Markets to make a cautious start of the crucial week

The Indian markets extended their rally in last session; today the start of the data heavy crucial week is likely to be cautious. Traders apart from key macro data will be eyeing the development in the Parliament with the serious business taking place from today. Meanwhile, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to the Congress leadership, the government on has expressed hope that the GST Bill will be passed in Parliament and implemented soon. The pharma sector will be in action on report that India is nudging various semi-regulated markets like Myanmar and Kenya to accept its drug standards, instead of the US or British norms, a move aimed at helping many Indian drug makers to save cost on upgrading to international standards. Port and shipping stocks too will be in action, as the Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that the profitability of the Indian port sector by the end of current year will reach around Rs 6,000 crore.

The US markets ended the short trading day modestly in green in last session, though the trade remained choppy but major bourses retained their levels ahead of key events of next week. The Asian markets have made mostly a lower start as Chinese brokerage stocks extended declines amid a regulatory probe.

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks started the December F&O series on optimistic note, with key gauges rallying over half a percentage point and breaking lots of psychological levels in their northward rally. Markets traded with traction for most part of the day’s trade despite some profit booking in noon deals as weakness in rupee weighed on the sentiments. Overall, traders remained hopeful that the crucial goods and services tax (GST) bill will be passed in the winter sessions of Parliament after Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hold discussions on the GST bill. The gains for the day came ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s policy review next week. The central bank is expected to hold its policy interest rate at 6.75% next week to stifle inflation, while data is seen showing economic growth accelerated to 7.3 % in the September quarter. Some support also came with the Urban Development ministry giving a nod for an investment of Rs 3,120 crore for enhancing water supply, sewerage network, non-motorised transportation system and availability of public spaces in 102 cities across five states, for boosting urban infrastructure under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). On the global front, European counters traded mixed in early deals, while Asian markets ended the session mostly in red. Back home, banking shares mainly public sector undertakings (PSU) remained on buyers’ radar after media reports that the government is planning to set up high-level panel to tackle non-performing assets (NPA). Metal shares witnessed some buying demand on rebound in copper prices which rose to Rs 9.90 to Rs 316.30 per kg in futures trade today as speculators widened positions. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 169.57 points or 0.65% to 26128.20, while the CNX Nifty soared by 58.90 points or 0.75% to 7942.70.