Benchmarks continue to trade near intraday highs

The key equity indices in the last hour of their trade hovering near the highest point of the day and gained over a percent as Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the US presidential elections improved. Both the indices continued to trade comfortably above their psychological levels of 27500 (Sensex) and 8500 (Nifty). Some support also came with the report that National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has pegged India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 7.6 percent for the fiscal year 2016-17, backed by pick-up in rural demand and positive signals’ on the manufacturing front.

Strong opening in European markets too supported the sentiments. European shares were trading firm on Monday, as investors reacted to news that US law enforcement officials will not pursue charges against Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server. Back home, in scrip specific development, State Bank of India (SBI) edged higher by around four percent on report that it is planning to raise Rs 5000 crore during the third quarter of the current fiscal year. The bank looking to raise infrastructure bonds, a move aimed at diversifying its liabilities and reducing the overall cost of funds.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27541.26, up by 267.11 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 27452.37 and 27591.15. There were 21 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index, while 2 stocks remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.22%, while Small cap index was up by 1.64%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.29%, Realty up by 1.90%, PSU up by 1.76%, FMCG up by 1.72% and Bankex up by 1.65%, while there were no losers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 7.68%, ITC up by 3.71%, SBI up by 3.52%, ICICI Bank up by 3.39% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.61%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.54%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.70%, ONGC down by 0.61%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.48% and Reliance Industries down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that private sector expansion is needed in a big way to let the economy start firing on all cylinders. He said that public investment and foreign capital on which the economy is firing are intact and domestic investment is still a challenge. After monitoring that the domestic investment still continues to be a challenge, he urged the banking sector to support private investment in order to push growth.

Jaitley emphasized that foreign investors are getting far greater returns on their investment in India than any other country. He further said there is a ‘silver lining’ visible with festive purchases, indicating upturn in rural and urban demand, but domestic investment will have to pick up in a big way for which banks need to do their bit by supporting corporates and thus boosting growth. He termed the role of the banks in this regard as ‘extremely significant’ as their credit and investments have to pick up.

On unusual delays in settlement of debt recovery cases, the minister pointed to the need for increasing efficiency in such matters that are adjudicated by judicial or quasi-judicial bodies. Stressing that debt recovery is of prime importance to the Indian economy, the minister explained that delays in settlement of such cases hurt larger investment environment of the country as the funds blocked by defaulters could have been utilized by other borrowers for productive purposes.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8524.80, up by 91.05 points or 1.08% after trading in a range of 8493.65 and 8535.85. There were 40 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 7.72% and Aurobindo Pharma up by 5.77%, Hindalco up by 5.13%, Bank of Baroda up by 4.45% and Tech Mahindra up by 4.34%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.71%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.64%, TCS down by 1.53%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.86% and Indusind Bank down by 0.59% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 5.6 points or 0.34% to 1,653.84, Shanghai Composite was up by 8.02 points or 0.26% to 3,133.33, KOSPI Index surged 15.56 points or 0.79% to 1,997.58, Jakarta Composite increased 26.17 points or 0.49% to 5,388.83, Taiwan Weighted rose 121.69 points or 1.34% to 9,189.84, Hang Seng gained 158.78 points or 0.70% to 22,801.40 and Nikkei 225 climbed 271.85 points or 1.61% to 17,177.21.

European Markets were trading in green; France’s CAC surged 60.44 points or 1.38% to 4,437.90, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 86.03 points or 1.29% to 6,779.29 and Germany’s DAX climbed 138.78 points or 1.35% to 10,397.91.