Markets cool off after a positive start on Monday morning

The Indian markets bucking the regional trends made a positive start on Monday morning, with Nifty and Sensex crossing the crucial levels of 8600 and 28800 in very early deals. Though, the benchmarks are slowly cooling down but the mood remains jubilant on getting a better than expected Q2 GDP data. The economy despite slowing in second quarter at 5.3 per cent from 5.7 per cent in the previous April-June quarter, was better than the street expectations of 5%. Also, the GDP growth for the first half of the year, April-September stands at 5.5 per cent as against 4.9 per cent in the same period last year. Traders were also getting some support with the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government will soon implement a large number of legislative and administrative recommendations of the Financial Sector Reforms Commission (FSLRC), which had suggested a major overhauling of financial sector regulations. The PSU oil marketing companies after their initial spurt have cooled off a bit, as they announced reduction in petrol and diesel prices. Petrol price has been cut by 91 paise a litre, and diesel by 84 paise per litre. The broader markets were outperforming the benchmarks, retaining their early gains. On the sectoral front, the consumer durables was surging with gains of over four percent, while capital goods, oil & gas and power were in red.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28695.80, up by 1.81 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 28672.73 and 28809.64. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.44%, while Small cap index gained 0.20%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 4.43%, Bankex up by 0.53%, FMCG up by 0.32%, TECK up by 0.25%, IT up by 0.24%, while Capital Goods down by 0.79%, Power down by 0.79%, Metal down by 0.66%, Oil & Gas down by 0.60%, PSU down by 0.46% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Axis Bank up by 1.43%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.04%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 0.80%, ICICI Bank up by 0.7

9% and SBI up by 0.73%. On the flip side, BHEL down by 2.01%, Tata Power down by 1.40%, Hindalco down by 1.09%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.01% and Tata Steel down by 0.98% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to boost India’s MSME sector, Finance Ministry has set up a committee to examine financial architecture for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. The committee consists of 15 members including joint secretary of Institutional Finance and is headed by ICICI Bank Chairman K V Kamath.

The MSME sector accounts for around 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and 40 per cent in the country's total exports. The MSME sector also contributes 8 per cent to India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides jobs to 60 million people in different segments such as readymade garments, leather, gems and jewellery, light engineering and handicrafts.

In other development, the government has also proposed amendments to the MSME Act to enable time-bound exit and revival of loss-making units to help them consolidate their businesses and re-deploy capital in other greenfield ventures.  The government has sought comments from the states and UTs on proposed amendments to the MSME Act with a view to formulate a suitable policy for the sector. Revival clause of proposed act seeks early assistance to tide over difficult financial times and provide a framework where a viable MSME can seek standard as well as customised relief and concession to revive. On the other hand, time-bound exit clause to provide an easier and expeditious exit procedure for the benefit of promoters and guarantors through liquidation and change in management.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8595.10, up by 6.85 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 8583.50 and 8623.00. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 2.53%, Axis Bank up by 1.56%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.46%, DLF up by 1.34% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.95%. On the flip side, NMDC down by 2.32%, BHEL down by 2.04%, Tata Power down by 1.40%, Hindalco down by 0.92% and Coal India down by 0.89% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were mostly in red barring Shanghai Composite which was up by 19.55 points or 0.73% to 2,702.39 and Nikkei 225 gaining 150.14 points or 0.86% to 17,609.99.

On the other hand, Hang Seng plunged by 427.89 points or 1.78% to 23,559.56, Taiwan Weighted declined 54.13 points or 0.59% to 9,133.02, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI lost 40.04 points or 2.2% to 1,780.85, Straits Times was down by 16.12 points or 0.48% to 3,334.38, KOSPI Index decreased by 14.89 points or 0.75% to 1,965.89 and Jakarta Composite was down by 8.22 points or 0.16% to 5,141.66.