Markets recover to trade in green, led by gains in consumer durables

Showing valiant effort, the Indian markets are back in green in the early noon session of trade, good buying was being witnessed in the beaten down capital goods and consumer durables sector, while gains in index heavyweights too were supporting the recovery mood. The gains in domestic currency albeit modestly, was adding to the positive milieu of the markets. Traders were getting encouragement with some signs of thaw appearing on the GST issue, and the prospects of early roll out of goods and services tax (GST) brightening with the states and the Centre making progress on a crucial legislation, amid indications that the states may get concessions to tide over possible demonetisation-related revenue loss. The broader markets too have clawed back to green and most of the sectoral indices were paring their losses, though the IT and tech pack was under pressure with improvement in rupee. In scrip specific development, Wipro was marginally in red despite reaching an agreement with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to resolve a six-year old investigation related to the embezzlement of funds worth $4 million by an employee.  

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 26004.87, up by 25.27 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 25872.38 and 26025.76. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices too were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.27%, while Small cap index gained 0.19%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.70%, Capital Goods up by 0.65%, Oil & Gas up by 0.41%, PSU up by 0.11% and Bankex up by 0.06%, while IT down by 0.56%, TECK down by 0.56%, Power down by 0.36%, FMCG down by 0.25% and Realty down by 0.22% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 2.45%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.56%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.96%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.87% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.27%, Axis Bank down by 1.10%, ITC down by 0.99%, Adani Ports &Special down by 0.87% and Power Grid down by 0.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the share of foreign portfolio investments (FPI) through participatory notes (P-notes) slipped to its lowest level in nearly three years to Rs 1.79 lakh crore in end-November. According to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) data, P-Notes investments have fallen to a 33-months low, the total value of P-Notes investment in Indian markets equity, debt and derivatives has plunged to Rs 1,79,648 crore in November-end, from Rs 1,99,987 crore at the end of October. This was the lowest level since February 2014 when the cumulative value of such investments stood at Rs 1, 72,738 crore.

Of the total, P-Note holdings in equities were at Rs 1.25 lakh crore in October-end and the remaining holdings were in debt and derivatives markets. The quantum of FPI investments via P-Notes decreased to 7.5 percent in November, from 7.8 percent in the preceding month. The share of P-Notes has been falling over the years as SEBI tightened disclosure norms and other related regulations. It used to be much higher at 25-40 percent in 2008, while the reading was as high as 55 percent at the peak of the stock market bull run in 2007.

In June, P-Notes investments plunged to Rs 2.10 lakh crore, which was the lowest in nearly two years, owing to a tight vigil on funds coming through the route. Though, at the end of September, August and July it was Rs 2,12,509 crore, Rs 2,16,232 crore and Rs 2,12,179 crore respectively. P-Notes are typical instruments issued by registered FPIs to overseas investors who wish to participate in Indian markets without registering themselves directly in the country to save time. But they still need to go through a proper due diligence process.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7983.45, up by 4.35 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 7942.05 and 7990.65. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 2.41%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.65%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.42%, Grasim Industries up by 0.96% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.85%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 2.13%, Tata Power down by 1.67%, Eicher Motors down by 1.57%, HCL Tech down by 1.41% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.30% were the top losers.

All the Asian markets barring the Indonesian market were trading in red. Jakarta Composite was up by 28.02 points or 0.56% to 5,070.89.On the other hand, Hang Seng declined by 118.75 points or 0.55% to 21,517.45, Taiwan Weighted lost 40.11 points or 0.44% to 9,078.64, Shanghai Composite was lower by 27.62 points or 0.88% to 3,111.94, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 4.02 points or 0.25% to 1,619.18 and the KOSPI Index was tad lower by 0.18 points or 0.01% to 2,035.55.