Domestic indices add gains in late morning deals

Domestic equity indices remained in green and were trading higher by around quarter a percent in late morning deals on account of buying in NTPC, Larsen & Toubro and Bajaj Finserv companies’ stocks. Meanwhile, broader indices on the BSE outperformed their large peers and were trading with gains in the range of 0.50-0.65%. Traders were getting some encouragement on private report that leaders of the USA, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are likely to announce a major joint infrastructure deal to connect Gulf and Arab countries via a network of railways. The deal will also connect the rail network to India through shipping lanes from ports in the Gulf region. On the sectoral front, traders were seen pilling up position in Realty, Power, Utilities, PSU and Capital Goods, while selling was witnessed in Healthcare, FMCG and IT.  

On the global front, Asian markets were trading lower as Japan economy grew slower than expected. Japan’s economy grew 4.8% in the second quarter on a quarter-on-quarter annualized basis, a smaller growth than the 6% seen in the preliminary estimates and lower than the 5.5% expected by street. Back home, in the stock specific devolvement, Landmark Cars surged after the company signed a Letter of Intent with Mahindra and Mahindra to open a dealership in Howrah in the state of West Bengal.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 66410.46, up by 144.90 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 66299.30 and 66518.79. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.63%, while Small cap index up by 0.52%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.74%, Power up by 1.71%, Utilities up by 1.67%, PSU up by 1.52% and Capital Goods up by 1.34%, while Healthcare down by 0.29%, FMCG down by 0.13% and IT down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 3.40%, Tata Motors up by 1.77%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.75%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.69% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.98%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 0.62%, Wipro down by 0.61%, ITC down by 0.59%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.59% and Axis Bank down by 0.42% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal has said that there is a huge potential to increase exports of organic agri products as the global market stood at about $135 billion and India's shipments are only over $700 million. He also said that the industry should also work on improving the quality and standards of these products. 

The secretary urged the industry to promote the logo of India organic as it would help in promoting the credibility of the products in the international market. He also said that there is a need to promote Indian standards of these goods and comply with the standards of importing countries. He added that there are several goods which India is producing organically like avocado and passion fruit and there is a need to increase awareness about these domestically-produced products.

He further said Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) should run a campaign about these products which are available in India, and these exports can be further promoted through e-commerce medium and there is a need to establish the credibility of Indian organic goods. He said that soon the commerce ministry would convene a meeting of all the stakeholders of the sector to resolve their issues, if any.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19775.25, up by 48.20 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 19727.05 and 19792.95. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 2.99%, NTPC up by 2.97%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.75%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.67% and Tata Motors up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.06%, Apollo Hospital down by 0.72%, ITC down by 0.67%, SBI Life down by 0.63% and Eicher Motors down by 0.56% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading lower; Taiwan Weighted lost 55.42 points or 0.33% to 16,563.72, Straits Times fell 14.71 points or 0.46% to 3,211.88, Shanghai Composite weakened 3.42 points or 0.11% to 3,118.93, Jakarta Composite plunged 33.04 points or 0.48% to 6,921.77, KOSPI dropped 8.50 points or 0.33% to 2,539.76 and Nikkei 225 slipped 397.44 points or 1.22% to 32,593.64.