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Key indices continue to trade range bound
Mar-19-2019

Indian equity benchmarks are trading slightly in green but in a very tight band in afternoon deals ahead of the US Fed meet starting later in the day. Traders also remained on sidelines ahead of the outcome of the 34th GST Council meeting to be held later today. It is expected to take up various issues including the implementation of lower GST rates for the real estate sector. In the previous meeting (February 24), the Council slashed tax rates for under-construction flats to 5 percent and affordable homes to 1 percent, effective April 1. Buying in counters like telecom and PSUs helped markets to trade above water, while selling was witnessed in capital goods and auto sectors.

Global cues remained sluggish with all the Asian peers are trading in red terrain at this point of time. Back home, shares of public sector banks (PSBs) were trading higher for the third straight day after rating agencies upgraded the ratings of the select banks on improvement in their solvency following government's capital infusion. However, shares of automobiles companies were trading weak for the second straight day on concerns of production cut due to slower demand.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38159.70, up by 64.63 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 38078.23 and 38243.86. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.46%, while Small cap index was up by 0.48%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.02%, PSU up by 1.52%, Utilities up by 0.96%, Power up by 0.89% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.85%, while Capital Goods down by 1.05%, Auto down by 0.80%, Industrials down by 0.48%, IT down by 0.28% and Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services was down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 3.04%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.92%, SBI up by 1.74%, Yes Bank up by 1.65% and Power Grid Corporation up by 1.52%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.15%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.15%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.07%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.00% and TCS was down by 0.83% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to expand India-Africa bilateral trade, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu has said India and Africa should try to forge free trade pact or preferential trade agreement. Prabhu said ‘Please think about a free trade agreement between Africa and India. We can think about a preferential trade agreement...and the fundamental principle would be how Africa will benefit first and India later’. The India-Africa trade stands at $62 billion. India mainly exports pharmaceuticals, engineering and electronic products to Africa and imports natural resources and diamonds.

He further said that India received record Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in the last fiscal, and the country's outbound investment flows are also increasing. Africa will be the preferred destination for Indian investments. In the last financial year (FY18), India's exports to Africa were valued at $24 billion, whereas India's imports from Africa were at $38 billion.

Besides, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said the balance of trade is in favour of Africa. He stated there is a huge potential to expand India-Africa bilateral trade flow, towards which India should look to geographically diversify its ties with African countries, as also diversify the bilateral trade basket.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11475.20, up by 13.00 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 11451.25 and 11501.50. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 3.32%, ONGC up by 2.68%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.94%, Hindalco up by 1.90% and SBI up by 1.64%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.30%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.13%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.09%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.49% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.14% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets are trading in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 17.65 points or 0.08% to 21,566.85, Straits Times dipped 0.96 points or 0.03% to 3,212.00, Hang Seng decreased 26.57 points or 0.09% to 29,382.44, KOSPI shed 1.87 points or 0.09% to 2,177.62, Jakarta Composite declined 27.22 points or 0.42% to 6,482.23, Shanghai Composite dropped 8.06 points or 0.26% to 3,088.36 and Taiwan Weighted was down by 0.38 points to 10,512.32.
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