Benchmarks make gap-up opening tracking firm global cues

Buoyed by firm global cues, Indian equity benchmarks have made a gap-up opening and are trading jubilantly in early deals on Monday. The US markets surged in last session on getting good jobs data. Traders turned jubilant with the jobless rate falling to 5.4 percent from 5.5 percent, the lowest since May 2008. The Asian markets were trading mostly in green at this point of time, though there was some cautiousness too with the Chinese central bank cutting interest rates for the third time in six months during the weekend.

Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too equally participated in the rally. Sentiments remained up-beat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India’s economy grew an estimated 7-7.5 percent last fiscal year and will keep growing this year, but the government will have to invest more in agriculture to keep up the momentum. Moreover, the parliamentary proceedings will dictate the near-term trend. The much-delayed and anticipated goods and services tax (GST) bill is expected to be taken up in Rajya Sabha today.

On the sectoral front, metal, auto and realty witnessed the maximum gain in trade, while consumer durables and FMCG remained the top losers on the BSE sectoral space. The broader indices too were trading in line with benchmarks, while the market breadth on the BSE was positive; there were 1307 shares on the gaining side against 423 shares on the losing side while 60 shares remain unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27355.43, up by 250.04 points or 0.92% after trading in a range of 27231.28 and 27378.84. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.10%, while Small cap index gained 1.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.57%, Auto up by 1.41%, Realty up by 1.26%, Healthcare up by 1.08% and Power up by 0.86%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.11% and FMCG down by 0.05% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindalco up by 2.66%, HDFC up by 2.52%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.50%, Tata Steel up by 2.48% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.93%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.65%, Wipro down by 0.08% and ITC down by 0.03% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a report from the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard University which estimates growth in emerging markets to continue to outpace those of developed countries, India is projected to achieve highest annual GDP growth rate of 7.9% over next 8 years. The country, overtaking its South Asian economic rival China is projected to record average annual growth rates of 7.9% over the next eight years, nearly double of China's 4.6% projected growth over the period.

The Center’s economic complexity predictions revealed that India has an undisputed upper hand in growth, which would continue to expand into a widening gap in the medium-term, with growth predicted to be at 7.9% annually up-to 2023 well ahead of the 4.6% projected for China.

CID's projections are also bullish on East Africa. Four East African countries -- Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Madagascar -- rank in the top ten, with all predicted to grow at least 6% annually. Surprisingly, projections also favor Pakistan's potential, at 5.1% predicted growth, presenting a clear picture of South Asia and East Africa's positive growth outlook.

Meanwhile, Southeast Asia also includes several high-growth countries, driven by its largest country, Indonesia, which is anticipated to grow at 5.2 percent annually to 2023.However, Harvard study asserted little optimism over the outlook for Europe and US, with the growth in world’s largest economy, United States predicted to be at 2.4 and major European players range from 2.3 percent in Italy to 3.7 percent in Spain.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8259.95, up by 68.45 points or 0.84% after trading in a range of 8224.65 and 8269.50. There were 43 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 2.63%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.53%, HDFC up by 2.48%, Tata Steel up by 2.40% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.95%, Lupin down by 1.86%, PNB down by 0.93%, Bank Of Baroda down by 0.34% and Tech Mahindra down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in the green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 4.4 points or 0.24% to 1,812.05, Jakarta Composite rose 6.57 points or 0.13% to 5,188.79, Straits Times gained 15.24 points or 0.44% to 3,467.25, KOSPI Index advanced 15.69 points or 0.75% to 2,101.21, Shanghai Composite surged 49.62 points or 1.18% to 4,255.54, Hang Seng added 137.29 points or 0.5% to 27,714.63 and Nikkei 225 surged 219.59 points or 1.13% to 19,598.78.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted was down by 10.48 points or 0.11% to 9,681.52.