Markets trade with traction; Nifty above 8300 mark

Going from strength to strength, local equity markets added further ground on back of sustained buying activities by both funds and retail investors. Sentiments remained up-beat with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that India is on threshold of becoming most digitised economy in the world. While he also declared his ambition to bring about a paradigm shift through a series of historic changes, reiterating the government's commitment to reforms and projecting India as a bright spot amid global gloom after having emerged as the world's fastest-growing economy. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterating that the Centre is still aiming to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from April 1 if all pending issues are sorted out. Besides, positive global cues along with gains in Metal, Banking, PSU and Capital Goods sector stocks, too aided to optimistic milieu. In scrip specific development, Indusind Bank was up by over five percent after reporting a healthy 29% year on year growth in net profit at Rs 751 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016 (Q3FY17).

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green on encouraging economic data and an impending press conference by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, which traders hoped may contain details of his stimulus program.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27060.76, up by 161.20 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 26978.44 and 27078.69. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.05%, while Small cap index was up by 0.90%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 4.11%, Bankex up by 1.72%, PSU up by 1.20%, Capital Goods up by 0.95% and Auto up by 0.55%, while IT down by 0.39% and TECK down by 0.15% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 3.86%, Tata Steel up by 3.50%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.68%, Lupin up by 1.68% and HDFC Bank up by 1.37%. On the flip side, TCS down by 0.67%, Infosys down by 0.55%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.51%, Cipla down by 0.49% and NTPC down by 0.12% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with the government taking various initiatives to improve ease of doing business, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the country received $130 billion FDI in the last two-and-a-half years. He also said that in the last two financial years the FDI equity inflow was higher by 66 percent as compared to previous two financial years and added that in the last year the total FDI inflow in India have been the highest ever. PM noted that Make in India has become the biggest brand that India has ever had.

Stating that highest emphasis has been on ease of doing business, Modi said that decisive steps have been taken to ease licensing processes and rationalise provisions and procedures relating to clearances, returns and inspections. He stated that in the last two years, the number of countries from where FDI is coming in and the sectors in which they are being routed have also expanded. He said that they have liberalised FDI regime in many sectors and in various ways and observed that India is today among the most open economies. He further said that India is now a leading recipient of capital goods in Asia Pacific and has left every country behind in terms of providing returns on investment.

Listing out initiatives taken by his government in last two-and-a- half years to improve business climate in the country, the Prime Minister said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) is in offing while Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, a National Company Law Tribunal, a new arbitration centre for dispute resolution and a new IPR regime are all in place. He also said that they are monitoring implementation of hundreds of action points across various sectors which aimed at improving the regulatory framework.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8346.15, up by 57.55 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 8322.25 and 8348.50. There were 38 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.74%, Indusind Bank up by 4.67%, Coal India up by 3.91%, Tata Steel up by 3.33% and Yes Bank up by 3.21%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 0.94%, TCS down by 0.74%, Infosys down by 0.56%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.51% and Cipla down by 0.43% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 1.26 points or 0.08% to 1,673.31, Jakarta Composite increased 3.18 points or 0.06% to 5,313.11, KOSPI Index increased 30.05 points or 1.47% to 2,075.17, Nikkei 225 increased 63.23 points or 0.33% to 19,364.67 and Hang Seng increased 151.2 points or 0.66% to 22,896.05. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 14.58 points or 0.46% to 3,147.09 and Taiwan Weighted decreased 3.9 points or 0.04% to 9,345.74.