Sensex, Nifty turn positive in early noon deals

Erasing all of their losses, Indian equity benchmarks turned positive in early afternoon deals, with both Sensex and Nifty trading marginally higher, amid negative cues from other Asian markets. Sentiments were positive, amid a report by industry body FISME stating that steps such as increasing awareness, easier documentation, simplified customs processes and standard operating practice for product returns would help in promoting the country's exports through e-commerce medium. Besides, the government has extended the deadline to May 31 for Goods Transport Agencies to exercise the option of paying GST on forward charge basis for current fiscal.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red, as Japan's leading index declined more-than-expected in March after improving in the previous month. The preliminary data from the Cabinet Office showed that the leading index, which measures future economic activity, dropped to 97.5 in March from a 4-month high of 98.2 in the previous month. The coincident index that measures the current economic situation remained stable at 98.7 in March.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61784.58, up by 23.25 points or 0.04% after trading in a range of 61572.93 and 61965.56. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.30%, Power up by 0.28%, Energy up by 0.26%, Realty up by 0.23% and FMCG up by 0.17%, while Telecom down by 0.46%, Metal down by 0.45%, TECK down by 0.32%, PSU down by 0.24% and Healthcare down by 0.18% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.60%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.35%, Power Grid Corporation of India up by 1.13%, Reliance Industries up by 0.76% and Ultratech Cement up by 0.59%. On the flip side, SBI down by 0.71%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.64%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.62%, Infosys down by 0.56% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry‘s arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended imposition of anti-dumping duty on imports of a certain type of optical fibres from China, Korea and Indonesia to protect the domestic industry from cheap inbound shipments. The DGTR has recommended the duty after conducting an investigation on the dumped imports of ‘Dispersion Unshifted Single-mode Optical Fiber’ from these countries. The product is mainly applied to high-data rate, long distance and access network transportation.

Birla Furukawa Fibre Optics, on behalf of the domestic industry, has asked for initiation of an anti-dumping investigation on this product coming from these countries. The applicant had alleged that material injury is being caused to the domestic industry due to the dumped imports and has requested for the imposition of the duties. The directorate in its findings has concluded that the domestic industry has suffered material injury due to the dumped imports.

DGTR in a notification said the presence of dumped imports in the Indian market forced the applicant to sell the product at prices below its cost of sales, thereby incurred losses and adversely affected the profitability parameters of the domestic industry. The authority recommends imposition of definitive anti-dumping duties so as to remove the injury to the domestic industry. The recommended duty was in the range of $122 per KFKM and $857.23 per KFKM. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18276.10, up by 10.15 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 18211.95 and 18323.15. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 2.75%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 1.79%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.31%, Power Grid Corporation of India up by 1.05% and ONGC up by 1.03%. On the flip side, UPL down by 1.93%, Dr Reddy's Laboratories down by 1.27%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.71%, SBI down by 0.67% and Infosys down by 0.61% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 120.64 points or 0.41% to 29,122.18, Hang Seng declined 117.83 points or 0.59% to 19,749.75, Taiwan Weighted lost 85.94 points or 0.55% to 15,641.76, Shanghai Composite weakened 48.58 points or 1.45% to 3,309.09 and KOSPI dropped 13.55 points or 0.54% to 2,496.51, while Straits Times rose 0.11 points or 0% to 3,243.06 and Jakarta Composite gained 25 points or 0.37% to 6,804.98.