Markets to make a positive start on supportive global cues

The Indian markets continued their jubilation on the Muhurat trading session on Diwali and gave signs that the mood will remain bullish in the new Samvat. Today, after a long holiday markets are likely to get a positive start on supportive global cues. Today, there is likely to be some action in oil and gas sector on reports that Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan plans to overhaul the exploration policy to attract investors, spur energy output and revive the economy. Also, the coal and power stocks will be in action, as the Coal Ministry is gearing up to prepare the modalities of the proposed e-auction of coal blocks that may take place in January next year. On the same time there will be some somberness in the services oriented sector stocks as foreign direct investment in the services sector dipped by 9 percent to $1.08 billion during the April-August period of the ongoing fiscal. There will be lots of important result announcements too, to keep the markets buzzing.

The US markets ended higher on Friday, extending their upward trend and reflecting a positive reaction to earnings news from big-name companies. The Asian markets have made a mixed start, though some of the indices are recovering from their lows as a stress test passed by most European banks added to signs of recovery in the region.

Back home, extending the winning streak to fourth session in a row, boisterous benchmarks once again showcased an enthusiastic performance on Wednesday, by rallying around one percentage point on sustained buying by fund and retail investors ahead of Diwali. Sentiments remained jubilant since start, as key bourses opened with a huge gap on up-side and there appeared not even an iota of profit booking in the session as investors continued hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. Frontline indices not only ended the session near intraday high levels but also recaptured their crucial 7,950 (Nifty) and 26,750 (Sensex) bastions as investors took to hefty across the board buying. Sentiments remained up-beat on government’s decision of diesel de-regulation. The sentiments also got supported with global credit rating agency Moody’s saying that the decisions to deregulate diesel prices and hike the natural gas prices are ‘credit positive’ as it would bring in fiscal discipline. It has further stated that the diesel deregulation will reduce the subsidy burden for the government, although fiscal savings are ‘likely to be limited’. Marketmen also cheered the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the constitution amendment bill to implement the long pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) would be introduced in the forthcoming winter session of parliament. Global cues too remained supportive with the US markets rallying in last session reacting to some positive earnings. Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too participated strongly in the rally. Appreciation in Indian rupee too supported the sentiments. Indian equity markets maintained their bullishness on the special Muhurat trading session on Diwali and both the major indices managed to close above their psychological levels of 26850 (Sensex) and 8000 (Nifty), giving indications that markets will likely remain bullish during the current Hindu calendar year Samvat 2071. The BSE Sensex finally closed at 26851.05, up by 63.82 points or 0.24%, while the Nifty closed at 8014.55, up by 18.65 points or 0.23%.