Benchmarks continue firm trade in late morning session

After getting a gap-up start, benchmark equity indices continue to trade in fine fettle in late morning deals on continued buying activities by both funds and retail investors amid firm global cues. Sentiments got some support with the Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das’ statement that India is posed for a “big leap” in growth which could touch 8 percent in the current fiscal on the back of normal monsoon. Further, Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Financial Stability Report (FSR) stated that despite global uncertainties, banking sector issues, the economy stands out in terms of growth as compared to other emerging markets and the Indian financial system remains stable. However, many large investors avoid taking bigger pie with the Morgan Stanley’s report that Brexit is likely to have an adverse impact on India's growth with domestic GDP expected to decline by up to 60 basis points in a high-stress scenario within the next two years.

On the global front, Asian stock markets rallied on Wednesday amid optimism that policy makers will introduce measures to limit the economic fallout from U.K. leaving the European Union Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said global risks have shifted further to the downside after Britain’s vote to exit the EU, introducing new uncertainties that may merit reassessing monetary policy. Moreover, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will mobilize all possible measures, while South Korea on Tuesday proposed a package of fiscal stimulus.

Back home, stocks from Realty, Power and Auto counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from FMCG counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Suven Life Sciences surged after the company was granted one product patent from Europe and two product patents from Eurasia corresponding to the (NCEs) for the treatment of disorders associated with Neurodegenerative diseases and these Patents are valid through 2029, 2030 and 2031 respectively. Moreover, IL&FS Transportation Networks gained after the company increased its stake in Noida Toll Bridge Company (NTBCL) from 25.35% to 26.37%.

The market breadth remained optimistic as there were 1626 shares on the gaining side against 570 shares on the losing side, while 123 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26671.91, up by 147.36 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 26620.64 and 26700.77. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.79%, while Small cap index gained 1.17%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.82%, Power up by 1.41%, Auto up by 1.30%, Metal up by 1.06% and Capital Goods up by 0.93%, while FMCG down by 0.17% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.10%, NTPC up by 2.03%, Asian Paints up by 1.79%, Tata Motors up by 1.64% and Power Grid up by 1.58%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.75%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.43%, GAIL India down by 0.41%, Coal India down by 0.37% and HDFC Bank down by 0.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, India has been ranked at low 105th position globally out of the total 130, in World Economic Forum (WEF) worldwide Human Capital Index, which measures countries’ ability to nurture, develop and deploy talent for economic growth.

WEF in its report said that the country has optimized just 57 per cent of its human capital endowment placing it in the top of the bottom quartile of the Index. The report stated that though the country’s educational attainment has improved over the different age groups, its youth literacy rate is still only 90 per cent which is at 103rd position in the world, behind other leading emerging markets.

Further, India also ranked poorly on labour force participation, partially due to one of the world’s largest employment gender gaps. However, there was some positive too, in the report India has got better rankings of 39th on quality of education system, staff training with rank 46 and ease of finding skilled employees with 45th rank .Moreover, the WEF report also stated that India had the largest share at nearly 78 million in the global distribution of tertiary degree holders.

On the global front, Finland, Norway and Switzerland hold the top three positions, utilising around 85 per cent of their human capital. Japan and Sweden moved up to 4th and 5th places, followed by New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada and Belgium in top ten. Last year, India was ranked 100th out of total 124 countries included in the 2015 index.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8178.95, up by 51.10 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 8162.25 and 8186.55. There were 44 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bosch up by 5.19% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.20% and Hindalco up by 2.12% and NTPC up by 2.06% and BHEL up by 1.81%. On the flip side, ITC down by 0.75%, BPCL down by 0.59%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.41%, Coal India down by 0.37% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.34% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.42%, Shanghai Composite jumped 0.54%, KOSPI Index surged 1.27%, Jakarta Composite strengthened 1.39%, Taiwan Weighted increased 0.94%, Hang Seng added 0.58% and Nikkei 225 was up by 1.84%.