Benchmarks make positive start; Nifty reclaims 8,800 mark

Indian equity benchmarks have made a positive opening and are trading with a gain of quarter a percent in early deals, with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 8,800 (Nifty) and 28,600 (Sensex) levels. Sentiments remained up-beat with DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek’s statement that implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) is bound to be a “game changer” for India's manufacturing sector and will enhance ease of doing business in the country. Traders also took some encouragement with reports that foreign investors have pumped in Rs 5,790 into the country’s capital markets within a fortnight this month, driven by global and domestic factors. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 660.59 crore on Friday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Firm global cues too provided much needed support to domestic markets with all the regional peers, barring Malaysian KLCI were trading in green at this point of time as oil rebounded, increasing risk appetite ahead of policy meetings this week by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.

Back home, buying in metal counters too aided sentiments, as the Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh has claimed that the country will be ranked after Japan and America in steel production in December this year as a result of the Prime Minister's various initiatives like Skill India, Startup India and Make in India. Shares related to pharma counter too were buzzing in the trade with government slashing prices of 10 more drugs, while bringing eight new medicines, including paracetamol, under price control for the first time in its bid to cap cost of over 800 plus formulations to make them affordable.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28654.64, up by 55.61 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 28552.55 and 28671.06. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.44%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.73%, PSU up by 0.69%, Energy up by 0.57%, Oil & Gas up by 0.56% and Healthcare up by 0.43%, while Realty down by 0.27%, Consumer Durables down by 0.10% and Capital Goods down by 0.07% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 1.09%, ICICI Bank up by 1.05%, Asian Paints up by 1.01%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.98% and Coal India up by 0.97%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.85%, HDFC down by 0.63%, Axis Bank down by 0.58%, Adani Ports &Special down by 0.39% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.35% 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 8801.65, up by 21.80 points or 0.25% after trading in a range of 8774.20 and 8809.95. There were 33 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 1.60%, Yes Bank up by 1.37%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.25%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.21% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 1.31%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.95%, Axis Bank down by 0.80%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.68% and Bosch down by 0.46% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 13.47 points or 0.67% to 2,012.83, Shanghai Composite gained 18.17 points or 0.61% to 3,021.02, Jakarta Composite jumped 38.75 points or 0.74% to 5,306.52, Hang Seng added 193.78 points or 0.83% to 23,529.37 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 236.99 points or 2.66% to 9,139.29. On the flip side, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 1.16 points or 0.07% to 1,651.83.