losses on Wall Street amid an escalation in the trade dispute between the US and China after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 10 percent tariff on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. Back on street, in scrip specific developments, Sky Industries climbed on getting nod to sell manufacturing unit located at Vashi. Dishman Carbogen Amcis gained as its arm completed USFDA pre-approval inspection at Switzerland site.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36789.60, down by 228.72 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 36607.41 and 36920.11. There were 11 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.91%, while Small cap index was down by 1.22%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.87%, Auto up by 0.33%, TECK up by 0.13% and Consumer Discretionary up by 0.06%, while Metal down by 2.45%, Realty down by 1.90%, Oil & Gas down by 1.53%, PSU down by 1.38% and Utilities was down by 1.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.52%, Asian Paints up by 1.96%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.80%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.46% and Bajaj Auto was up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.26%, Tata Steel down by 2.82%, ONGC down by 2.67%, ICICI Bank down by 2.43% and HCL Technologies was down by 2.05% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that bank credit rose by 12.01 percent to Rs 96.57 trillion, while deposits grew 10.59 percent to Rs 126.491 trillion in the fortnight ended on July 19. In the year ago fortnight, deposits were at Rs 114.371 trillion and advances stood at Rs 86.09 trillion.

In the previous fortnight to July 5, credit had increased by 12.02 percent to Rs 96.97 trillion and deposits grew by 10.32 percent to Rs 126.746 trillion. On a year-on-year basis, Non-food credit increased 11.1 percent in June 2019 same as the year-ago period. Loans to agriculture & allied activities was up by 8.7 percent in June 2019 as compared with a rise of 6.5 percent in June 2018.
Services sector advances decelerated to 13 percent in June 2019 from 23.3 percent in the same month last year. Personal loan growth slowed to 16.6 percent in June 2019 from 17.9 percent in the year ago period.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10907.35, down by 72.65 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 10848.95 and 10935.35. There were 16 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 3.63%, Asian Paints up by 1.98%, Eicher Motors up by 1.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.58% and Maruti Suzuki was up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.23%, Tata Steel down by 2.98%, ONGC down by 2.67%, ICICI Bank down by 2.41% and Wipro was down by 2.40% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 585.61 points or 2.12% to 26,980.09, Nikkei 225 slipped 499.18 points or 2.32% to 21,041.81, Straits Times trembled 26.10 points or 0.79% to 3,265.65, Jakarta Composite lost 52.19 points or 0.82% to 6,329.35, KOSPI fell 19.08 points or 0.95% to 1,998.26, Shanghai Composite declined 52.59 points or 1.81% to 2,856.18 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 182.71 points or 1.7% to 10,549.04.