Local equities continue to trade tad above neutral lines

Local equity benchmarks continue to trade tad above the neutral lines on the back of buying interest across some blue chip counters. Gains in Metal, Basic Materials and Auto stock were countered by losses in Consumer Durables and IT shares. However, some concerns came with a report that despite efforts mounted by the government, demand has been ‘muted’ during the festive time, and this leads to a 0.30% cut in FY20 GDP growth forecast to 5.8%.  Some pessimism also spread among the investors with SBI’s report stating that India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is likely to slow further in the July-September quarter of this financial year to below 5 per cent amid decline in consumption, weak investments and an under-performing service sector. Traders took note of MEA Secretary (East), Vijay Thakur Singh’s statement that India decided not to join Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement. India has significant core interests that remain unresolved in the current RCEP agreement. Besides, former RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya stated that Indian government needs to reduce its reliance on bond markets and undertake a heavy disinvestment programme along with urgently implementing land, labour and agricultural reforms.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, as investors digested the latest news about US-China trade talks and shrugged off disappointing economic figures. Back home, on the sectoral front, Power stocks remain in focus as a report that Power generation in the country fell 12.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) in October, recording the third straight month when electricity produced was less than the corresponding year-ago month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40308.52, up by 6.56 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 40237.97 and 40466.55. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index slipped 0.04%, while Small cap index was up by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.84%, Basic Materials up by 0.57%, Auto up by 0.56%, Telecom up by 0.43% and PSU was up by 0.36%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.99%, IT down by 0.71%, TECK down by 0.57%, Capital Goods down by 0.51% and FMCG was down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 3.63%, SBI up by 1.83%, Vedanta up by 1.65%, Tata Steel up by 1.47% and Tata Motors was up by 1.19%. On the flip side, TCS down by 0.90%, Infosys down by 0.90%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.70%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.59% and Asian Paints was down by 0.54% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to improve monitoring and pace of customs clearance of imported goods, the government has unveiled two new information technology (IT) initiatives, ICEDASH and ATITHI. These initiatives will also facilitate arriving international passengers with e-filing of baggage and currency declarations. ATITHI is a mobile app for international travelers to file the customs declaration in advance. Passengers can use this app to file declaration of dutiable items and currency with the Indian Customs even before boarding the flight to India. ATITHI is available on both, iOS and Android.

ICEDASH is an 'ease of doing business (EoDB) monitoring dashboard' of the Indian Customs helping public see the daily customs clearance times of import cargo at various ports and airports. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the measures taken by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to leverage technology for providing better taxpayer services. She also mentioned that the significant improvement in India's global ranking in the trading across border is in no small measure on account of the information technology and other reforms carried out by CBIC.

She expressed optimism that both ICEDASH and ATITHI would be key drivers for further improvement especially as they reduce interface and increase transparency of customs functioning. She added that ATITHI would in particular create a tech-savvy image of India's customs and would encourage tourism and business travel to India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11943.15, up by 1.85 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 11917.95 and 11978.95. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 3.55%, Hindalco up by 2.30%, SBI up by 1.80%, Vedanta up by 1.68% and Tata Steel was up by 1.44%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 1.99%, Coal India down by 1.67%, Titan Co down by 1.51%, Eicher Motors down by 0.99% and Infosys was down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green, Nikkei 225 surged 444.97 points or 1.95% to 23,295.74, Hang Seng increased 176.72 points or 0.64% to 27,724.02, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 41.26 points or 0.36% to 11,598.11, Jakarta Composite soared 38.61 points or 0.62% to 6,218.95, Shanghai Composite gained 20.17 points or 0.68% to 2,995.66, KOSPI rose 10.45 points or 0.49% to 2,140.69 and Straits Times was up by 9.96 points or 0.31% to 3,246.36.