Markets to get a positive start on firm global cues

The Indian markets yet again logged record high after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has highlighted that Indian economic growth at 6.5% in 2016 will surpass China’s projected growth rate of 6.3%. Today, the start is likely to be in good taking cues from the gain in global equity markets. On domestic front, the traders will be getting support from report that the government may raise the limit on foreign holding of Indian corporate bonds as it believes that the existing $51 billion cap could be exhausted given the surging demand for Indian fixed income securities. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that India’s public debt position is comfortable on account of declining trajectory of central government liabilities and stable interest cost. There will be some action in the power sector stocks, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said the country’s power sector was set for $250 billion investment across segments. The telecom stocks too may see some action as the Union Cabinet cleared the swapping of 15 MHz of the 2,100-MHz spectrum band (needed for third-generation, or 3G, telecom services) available with the defence ministry in return for an equivalent amount in the 1,900-MHz band owned by the department of telecommunications (DoT).

There will be some important result announcements too, to keep the markets ticking. Biocon, Cairn India, Dish TV, Mastek, Parry Sugar, Muthoot Finance, State Bank of Mysore, Polaris, Prestige Estates Projects, Zuari Agro Chemicals are among the many to report their numbers.

The US markets ended higher in last session as investors widely expect the European Central Bank (ECB) to deliver on monetary stimulus at its key meeting on Thursday. The Asian markets have made mostly a positive start amid speculation the European Central Bank will boost stimulus through a sovereign-bond purchase program under the quantitative-easing strategy.

Extending their northward journey for fifth day in a row, Indian equity benchmarks logged record high and ended the choppy day of trade with a gain of over one third of a percent with frontline gauges surpassing their crucial 28,850 (Sensex)and 8,700 (Nifty) levels on Wednesday. Sentiments remained up-beat after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest report namely ‘World Economic Report update’ has highlighted that Indian economic growth at 6.5% in 2016 will surpass China’s projected growth rate of 6.3%. Sentiments also got some boost as Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asserted that India will continue to introduce reforms through the use of ordinances to make it easier for companies to do business in India. Some support also came in from report that foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 1,276 crore on January 20, 2015, as per provisional stock exchange data. On the global front, European shares were trading lower as investors opted to book profit after a four-day rally driven by expectations the European Central Bank is about to launch quantitative easing had taken them to seven-year highs. Back home, appreciation in Indian rupee too supported the sentiments. Meanwhile, interest rate-sensitive stocks extended their recent rally on hopes of additional monetary policy easing. Moreover, improvement in the country’s macro economic factors and possibility of further cuts in interest rates pulled the Capital Goods stocks higher. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 104.19 points or 0.36%, to 28888.86, while the CNX Nifty gained 33.90 points or 0.39% to 8,729.50.