Bourses trade near neutral lines with positive bias in late afternoon session

Key benchmark indices continued to trade near neutral lines with positive bias in late afternoon session. Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Realty and Utilities sectors while selling was witnessed in IT, TECK and FMCG sectors’ stocks. Traders took note of report that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman exhorted the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to scale up investments in clean energy and social infrastructure, with a special focus on education, health and digital infrastructure. Such a targeted approach, she said, would ensure resources are not scattered across multiple areas and impact remains meaningful. Sector wise, insurance sector remained in focused after India’s insurance regulator has set up a 15-member committee for two years, asking it to give suggestions for increasing health insurance coverage in the country. In scrip specific, Dabur India traded higher after it has acquired majority stake in Badshah Masala.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street overnight, boosted by gains in materials and energy stocks amid the spike in commodity prices. Traders also continued to embrace the idea of the US Federal Reserve slowing the pace of interest rate hikes at upcoming meetings. European markets were trading mostly in red as investors await today's ECB rate decision.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59628.38, up by 84.42 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 59570.58 and 59959.94. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.77%, Realty up by 2.55%, Utilities up by 1.08%, Power up by 1.02% and PSU was up by 0.89%, while IT down by 0.55%, TECK down by 0.20%, FMCG down by 0.18% and Auto was down by 0.13% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.77%, Power Grid up by 1.60%, Sun Pharma up by 1.59%, Axis Bank up by 1.28% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.03%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.68%, Nestle down by 1.39%, Asian Paints down by 1.31% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) will not impose anti-dumping duty on a Chinese chemical used in pharma industry as the finance ministry has not accepted the recommendations of DGTR for imposing the levy. The commerce ministry's investigation arm DGTR had conducted a probe into the alleged dumping of (4R-Cis)-1-1-Dimethylethyl-6-cyanomethyl-2, 2-dimethyl-1, 3-dioxane-4-acetate from China, and in August it recommended the imposition of the duty.

A memorandum of Department of Revenue has said that the central government, after considering the final findings of the designated authority (DGTR), has decided not to accept the recommendations.  While DGTR recommends the duty, Department of Revenue takes the final decision to impose it. This chemical is also known as ATS-8, which is a key raw material for manufacturing Atorvastatin active pharmaceutical ingredient. In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price of that product in its domestic market. Dumping impacts the price of that product in the importing country, hitting the margins and profits of manufacturing firms.

According to global trade norms, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers. The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, such as DGTR, in India. The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17693.40, up by 37.05 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 17676.75 and 17783.90. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 4.83%, Hindalco up by 3.39%, Tata Steel up by 2.72%, Adani Ports up by 1.82% and Power Grid up by 1.58%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 2.01%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.69%, Nestle down by 1.41%, Asian Paints down by 1.31% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 197.32 points or 1.55% to 12,926.37, Hang Seng increased 110.27 points or 0.72% to 15,427.94, Jakarta Composite soared 47.82 points or 0.68% to 7,091.76, KOSPI rose 39.22 points or 1.74% to 2,288.78 and Straits Times was up by 14.75 points or 0.49% to 3,023.13. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 16.60 points or 0.55% to 2,982.90 and Nikkei 225 was down by 86.60 points or 0.32% to 27,345.24.

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC decreased 27.01 points or 0.43% to 6,249.30 and Germany’s DAX was down by 30.81 points or 0.23% to 13,165.00. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 18.81 points or 0.27% to 7,074.88.