Bourses trade marginally in red in afternoon deals

Key benchmark indices erased all of their gains and started trading marginally in red in afternoon session, on account of selling in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments turned pessimistic after FM Sitharaman stated that India's fiscal deficit is now pegged at 3.8% for FY20, a significant loosening over the widely touted target of 3.3%. However, losses were limited as some optimism remained among the traders with report that growth of eight core industries recovered to 1.3% in December 2019 after remaining in the negative zone in the previous four months helped by expansion in production of coal, fertiliser and refinery products. Meanwhile, India's FDI got elevated to the level of $284 billion during 2014-19 from $ 190 billion that came in during the years 2009-14. On the sectoral front, logistic stocks such as Aegis Logistics, Allcargo Logistics were trading in green after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget has proposed to release National logistic policy and to create single-window e-Logistics market. Tourism stocks also shined as Finance Minister has allocated Rs 2500 crore for tourism promotion in FY21.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40709.83, down by 13.66 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 40444.48 and 40905.78. There were 12 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.01%, while Small cap index was down by 0.18%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.59%, Auto up by 0.33%, Oil & Gas up by 0.21% and Healthcare was up by 0.15%, while Metal down by 1.21%, Power down by 0.94%, Capital Goods down by 0.63%, PSU down by 0.60% and Consumer Durables was down by 0.51% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.85%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.21%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.21%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.07% and TCS was up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.56%, NTPC down by 1.55%, Power Grid down by 1.50%, ONGC down by 1.38% and Tech Mahindra was down by 1.23% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director (MD) Kristalina Georgieva has said that the Indian economy experienced some abrupt slowdown in 2019 due to turbulence in non-banking financial institutions and major reform measures like GST and note ban, but the economy is not in a recession. She also said that India undertook some important reforms which would be beneficial for the country over the longer term, but they do have some short-term impact.

Georgieva said ‘we had to revise our growth projections, downwards to four percent for last year. We are expecting 5.8 percent (growth rate) in 2020 and then an upward trajectory to 6.5 percent in 2021.’ She also stated that there is not a lot of fiscal space in India. She said there is need to recognize that the policies of the government on that side, on the fiscal side have been prudent. In the medium-term, she said, ‘the IMF remains positive about India. This is why we see that upswing potential for the growth in the country. The current economic slowdown cannot be described as a recession. ‘No... You're far from that. But it is a significant slowdown, not the recession.’

IMF MD noted that the consumption in India also slowed down and that contributed to the overall slowdown in the economy. She said the IMF would be keen to see what India does to get relatively sound macroeconomic fundamentals to pay off in terms of better growth trajectory. She also said ‘one thing that is important for India is that budgetary revenue has been below target. The country knows that. The finance minister knows it. They need to increase budgetary revenue collection so they can improve their fiscal position. I said it's tight on the spending side, but I also want to stress that there is room to improve collection on the revenue side.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11955.95, down by 6.15 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 11880.65 and 12017.35. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.05%, GAIL India up by 1.91%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.31%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.19% and TCS was up by 1.10%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.79%, Tata Motors down by 1.61%, ONGC down by 1.56%, Tata Steel down by 1.45% and NTPC was down by 1.42% were the top losers.