Markets trade near highs of the day in early noon session

Indian markets gradually moving higher are trading near the high points of the day in early noon session, on account of buying by fund and retail investors. The sentiment got a boost from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be rolled out from next year. Appreciation in the rupee too supported the sentiment. The rupee recovered by 14 paise to trade at 65.26 against the dollar on Wednesday on fresh selling of the US currency by exporters amid sustained foreign fund inflows. Some support also came on reports that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 480.24 crore on October 06, 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. 

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green after oil prices surged overnight, helping to pull most Asia markets into positive territory. Back home, Sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 27,000 and 8,150 levels respectively.  Apart from blue chips, broader indices too equally participated in the rally with both mid cap and small cap indices trading in green. In scrip specific development, Gujarat NRE Coke was trading above 9.04% after the company said its board has approved the sale of its wind mill business for Rs 218.75 crore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27040.19, up by 107.31 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 26877.51 and 27069.33. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.25%, while Small cap index surged by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.75%, Realty up by 1.42%, Auto up by 0.94%, PSU up by 0.82% and Power up by 0.78%, while TECK down by 0.02% were the losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta up by 5.19%, Hindalco up by 3.95%, ONGC up by 2.51%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.76% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.70%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.15%, Wipro down by 1.46%, ICICI Bank down by 1.01%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.85% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary (IMF) while cutting its global growth forecast has said that Indian economy is expected to grow faster than other major emerging economies, projecting a growth rate of 7.5 percent in 2016. It said that India's growth is expected to strengthen from 7.3 percent this year and last year to 7.5 percent next year. Growth will benefit from recent policy reforms, a consequent pickup in investment, and lower commodity prices. The IMF’s forecast for 2020 sees India occupying the top slot among major economies with a growth rate of 7.7%. Though, IMF has pegged its estimate at 7.3% this year, that's lower than the 7.5% forecast in the July 2015 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update.

The IMF has also said that India's near-term growth prospects remain favourable. The narrowing of the current account deficit has lowered external vulnerabilities while the faster-than-expected decline in inflation has created space for interest-rate reductions. It expects inflation to decline further in 2015 because of the drop in global oil and agricultural commodity prices. The IMF called for continued fiscal consolidation but urged that it should be more growth friendly, tied to tax reform and lower subsidies.

On the other hand, the fund has cut its global growth forecasts for a second time this year, citing weak commodity prices and a slowdown in China and warned that policies aimed at increasing demand were needed. The downgrades come after central banks in major industrial economies have cut rates to near zero and spent around $7 trillion in quantitative easing programs in the seven years since the global financial crisis. IMF ahead of its annual meet in Peru has forecast that the world economy would grow at 3.1 percent this year and by 3.6 percent in 2016. Both new forecasts are 0.2 percentage point below its July forecast and are 0.4 percentage point and 0.2 percentage point below its April outlook, respectively.

Among major economies, the IMF has said that United States is expected to grow by 2.6 percent in 2015 and by 2.8 percent in 2016, the Eurozone is forecast to grow by 1.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively, with Japan seen at 0.6 percent and 1.0 percent. The Fund sees growth in China slowing to 6.8 percent this year and 6.3 percent in 2016. The biggest hit to growth will come in emerging economies where the IMF has cut its growth forecast to 4 percent in 2015, due to a sharp slide in commodity prices.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8176.00, up by 23.10 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 8132.90 and 8186.85. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 5.25%, Cairn India up by 3.62%, Hindalco up by 3.53%, ONGC up by 2.47% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.88%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 1.98%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.96%, BPCL down by 1.72%, Wipro down by 1.39% and Zee Entertainment down by 1.14% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 7.16 points or 0.43% to 1,669.67, KOSPI Index increased 14.42 points or 0.72% to 2,005.07, Shanghai Composite increased 14.64 points or 0.48% to 3,052.78, Straits Times increased 36.55 points or 1.26% to 2,933.96, Taiwan Weighted increased 89.65 points or 1.07% to 8,483.75, Nikkei 225 increased 124.88 points or 0.69% to 18,310.98 and Hang Seng increased 278.8 points or 1.28% to 22,110.42, while Jakarta Composite decreased 17.38 points or 0.39% to 4,428.40.