Benchmarks continue lackluster trade slightly in green

Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade slightly in green in afternoon session, on the back of buying by funds and retail investors. Traders took some support with Indian industry expecting the economic slowdown to bottom out soon and the growth would rebound in the next quarter on the back of a string of steps taken by the government. However, gains remain capped as anxiety remained among the local traders with the government data showing that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the second quarter (July-September) of the financial year 2019-20 dropped to 4.5%, the weakest pace in more than six years, due to weak consumer demand, slowing factory activities and negative impacts of the prolonged monsoon. On the sectoral front, Sugar stocks were in focus as government said India's sugar production is estimated to decline by 18 percent to 273 lakh tonnes in the ongoing marketing year ending September due to bad weather. Sugar marketing year runs from October to September.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investors' cheered data showing a surprise jump in Chinese factory activity. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40825.08, up by 31.27 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 40744.13 and 41093.99. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.65%, while Small cap index was down by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 5.34%, Energy up by 1.38%, Basic Materials up by 0.50%, Metal up by 0.39% and TECK was up by 0.22%, while PSU down by 0.78%, Realty down by 0.76%, Consumer Durables down by 0.69%, IT down by 0.68% and Healthcare was down by 0.63% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 5.65%, Reliance Industries up by 2.37%, Vedanta up by 1.14%, Asian Paints up by 1.07% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 0.91%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.99%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.74%, Yes Bank down by 2.64%, ONGC down by 2.20% and Sun Pharma was down by 2.11% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India will not negotiate any free trade agreement (FTA) on the back foot and will always ensure protection of interest of people and industry. He said the government is ready to bite the bullet and because of that India decided to walk out from the mega free trade pact Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as the concerns of India was not addressed.

Talking about investments, Goyal cautioned the e-commerce companies to follow the laws properly as millions of small traders are involved in the business in the country. He said 'We shall not allow, just in the garb of investment, or even large investment, anybody to bring in unfair trade practices to India, howsoever big or powerful the company may be.'

The minister also cautioned the firms against giving huge price discounts, which are going to cut small retailers as 60 million small retailers in the country providing work to 120 million. Further, he said the government has laid out a roadmap for an investment of Rs 100 lakh crore in the next five years, which would lift the economy.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12058.60, up by 2.55 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 12031.45 and 12137.15. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 5.23%, Grasim Industries up by 2.95%, Reliance Industries up by 2.38%, JSW Steel up by 2.22% and Bharti Infratel was up by 1.47%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.15%, Eicher Motors down by 2.89%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.66%, Yes Bank down by 2.56% and ONGC was down by 2.39% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 235.59 points or 1.01% to 23,529.50, Hang Seng increased 99.26 points or 0.38% to 26,445.75, Jakarta Composite soared 73.82 points or 1.23% to 6,085.65, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 13.26 points or 0.12% to 11,502.83 and KOSPI was up by 3.96 points or 0.19% to 2,091.92.

On the global front, Shanghai Composite declined 0.19 points or 0.01% to 2,871.79 and Straits Times was down by 6.37 points or 0.2% to 3,187.55.