Benchmarks continue to trade in green; Metal, Auto leads

Indian equity benchmarks continued to trade in green in the afternoon session on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. The sentiments remained optimistic after India moved up 16 positions to rank 39th on a global index of the world's most competitive economies, reflecting improved monetary and fiscal policies. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government is confident of meeting the April 2017 target to implement the Goods and Services Tax as state finance ministers cooperate to make the single tax reform a reality soon. Further, appreciation in the rupee value also supported the domestic equity market.  Traders were seen piling up positions in Metal, Auto, PSU, Realty and Capital Goods stocks, while selling was witnessed in IT and Tech sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Reliance Communications gained about half a percent after Chairman Anil Ambani said the company has achieved a 'virtual merger' with the new entrant Reliance Jio.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red led by the Japanese market which is down by over a percent as the oil slumped and yen surged. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 28254.26, up by 30.56 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 28198.30 and 28292.29. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.75%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 0.87%, Auto up by 0.78%, PSU up by 0.77%, Realty up by 0.70% and Capital Goods up by 0.61%, while IT down by 0.31% and TECK down by 0.00% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.66%, SBI up by 1.59%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.32%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.24% and GAIL India up by 1.18%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.89%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.77%, Wipro down by 0.69%, Sun Pharma Inds. down by 0.55% and TCS down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, as per latest edition of the Global Competitiveness Report released by World Economic Forum (WEF), India's competitiveness improved the fastest in 2015-16, as the country climbed 16 places to the 39th rank among 138 countries in the index. The report also said that India has become the second-most competitive among BRICS nations after China and will grow faster than China this year.  

India’s competitiveness showed an across the board and the fastest improvement in 2015-16, particularly on efficiency in goods market, business sophistication and innovation. Report said that due to improved monetary and fiscal policies, as well as lower oil prices, the Indian economy has stabilised and now boasts the highest growth among G20 countries. However, it also cautioned that India still needs to cover a lot of ground in the areas like labour, financial market, tax regulations, manufacturing, infrastructure and technological readiness.

The report cited a decline in openness as a major threat to the global competitiveness, while India’s improved performance was attributed to an increase in its openness. China, on 28, remains top among the BRICS grouping, while Russia and South Africa moved up two places to 43 and 47, respectively, only Brazil declined, falling six places to 81in the grouping.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8723.25, up by 16.85 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 8703.15 and 8730.40. There were 41 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Idea Cellular up by 2.89%, Bank of Baroda up by 1.89%, Yes Bank up by 1.73%, SBI up by 1.65% and Tata Motors up by 1.65%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.93%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.09%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.07%, Wipro down by 0.65% and TCS down by 0.62% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 218.53 points or 1.31% to 16,465.40, Hang Seng decreased 102.56 points or 0.44% to 23,469.34, Jakarta Composite decreased 27.84 points or 0.51% to 5,391.77, KOSPI Index decreased 9.76 points or 0.47% to 2,053.06 and Shanghai Composite decreased 5.58 points or 0.19% to 2,992.59.

On the other hand, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 2.28 points or 0.14% to 1,667.00. Taiwan stock exchange was closed for the day due to Typhoon MEGI.