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Barometer gauges continue to trade in positive terrain
Oct-17-2018

Indian equity markets continued to trade in positive terrain in the early noon session supported by buying in FMCG, IT and TECK stocks. Some support came with private report stating that the extra US tariffs on its imports from China in the ongoing trade war have opened a window of opportunity for India to push for higher exports in 171 items - ranging from textiles to marine products - with additional outbound shipment potential of up to $8.7 billion a year, as per commerce ministry study. Traders also took some encouragement with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) forecast that the share of investments in gross domestic product (GDP) will rise to 33% by FY23 from 31.4% recorded in the last fiscal. RBI suggested that the upturn in the current investment cycle that started in FY17 could last for five more years. However, markets pared their gains and were off their highs with Mukesh Aghi, president of US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), stating that forgoing a trade deal between the two countries will force the Trump administration to consider alternatives and alternatives could start with the suspension of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) benefits and end with trade skirmishes over Twitter that hurt both the economies.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, as investors tracked Wall Street's best performance in more than six months thanks to a healthy round of earnings reports.

Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 35295.93, up by 133.45 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 35178.68 and 35605.43. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.58%, while Small cap index was down by 0.63%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.99%, IT up by 0.90%, TECK up by 0.77%, Utilities up by 0.34% and Energy up by 0.17%, while Realty down by 1.41%, Auto down by 1.10%, Oil & Gas down by 0.75%, Metal down by 0.65% and Basic Materials down by 0.64% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 2.15%, Coal India up by 2.13%, ITC up by 2.11%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.33% and Wipro up by 1.23%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 4.94%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.71%, ONGC down by 1.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.30% and Adani Ports down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has warned that the decline in the world trade along with the slowing global economy will have negative impact on all nations including India. He pointed out that India will be worst hit if global trade falls as the country has huge stake and its share in the world trade is also increasing. Besides, he stressed that slowing global economy is an anxiety for India as it has the potential to become $5 trillion economy before 2025 and $10 trillion before 2035.

The minister’s statement assumes significance as India’s exports declined, for the first time this financial year, by a moderate 2.15 percent to $27.95 billion in September, due to a fall in shipments of key sectors such as engineering and gems and jewellery. He said that his ministry has set up a high-level think tank to suggest the government to promote exports and navigate through these global situations. He added that the ministry has identified products and countries to promote exports.

Prabhu further informed that they have also prepared a well thought action plan for achieving $5 trillion economy and added that $1 trillion would come from manufacturing, $3 trillion from services sector and $1 trillion from agriculture. Talking about ease of doing business, he hinted that India has improved its ranking in the World bank’s doing business index. He said “You will have a good news when World Bank will release its report”. He also said that the report is scheduled to be released this month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10595.60, up by 10.85 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 10566.60 and 10710.15. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 2.64%, Coal India up by 2.41%, Infosys up by 2.27%, ITC up by 2.02% and Wipro up by 1.80%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing down by 8.76%, Yes Bank down by 5.34%, BPCL down by 3.76%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.09% and Hindalco down by 2.15% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 3.89 points or 0.15% to 2,550.22, Straits Times increased 43.97 points or 1.43% to 3,078.28, KOSPI increased 21.60 points or 1% to 2,166.72, Jakarta Composite increased 29.71 points or 0.51% to 5,830.53 and Nikkei 225 increased 291.88 points or 1.28% to 22,841.12. On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted decreased 1.96 points or 0.02% to 9,979.14.

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