Benchmarks trade lackluster in early deals

Indian equity benchmarks made negative start and are trading lower with cut of over one third of a percent each in early deals on Thursday, tracking losses in banking stocks amid unabated foreign fund outflow. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, pulling out Rs 485.24 crore on Wednesday. Investors are looking ahead to the September quarter earnings results of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and IndusInd Bank scheduled to announce later in the day. Some cautiousness crept in with a private report that a workforce analysis of listed companies reveals that the job loss in public sector was one of the worst in the recent times. In contrast to an increase of 9.2 per cent headcount in private sector, the public sector saw a decline of 2.6 per cent in FY19. Traders took note of CARE Ratings’ report that even as the announcements by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are expected to boost investor sentiment in the near term, the overall economic improvement is expected by the next fiscal. It added that the investment is only expected to pick up depending on sustained rise in consumption demand over a period.

On the global front, Asian stock markets were trading mostly in green amid conflicting reports on the progress in the ongoing US-China trade talks. As per a reports, the Trump administration plans to soon issue licenses to US companies to sell certain goods to Huawei Technologies after having blacklisted the Chinese technology giant earlier this year. Besides, the Cabinet Office said that core machine orders in Japan fell a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent on month in August, standing at 875.3 billion yen.

Back home, telecom stocks were in focus amid their battle over interconnect user charges. In scrip specific developments, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank have plunged after the Reserve Bank of India slashed its hopes to enter the banking space by rejecting Indiabulls Housing’s proposal to merge with Lakshmi Vilas Bank. Torrent Pharmaceuticals fell after the company received a warning letter from the USFDA for its Indrad facility in Gujarat.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38008.75, down by 169.20 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 37990.88 and 38130.23. There were 4 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.48%, while Small cap index was down by 0.09%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 4.02%, Energy up by 1.83%, TECK up by 0.82%, Oil & Gas up by 0.44% and IT was up by 0.36%, while Bankex down by 1.69%, Realty down by 1.55%, Metal down by 1.12%, Auto down by 0.93% and PSU was down by 0.84% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 5.78%, Reliance Industries up by 2.66%, Infosys up by 0.70% and TCS up by 0.46%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.55%, SBI down by 2.32%, ICICI Bank down by 2.15%, Tata Motors down by 2.11% and Tata Steel down by 1.80% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to encourage young entrepreneurs, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar is likely to launch the Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme 2019 with an annual outlay of Rs 100 crore. This is in line with schemes like Start-up India and Stand-up India aimed at young entrepreneurs.

The scheme is aimed at cooperatives in the northeastern region, cooperatives registered and operating in aspirational districts as identified by NITI Aayog, and cooperatives with 100% women/SC/ST/persons with disability members. The scheme will be launched at the first-ever India International Cooperatives Trade Fair (IICTF) to be held here from October 11-13.

As 94% of total farmers in India are members of at least one cooperative institution, the IICTF is aimed at furthering the government's goal of doubling farmers' income by promoting cooperative-to-cooperative trade within India & abroad and promoting exports of key agriculture commodities and products.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11270.25, down by 43.05 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 11257.40 and 11293.35. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Grasim Industries up by 4.01%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.64%, Reliance Industries up by 2.47%, Infosys up by 1.24% and TCS up by 0.65%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.01%, SBI down by 2.28%, Tata Steel down by 2.14%, ICICI Bank down by 2.13% and Tata Motors down by 2.11% were the top losers.

Asian markets were mostly trading in green; Hang Seng increased 46.35 points or 0.18% to 25,729.16, Nikkei 225 surged 39.96 points or 0.19% to 21,496.34, Shanghai Composite gained 5.48 points or 0.19% to 2,930.34 and Jakarta Composite soared 5.47 points or 0.09% to 6,034.63. On the flip side, Straits Times trembled 4.17 points or 0.13% to 3,085.73 and KOSPI was down by 19.71 points or 0.96% to 2,026.54.