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Key indices pare gains to trade marginally lower
Mar-20-2019

Key equity indices pared all of their early gains to trade marginally in red in afternoon deals, as traders book the profit from recent rallies. Traders remained concerned with a report that there is a 70% chance of El Nino climate cycle forming towards the second half of this year, a forecast that does not augur well for the monsoon season in India. Meanwhile, economists raised concerns over a sharp slowdown in the Indian economy and pitched for a monetary policy boost to support growth at a meeting with the RBI chief on March 19. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das met more than a dozen economists to get their views on the economy ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision due on April 4.

On sectoral front, buying witnessed in realty sector after GST Council has allowed builders to choose between the old and new GST regimes for projects that will remain unfinished as on March 31, 2019 removing the fear among these firms that they might lose accumulated input tax credit for under-construction projects. In scrip specific developments, shares of Infosys edged higher on commencement of buyback offers from today. The six-month buyback of the IT major is from the open market route through stock exchanges. However, the shares of Coffee Day Enterprises declined after the company’s promoter VG Siddhartha sold his entire stake in Mindtree to Larsen & Toubro.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in red amid worries about US-China trade talks, after a report said US negotiators are concerned that China is pushing back against American demands. Investors are also cautious as they look ahead to the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due later in the day.

Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 38350.82, down by 12.65 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 38316.21 and 38476.01. There were 10 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.29%, while Small cap index was down by 0.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.56%, IT up by 1.19%, TECK up by 0.74%, Capital Goods up by 0.53% and Industrials was up by 0.12%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.89%, PSU down by 1.49%, Utilities down by 1.30%, Power down by 0.94% and Telecom was down by 0.90% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.30%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.05%, HCL Tech up by 0.86%, HDFC up by 0.75% and Hero MotoCorp was up by 0.70%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 3.29%, ONGC down by 2.58%, Tata Steel down by 1.85%, Coal India down by 1.54% and Bajaj Auto was down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said that India's growth in last five years has been transformational and the country is all set to emerge as a $5 trillion economy in the next five years.  He said ‘we have made huge strides in the last five years. I think it has been transformational the way we have grown.’ He highlighted that in terms of fundamentals of the country's economy, its inflation has come down from over 10% five years ago to about 4.6%, the fiscal deficit has come down from almost 6% to 3% which are very important indicators.

He added inflation is seen as an unpaid tax on the middle class and the poor. So bringing down inflation, bringing down fiscal deficit is good governance and good management of the economy. Moreover, he mentioned that India has been successful in attracting $259 billion in Foreign Direct Investment, 90% of which has come through the automatic route.

Besides, he said India has already grown in the last five years from being the 11th largest economy in the world to the sixth. And this year it might as well become the fifth largest economy. Moreover, he stated ‘we see ourselves growing to a $5 trillion economy in the next five years to 2024 and eight years after that, we see ourselves as $10 trillion economy’. However, he mentioned that the India needs a high level of growth to achieve this goal. India also needs inclusive and sustainable growth. And for this, the focus needs to be on physical and social infrastructure.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11510.60, down by 21.80 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 11509.35 and 11556.10. There were 15 stocks advancing against 35 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing up by 3.20%, Infosys up by 2.22%, Hindalco up by 1.75%, Wipro up by 1.53% and Dr. Reddys Lab was up by 1.50%. On the flip side, HPCL down by 4.97%, Zee Entertainment down by 3.82%, BPCL down by 3.78%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 3.56% and NTPC was down by 3.34% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; KOSPI slipped 0.52 points or 0.02% to 2,177.10, Shanghai Composite dipped 4.19 points or 0.14% to 3,086.79, Straits Times dropped 13.36 points or 0.41% to 3,207.56 and Hang Seng was down by 94.89 points or 0.32% to 29,371.39.

On the slip side, Nikkei 225 rose 42.07 points or 0.2% to 21,608.92, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 39.24 points or 0.37% to 10,551.56 and Jakarta Composite was up by 4.50 points or 0.07% to 6,484.78.

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