Local equities trim early losses to trade flat

Local equity benchmarks have pared most of their early losses to trade flat in the morning deals, on account of some buying in front line counters. Among heavy-weights Infosys, Hero MotoCorp and Hindustan Unilever exhibited a smart performance. Likewise, IT, TECK and BANKEX have also elevated with gains on their respective front line stocks. Market participants took note of a report that for effective transmission of the RBI’s lower policy rates, the country’s largest lender SBI suggested the regulator should ask banks to link incremental bulk deposits to repo rate as it would help in reducing cost of funds without hurting small depositors and senior citizens. However, traders were concerned with RBI’s report that deployment of bank credit by major industries has contracted in the current financial year so far. In 14 out of 18 major industries of India, utilisation of the bank credit has shrunk. Some cautiousness also crept in with a private report that in a bid to achieve the fiscal deficit target, the government has cut down on its capital expenditure by 80% in February and March. The government is contributing to the slowdown rather than uplifting the corporate sector.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed following decline in the US markets, in the absence of further developments on the US-China trade war. Traders have shifted their focus to what Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will have to say Friday at an economic meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Back home, the ministry of housing and urban development (MoHUA) expects to meet the target of constructing around 1.12 crore houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) by early next year, which is two years before its scheduled deadline of 2022.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37337.11, up by 9.10 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 37237.47 and 37406.55. There were 15 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.36%, while Small cap index was down by 0.29%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.37%, TECK up by 0.23%, BANKEX up by 0.08% and Utilities up by 0.02%, while Metal down by 1.31%, Realty down by 0.87%, Basic Materials down by 0.82%, Telecom down by 0.80% and Industrials was down by 0.69% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 0.86%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.70%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.65%, HDFC Bank up by 0.64% and Tech Mahindra was up by 0.49%. On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 5.22%, Tata Motors down by 4.44%, Yes Bank down by 2.74%, Vedanta down by 1.90% and Tata Steel was down by 1.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said the government is set to achieve its target of providing housing for all in 2020 itself, two years before its stated deadline of 2022. The Minister said under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (urban), 24 lakh houses have so far been handed over to beneficiaries and the number will soon reach 50 lakh. There are 48 lakh houses which are currently grounded, but this number will also rise to 75 lakh.

Puri said the government had decided to build one crore houses by 2022.  It has already sanctioned around 84 lakh houses and  adding that by the end of this year, the entire one crore houses will be sanctioned. He said ‘we have also received additional assessment demand of constructing 12 lakh more houses...the target of 2022 will be achieved in early 2020.’

Besides, the enactment of real estate law -- RERA, builder-politician nexus has been broken, and that home-buyers will no longer be at the mercy of anyone. The government has identified 16 technologies under the scheme. The government has launched 'Global Housing Technology Challenge', which aims to identify and mainstream a basket of new and innovative technologies from across the globe, which are sustainable, green, and disaster-resilient.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11008.55, down by 8.45 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 10982.20 and 11034.20. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 0.85%, Infosys up by 0.84%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.74%, HDFC Bank up by 0.69% and Hindustan Unilever was up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 4.84%, Yes Bank down by 2.67%, Hindalco down by 2.40%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.37% and Tata Steel was down by 2.33% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Nikkei 225 slipped 77.17 points or 0.37% to 20,600.05, Jakarta Composite lost 36.78 points or 0.58% to 6,258.96, Straits Times trembled 16.11 points or 0.51% to 3,119.84 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.48 points to 10,522.02.

On the other hand; Shanghai Composite gained 0.52 points or 0.02% to 2,880.52, KOSPI rose 1.11 points or 0.06% to 1,961.36 and Hang Seng was up by 31.76 points or 0.12% to 26,263.30.