Markets extend gains; trade near intra-day high level

Indian equity indices extended their gains in late afternoon session and were hovering near the highest point of the day on continued buying by domestic institutional investors amid higher opening in European counterparts. Sentiments remained up-beat on expectation of positive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data to be released later in the day. The general expectation is that economic growth accelerated to 7.5 per cent in the September quarter from 7.1 per cent in the June quarter but lower than 7.9 per cent growth posted for the March quarter. Appreciation in the rupee too supported the sentiments. The rupee recovered by 21 paise to 68.45 against the dollar on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. On the global front, European markets were trading in green after Wall Street stocks inched up marginally overnight on the back of upbeat GDP, consumer confidence and home price data. Further, oil prices rebounded a bit in Asian deals after falling as much as 4 percent on Tuesday, in the wake of reports that Iran and Iraq are resisting pressure from Saudi Arabia to curtail oil output. It appears uncertain that OPEC members will be unable to finalize a deal on reducing global oversupply at a meeting in Vienna later in the day.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26560.62, up by 166.61 points or 0.63% after trading in a range of 26395.50 and 26577.75. 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 0.66%, while Small cap index was up by 1.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 2.48%, Bankex up by 1.60%, Capital Goods up by 1.19%, Auto up by 0.86% and PSU up by 0.58%, while Metal down by 0.36%, IT down by 0.02% and TECK down by 0.01% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.92%, ICICI Bank up by 2.83%, Sun Pharma up by 1.71%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.63% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.55%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 0.86%, GAIL India down by 0.70%, Power Grid down by 0.50%, Reliance Industries down by 0.44% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.18% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a bid to encourage retailers to deposit their cash in banks and to spur the active circulation of currency, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed the cash withdrawal norms from the bank accounts. The RBI has stated that due to the current limits on cash withdrawals from accounts, certain depositors are hesitating to deposit their money into bank accounts. As per the latest notification from RBI, retailers such as malls and shop owners would be allowed to withdraw the deposited sum in Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes, irrespective of the existing withdrawal limits.

RBI stated that it has been decided, on careful consideration, to allow withdrawals of deposits made in current legal tender notes on or after November 29, 2016 beyond the current limits. The move is aimed at discouraging hoarding of valid currency notes and increasing its circulation.  The move will also encourage small businesses and shopkeepers to deposit cash in legal tender which they can withdraw at the same point of time.

It added that preferably, available higher denominations bank notes of Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 are to be issued for such withdrawals. Following demonetization of the high value currency on November 9, people have exchanged and deposited about Rs 8.45 lakh crore worth of scrapped Rs 500/1,000 notes at different banks till November 27. The banks also distributed over Rs. 2.16 lakh crore over the counter and via ATMs from November 10-27. Of this, the exchange of old Rs 500/1000 notes amounted to Rs 33,948 crore and deposits amounted to Rs 8,11,033 crore.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8199.15, up by 57.00 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 8139.25 and 8203.90. There were 35 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 3.07%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.90%, Indusind Bank up by 2.82%, Ambuja Cement up by 2.39% and Grasim Industries up by 2.31%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 2.52%, Coal India down by 0.79%, Reliance Industries down by 0.78%, GAIL India down by 0.72% and Hindalco down by 0.68% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 rose 1.44 points or 0.01% to 18,308.48, KOSPI Index advanced 5.09 points or 0.26% to 1,983.48, Jakarta Composite surged 43.45 points or 0.85% to 5,180.12, Taiwan Weighted increased 48.33 points or 0.53% to 9,240.71 and Hang Seng was up by 52.7 points or 0.23% to 22,789.77. On the other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 32.89 points or 1% to 3,250.04 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 7.21 points or 0.44% to 1,619.72.

All the European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 15.38 points or 0.23% to 6,787.38, France’s CAC increased 19.9 points or 0.44% to 4,571.36 and Germany’s DAX was up by 38.1 points or 0.36% to 10,658.59.