Benchmarks trade flat in early noon session

 Indian benchmarks traded mixed in early noon session, with Sensex gaining 16 points, while Nifty was down by 5 points. Traders were seen in selling position for Telecom, Capital Goods and Industrials stocks, while buying was witnessed in Energy, IT and Auto stocks. Markets cooled off with SBI’s research report which highlighted that India’s GDP growth is expected to fall further in the second quarter after touching a six-year low in the first quarter of FY20. Besides, cautiousness prevailed in the markets as investors were eyeing for retail inflation numbers to be out later in the day. However, downside remained capped as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh exuded confidence that India will become a $10 trillion economy in the next 10 to 15 years.

On the global front, Asian stocks were under pressure, with lack-luster cues from Wall Street as the much-awaited speech from President Donald Trump at the Economic Club of New York failed to deliver any potential updates on US-China trade deal. Back home, in scrip specific developments, shares MSTC gained after the Chhattisgarh government appointed the company as its selling agent. The agreement will remain valid for three years from the date of execution of agreement.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40361.79, up by 16.71 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 40279.11 and 40447.17. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.04%, while Small cap index was down by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.83%, IT up by 0.41%, Auto up by 0.33%, Consumer Durables up by 0.22% and TECK was up by 0.11%, while Telecom down by 1.05%, Capital Goods down by 0.88%, Industrials down by 0.66%, Realty down by 0.61% and PSU was down by 0.55% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 3.18%, Reliance Industries up by 1.99%, Tata Steel up by 1.26%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.47% and Tata Motors was up by 0.44%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.28%, Infosys down by 1.25%, SBI down by 1.24%, ICICI Bank down by 0.96% and Axis Bank was down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed that domestic passenger vehicle sales witnessed a marginal rise of 0.28 percent to 2,85,027 units in October 2019 as compared to 2,84,223 units in the year-ago period. However, domestic car sales saw a fall of 6.34 percent to 1,73,649 units in October 2019 as against 1,85,400 units in October 2018.

According to the data, motorcycle sales declined 15.88 percent to 11,16,970 units as against 13,27,758 units a year earlier. Total two-wheeler sales in October declined 14.43 percent to 17,57,264 units compared to 20,53,497 units in the year-ago month. Sales of commercial vehicles were down 23.31 percent at 66,773 units in October.

The data further showed vehicle sales across categories registered a decline of 12.76 percent to 21,76,136 units from 24,94,345 units in October 2018. In fact, barring utility vehicles, passenger carriers and quadricycles, all other vehicle categories witnessed decline in sales during the month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11908.15, down by 5.30 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 11895.45 and 11946.80. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 4.85%, TCS up by 2.95%, Reliance Industries up by 2.70%, Eicher Motors up by 1.93% and Nestle was up by 0.94%. On the flip side, GAIL India down by 4.03%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.73%, Grasim Industries down by 2.36%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.95% and Dr. Reddys Lab was down by 1.61% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower, Hang Seng decreased 538.40 points or 1.99% to 26,526.88, KOSPI fell 18.49 points or 0.86% to 2,122.43, Taiwan Weighted dropped 51.56 points or 0.45% to 11,468.81, Shanghai Composite declined 11.20 points or 0.38% to 2,903.62, Jakarta Composite lost 20.45 points or 0.33% to 6,160.54, Straits Times trembled 25.54 points or 0.78% to 3,242.26 and Nikkei 225 was down by 179.74 points or 0.76% to 23,340.27.