Local bourses pare some gains; sensex below 40300 mark

Indian equity benchmarks trimmed some of their early gains to trade near neutral line in the late afternoon session, on account of selling in frontline stocks such Yes Bank, Hero MotoCorp and  Larsen & Toubro. Separately, broader indices, BSE Mid cap and Small cap are also showing mixed trend. On the sectoral front, steel stocks remained in focus with ICRA in its latest report has stated that domestic steel demand fell 1.8 per cent during the first two months of the third quarter of the current financial year (October-November) to 15.4 million tonnes (mt) as compared to 15.7 mt reported in same period last year. Power sector stocks were trading in green despite Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in its latest data has showed that India's power demand dropped 4.3% in November 2019 from a year ago, representing the fourth straight month of decline, potentially reflecting a worsening industrial slowdown which has stifled overall economic growth.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, following a report that President Donald Trump might delay a weekend tariff hike on Chinese goods. Back home, in scrip specific movement shares, SBI slips as RBI finds bank under-reported bad loans by Rs 11,932 crore in last fiscal.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40269.20, up by 29.32 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 40135.37 and 40423.14. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in mixed; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.01%, while Small cap index was down by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.77%, Realty up by 0.55%, IT up by 0.39%, Power up by 0.37% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.28%, while Capital Goods down by 1.05%, Industrials down by 0.59%, Metal down by 0.47%, Basic Materials down by 0.36% and Telecom was down by 0.34% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 1.82%, ITC up by 1.38%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.34%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.17% and Asian Paints was up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 16.12%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.42%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.30%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.26% and Tata Motors - DVR was down by 1.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, pointing sluggish demand in the steel sector, credit rating agency, ICRA in its latest report has said that that domestic steel demand fell 1.8 per cent during the first two months of the third quarter of the current financial year (October-November) to 15.4 million tonnes (mt) as compared to 15.7 mt reported in same period last year.

The rating agency further noted that despite weak demand, domestic steel producers have announced moderate price hikes in November and December, taking a cue from rising international steel prices. As per ICRA, domestic steel prices will remain sensitive to international prices in the absence of a meaningful pick-up in domestic demand in the seasonally strong fourth quarter.

Besides, the report also showed that in line with the trends in gross domestic product (GDP) growth, steel demand has been decelerating in current fiscal, as it fell to 3.1 per cent in Q2 of FY20 from 6.9 per cent in Q1 of FY20.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11865.05, up by 8.25 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 11854.10 and 11907.30. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 2.88%, NTPC up by 1.91%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.54%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.44% and Indian Oil Corporation was up by 1.35%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 15.23%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.27%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.20%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.13% and Hindalco was down by 1.03% were the top losers.

Asian market were mostly trading in green; Hang Seng increased 198.17 points or 0.75% to 26,634.79, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 72.93 points or 0.63% to 11,700.77, Straits Times advanced 20.30 points or 0.64% to 3,183.19, KOSPI rose 7.62 points or 0.36% to 2,105.62 and Shanghai Composite gained 5.14 points or 0.18% to 2,922.46. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite lost 0.31 points or 0.01% to 6,183.20 and Nikkei 225 was down by 18.33 points or 0.08% to 23,391.86.