Markets continue to trade in high spirit; Nifty hits 7400 level

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade firm across the board in early noon session on the back of buying in Metal, PSU, Auto, Bankex and Oil & Gas stocks. Besides, a firm trend at other Asian markets tracking overnight gains in the US and European markets on hints of additional central bank stimulus and a rise in oil prices from 12-year lows too supported the market sentiment. Sentiment got boost after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the India is gradually transforming most of its taxation laws for a greater degree of stability and predictability, stressing that the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a major step in this direction. Appreciation in Indian rupee too aided the sentiment. The rupee firmed up by 28 paise to trade at 67.73 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, tracking the rally in European and U.S. equities overnight, getting a boost from a slight uptick in oil prices and comments from the European Central Bank (ECB). Back home, both the sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 24,350 and 7,400 levels, respectively. In scrip specific development, shares of Vedanta were trading higher over 5% after the Goa Investment Promotion Board (GIPB) granted in-principle approval to various proposals by the company for expansion of existing capacities at its pig iron plant. Meanwhile, broader markets were in-line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were trading up by 1.87% and 2.20%, respectively. The market breadth was extremely positive as 1881 stocks were advancing while a mere 385 were declining on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 24394.61, up by 432.40 points or 1.80% after trading in a range of 24120.04 and 24396.92. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.87%, while Small cap index up by 2.20%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.73%, PSU up by 3.25%, Auto up by 3.21%, Bankex up by 3.17% and Oil & Gas up by 2.89%, while there were no losers on the sectoral index.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 6.99%, SBI up by 4.78%, Tata Steel up by 4.54%, Tata Motors up by 4.23% and Axis Bank up by 3.97%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 4.86%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.37%, Adani Ports &Special down by 0.36% and ITC down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has been ranked 22nd on the inaugural list of the world’s best countries which was released on the sidelines of World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting and is topped by Germany. The report has been prepared by US News and World Report and New York-based brand consultancy BAV Consulting and Wharton School of Business.

According to the report, a set of 65 country attributes were identified. Attributes by nation were presented in the survey of more than 16,000 people from across the globe. Each country was scored on each of the 65 country attributes based on a collection of individual survey responses.  Attributes were grouped into nine sub-rankings that rolled into the Best Countries ranking: Adventure, Citizenship, Cultural Influence, Entrepreneurship, Heritage, Movers, Open for Business, Power and Quality of Life.  A total of 16,248 individuals from 36 countries in four regions - the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and Africa - were surveyed. Of them, 8,092 were informed elites and 4,513 were business decision-makers.

The report highlighted that India faces its fair share of international and domestic challenges. India has a fast-growing, diverse economy with a large, skilled workforce. But because of its population, it's also one of the poorest countries in the world based on income and gross national product per capita. Further the report stated that though agriculture employs the most workers, services are the major source of economic growth. Due to its educated, English-speaking workforce, India has become an important center of information technology services, business outsourcing services and software workers.

Apart from Germany being in the first position, other countries in the top five are Canada at 2nd position, UK at 3rd, the U.S. at fourth and Sweden at fifth position ahead of notables Australia, Japan, France, Netherlands and Denmark in the order. New Zealand, Austria and Italy are at 11th, 12th and 13th places. Singapore is the only Asian country to feature on top at the 15th place, followed by Spain and China at 16th and 17th.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7409.10, up by 132.30 points or 1.82% after trading in a range of 7327.60 and 7410.80. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 6.84%, Vedanta up by 5.69%, Bank of Baroda up by 5.11%, SBI up by 4.93% and Hindalco up by 4.61%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 6.45%, Bharti Airtel down by 4.91%, Adani Ports &Special down by 0.84%, ITC down by 0.41% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.21% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading in green; Jakarta Composite increased 9.82 points or 0.22% to 4,423.94, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 15.4 points or 0.96% to 1,616.32, Shanghai Composite increased 17.24 points or 0.6% to 2,897.72, KOSPI Index increased 35.75 points or 1.94% to 1,876.28, Taiwan Weighted increased 92.17 points or 1.2% to 7,756.18, Hang Seng increased 463.46 points or 2.5% to 19,005.61 and Nikkei 225 increased 898.32 points or 5.61% to 16,915.58.