Markets continue to trade in positive territory

Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green in afternoon session amid gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as Dr Reddys Lab, BHEL and Hindalco among others. Firm global cues as well as positive industry related announcements in domestic front has encouraged the domestic benchmarks to extend gains and almost all sectorial indices were trading in green except auto. Sentiments got a boost as the government has stated that it intends to develop industrial corridors and smart cities for providing infrastructure based on modern technology. Furthermore, Environment Ministry latest move to provide a major relaxation for faster execution of all linear projects including roads, rail and power also added to the optimistic sentiments. Foreign investors also remained buoyant about the domestic economic growth and are piling up position in domestic equities. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 277.92 crore in the previous session. However, auto stocks remained under pressure as the finance ministry has decided not to extend excise duty cuts on automobiles and consumer durables beyond December 31.

Bajaj Corp gained over 2% to Rs 360 after the company said its board has approved a proposal to hike the foreign institutional investors investment cap to 49% stake in the paid-up equity capital of the company. Atul Auto has surged over 7% to Rs 682 after Goldman Sachs bought a total of 4.05 lakh shares of the company in bulk deals. 

On global front, most of the Asian markets were trading in green with Shanghai Composite up by 2.15% and Hang Seng up by 0.44%. Back home, the NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex were trading above their psychological 8,200 and 27,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive, out of 2,455 stocks traded, 1,422 stocks advanced, while 928 stocks declined on the BSE.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27470.19, up by 66.65 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 27346.00 and 27502.41. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.79%, while Small cap index up by 0.64%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.10%, Infra up by 1.06%, Capital Goods up by 0.69%, Realty up by 0.60% and PSU up by 0.44%. On the other hand, Auto down by 0.16% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.15%, BHEL up by 1.80%, Hindalco up by 1.12%, NTPC up by 0.92% and Axis Bank up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.73%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.73%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.52%, HDFC Bank down by 0.34% and Coal India down by 0.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to boost the domestic manufacturing sector, the government has stated that it intends to develop industrial corridors and smart cities for providing infrastructure based on modern technology.

Commerce and Industry Ministry highlighted that existing infrastructure in the country would be strengthened. Highlighting that strengthening infrastructure is one of the four pillars of 'Make in India' initiative, the Ministry said that innovation and research activities will be supported through fast paced registration system and the infrastructure of Intellectual Property Rights registration set-up has been upgraded. The other three pillars of the initiative include improving ease of doing business, focus on 25 identified sectors and new mindset.

Commerce Ministry further noted that the government will act as facilitator instead of regulator and partner with the industry in economic development of the country. About e-Biz project, the Ministry cleared that more government services such as PAN and TAN services of CBDT and Employer Registration Service of EPFO among others will be integrated shortly. Referring to the industrial corridor, it stated that significant progress has been made for Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC ) and final environmental clearance has already been obtained from the Ministry of Environment for three DMIC nodes. Further, efforts have been also made for other corridors including Chennai Bangalore Industrial Corridor, Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC) and Bengaluru Mumbai Economic Corridor.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8270.00, up by 21.75 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 8243.75 and 8280.05. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.87%, BHEL up by 1.76%,  Indusind Bank up by 1.58%, Cairn India up by 1.45% and Power Grid Corp up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.58%, HCL Tech down by 0.95%, BPCL down by 0.71%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.61% and Jindal Steel & Power down by 0.59% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI up by 1.8 points or 0.1% to 1,768.63, Taiwan Weighted up by 38.83 points or 0.42% to 9,307.26, Jakarta Composite up by 48.57 points or 0.94% to 5,226.95, Shanghai Composite up by 68.06 points or 2.15% to 3,233.87, Hang Seng up by 103.94 points or 0.44% to 23,605.04, Nikkei 225 down 279.07 points or 1.57% to 17,450.77, KOSPI Index down 12.27 points or 0.64% to 1,915.59, Straits Times down 0.96 points or 0.03% to 3,365.15.