Indian Shares Trade Flat Amid Lack of Major Cues

MAHARASHTRA, India – Indian stock markets mostly traded flat on Tuesday amid the lack of both major local and global cues to back the market.

Indian benchmark indexes were seen trading lower on Tuesday during the opening bell with the Sensex index going down by 70 points and the Nifty index trading below the 11,950 levels.

The IT sector was recorded as the top laggard to drag the market all the way down, amid the rupee reaching one month higher early in the trading session. Tech Mahindra, TCS, JustDIal, and MindTree each traded with 1% to 3% declines.

For stocks listed in the Nifty index, among the top gainers were the Grasim, ONGC, HUL, Sun Pharma, and Cipla. The top losers for the index, on the other hand, includes the TCS, GAIL, Bharti Infratel, Zee, and YES Bank.

Brader markets have also underperformed on Tuesday with the Nifty small-cap, and Nifty mid-cap both recorded a 0.3% drop.

Early in the trading session, most of the declines in benchmark indexes in the Indian stock market were largely caused by the ongoing uncertainty of market players towards the real status of the ongoing trade negotiations between the US and China. Uncertainty in trade talks ahead the scheduled new set of tariffs on Chinese goods for December 15 has refrained many investors in making major bets.

In the oil sector, share prices fell overnight following the data showing the decline in Chinese exports, marking its fourth consecutive months of declines, which has sent jitters in the market who are still on unsteady feet over trade talks.

On the other hand, shares of Life Insurers recorded positive gains on Tuesday following the reports from Nomura and Morgan Stanley. Reports from the brokerage houses stated that most bug private players are looking towards an acceleration in terms of premium growth on a YoY basis. Stock prices for HDFC Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, and SBI Life Insurance all recorded advances, rising around 1.59%, 1.37%, and 1.87%, respectively.

The share prices for the three companies also increased by around 2.44% each on an intraday basis.

Based on reports, the government is expected to increase the overseas investment limit of around 74% for insurance in the coming February budget, which is significantly higher from the current 49%. The expected rise in overseas investment limit in insurance can help pave the way for foreign control for some companies.

The Morgan Stanley report also stated that the individual premium growth for the ICICI PruLi increased by 20% on a YoY basis, a positive gain compared to the 18% YoY from last month.