Benchmarks pare gains; trade continues in green

The local benchmarks are still managing to trade in the green region after giving up some of their earlier gains. Sentiment remained upbeat with the report showing that India's trade deficit narrowed slightly in August, a move that will strengthen the government's case for rejecting exporters' calls for a competitive boost through rupee devaluation. Some support also came in with report that Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeting to roll out the ambitious Goods and Services Tax (GST) on April 1 next year, has directed that all steps required in this direction should be completed before that date. On global front, European stocks were trading lower on Friday with banks taking a beating after news of a large fine for Deutsche Bank and as global markets look to next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve's policymaking committee.

Back home, stocks from the Capital Goods, FMCG and Oil & Gas sectors are still garnering investor attention. However, stocks from the Realty, Bankex and Metal sectors are facing the brunt of profit booking. In scrip specific development, Tata Metaliks moved up after the company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Paschim Banga Society to set up a skill development centre in Paschim Midnapore.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28551.80, up by 138.91 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 28520.17 and 28778.64. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.15%, while Small cap index was up by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.30%, Oil & Gas up by 0.75%, Auto up by 0.44%, Capital Goods up by 0.36% and Power up by 0.34%, while Metal down by 1.24%, Realty down by 0.14% and Bankex down by 0.07% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.90%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.89%, Axis Bank up by 1.70%, Reliance Industries up by 1.69% and Adani Ports &Special up by 1.59%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.59%, Asian Paints down by 0.90%, Tata Motors down by 0.71%, ICICI Bank down by 0.70% and HDFC down by 0.48% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government under its flagship Smart City Mission will be announcing the name of 27 more cities that will be developed as smart cities. The Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will be announcing the third set of smart cities next week. 

Till now, the government has announced 33 cities, wherein 20 cities were announced in the first and another 13 in the supplementary round, the cities would have facilities such as assured water and power supply, sanitation and solid waste management systems, efficient urban mobility and public transportation, IT connectivity and e-governance, among others. In total, the government aims to transform about 100 cities by 2019-20, with the Union government providing financial support of Rs 48,000 crore over five years.

The minister said that this is the first time that 500 cities and towns undertook a comprehensive analysis of the infrastructure deficiencies and prepared a details action plan for this. The purpose of the Smart Cities Mission is to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8779.65, up by 37.10 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 8767.60 and 8847.65. There were 33 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Axis Bank up by 2.14%, GAIL India up by 1.96%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.82%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.72% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.31%, BHEL down by 2.26%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.59%, Hindalco down by 1.55% and Tata Steel down by 1.34% were the top losers.

Asian market were trading in green; Jakarta Composite increased 1.95 points or 0.04% to 5,267.77 and Nikkei 225 increased 114.28 points or 0.7% to 16,519.29, while Shanghai Stock Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Malaysia Stock Exchange, Seoul Stock Exchange and Taiwan Stock Exchange were closed on account of National holiday.

European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 53.52 points or 0.51% to 10,377.68, France’s CAC dropped 21.39 points or 0.49% to 4,351.83 and UK’s FTSE 100 declined 17.77 points or 0.26% to 6,712.53.