Benchmarks trade flat in early noon session

Key Indian benchmarks were trading flat in early noon session, with Sensex losing 26 points, while Nifty was slightly up by 0.45 points. Markets remained in red, as traders were concerned with the government data showing that output of core infrastructure industries shrank by 5.2% in September 2019 as seven of eight sectors witnessed negative growth. The eight core sectors had expanded by 4.3% in September 2018. During the April-September period, the growth of core industries fell to 1.3% against 5.5% in the year-ago period. However, broader indices, BSE Mid cap and Small cap are showing positive trend. Sentiments further dampened with report that the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in its latest data has showed that India's fiscal deficit reached nearly 93% of the Budget Estimate (BE) at Rs 6.52 lakh crore in the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal year (2019-20).

On the global front, Asian market were trading mostly in green amid China-US trade talks returned to the fore after a report said Beijing officials had raised doubts about the chances of a long-term deal. Back home, on the sectoral front, auto sector shares remain in focus with report stating that Indian auto sector's contribution to the GDP in the current fiscal may come down to 7 per cent from 7.5 per cent in 2018-19 with overall revenue of the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) expected to dip by up to 6 per cent in 2019-20.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40102.28, down by 26.77 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 40014.23 and 40283.30. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.44%, while Small cap index was up by 0.58%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.23%, Telecom up by 1.03%, Basic Materials up by 0.67%, Bankex up by 0.54% and Healthcare was up by 0.52%, while Energy down by 1.05%, IT down by 0.78%, Oil & Gas down by 0.77%, Consumer Durables down by 0.51% and TECK was down by 0.37% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 4.07%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.41%, ITC up by 1.05%, Tata Steel up by 0.96% and Hero MotoCorp was up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.62%, TCS down by 2.24%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.81%, HCL Tech down by 1.50% and Reliance Industries was down by 1.17% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, State Bank of India (SBI) in its latest research report said that credit growth in the system has picked up rapid pace beginning September 2019 after lagging behind for several months in a row, on the back of demand from housing, non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sectors. It said the credit growth has jumped to Rs 1.08 lakh crore in September 2019. Citing sectoral data for the month, it has indicated that for the first time in the current financial year, credit to industry turned optimistic and surged Rs 9,700 crore, of which Rs 8,200 crore is attributable to the MSME sector.

According to SBI Ecowrap report, in September, the jump in retail credit at Rs 51,900 crore was nearly double that of August, of which housing loans jumped by 2.6 times from August. Bank lending to the NBFC sector has remained strong and the year-to-date growth of this is the highest across all segments at 11.3 percent.

During the April-September 2019, though the incremental credit to the infrastructure sector of all scheduled commercial banks (ASCBs) have declined by Rs 52,100 crore, SBI credit to infrastructure has rose by Rs 10,130 crore.

The report further stated that the bank's base case projection is a modest Q3 growth revival with an inventory drawdown beginning to happen more forcefully from October onwards and an accelerated government spending (Rs 3.1 lakh crore in September which is 20 percent of overall spending) to clear outstanding dues.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11877.90, up by 0.45 points  after trading in a range of 11843.35 and 11918.30. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 8.83%, Bharti Infratel up by 5.54%, Indusind Bank up by 4.09%, Grasim Industries up by 3.52% and Bajaj Finserv was up by 2.41%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.41%, TCS down by 2.30%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.11%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.84% and Adani Ports &Special was down by 1.52% were the top losers.

Asian market were mostly trading in green; Hang Seng increased 159.78 points or 0.59% to 27,066.50,Taiwan Weighted strengthened 40.82 points or 0.36% to 11,399.53,Shanghai Composite gained 24.36 points or 0.83% to 2,953.42,KOSPI rose 15.41 points or 0.74% to 2,098.89 and Straits Times advanced 2.98 points or 0.09% to 3,232.86. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 23.74 points or 0.38% to 6,204.58 and Nikkei 225 was down by 90.85 points or 0.4% to 22,836.19.