Indian bourses extend gains; Sensex above 27,300 mark

Indian key benchmark indices extended their early gains and continue to trade in green in late afternoon session on the back of healthy buying in Realty, Consumer Durables and Metal counters. Sentiments remained upbeat with Moody’s Investors Service and its Indian affiliate ICRA report that India will remain one of the fastest growing major economies globally in 2017, although GDP growth will moderate in the first half of the year, as the economy adjusts after demonetization. Moody’s also believes that the government will likely achieve its fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of GDP for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2017. Traders shrugged off wholesale price index-based inflation data, which rose 3.39% year-on-year in December.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red amid fears British Prime Minister Theresa May will this week signal plans for a hard Brexit. Asian markets were also trading in red after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s statement that the world's second-largest economy will face more pressure and problems in 2017 at a time of global uncertainty. Back home, in scrip specific development, Ester Industries traded jubilantly after the company filed another patent application under PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) for Master Batch to produce Speciality polyester yarn and Great Eastern Shipping Company edged higher after the company received an approval to issue 5000 Unsecured Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) of Rs 10 lakh each aggregating to Rs 500 crore by way of private placement.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27310.31, up by 72.25 points or 0.27% after trading in a range of 27172.68 and 27327.82. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.33%, while Small cap index was up by 0.60%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.16%, Consumer Durables up by 1.37%, Metal up by 1.02%, Bankex up by 0.90% and Power up by 0.63%, while IT down by 0.72%, TECK down by 0.50%, Oil & Gas down by 0.31% and FMCG down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.57%, Tata Steel up by 2.40%, Adani Ports & Special economic zone up by 1.96%, Power Grid up by 1.39% and SBI up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.55%, Reliance Industries down by 1.21%, ONGC down by 1.04%, GAIL India down by 1.00% and ITC down by 0.62% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the global credit rating agency, Moody's Investors Service and its Indian affiliate, ICRA in its latest report said that India will remain one of the fastest growing major economies globally in 2017, although GDP growth will moderate in the first half of the year, as the economy adjusts after demonetisation. The rating agencies also said that after a temporary dampening effect on consumption and investment in the medium term, demonetisation will likely strengthen India's institutional framework by reducing tax avoidance, corruption and should support efficiency gains through a greater formalization of economic and financial activity.

The rating agency, Moody's said that the government will likely remain committed to achieving its fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of GDP for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017. Further it also said that in an environment of lackluster global trade and with economies globally facing the increasing risk of protectionism, India's very large domestic markets provide a relative competitive advantage when compared to smaller and more trade-reliant economies.

On the issue of average CPI inflation, ICRA has said that the rate will decrease to 4.5% in 2017 from 4.9% in 2016. The rating agency anticipates India's growth of gross value added at basic prices to remain healthy in 2017. Further ICRA said that the focus on digital transactions and the introduction of a goods and services tax (GST) will likely reduce the competitiveness of the unorganised sector.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8416.20, up by 15.85 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 8374.40 and 8423.35. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 2.53%, Tata Steel up by 2.45%, Adani Ports & Special economic zone up by 1.96%, Idea Cellular up by 1.89% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.76%. On the flip side, HCL Tech down by 1.92%, Eicher Motors down by 1.73%, Infosys down by 1.66%, Tata Power down by 1.45% and Reliance Industries down by 1.25% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 219.23 points or 0.96% to 22,718.15, Nikkei 225 decreased 192.04 points or 1% to 19,095.24, Taiwan Weighted decreased 86.5 points or 0.92% to 9,292.33, KOSPI Index decreased 12.62 points or 0.61% to 2,064.17, Shanghai Composite decreased 9.34 points or 0.3% to 3,103.43 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 8.84 points or 0.53% to 1,663.66. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite increased 6.57 points or 0.12% to 5,279.56.

European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 58.7 points or 0.5% to 11,570.48 and France’s CAC decreased 14.56 points or 0.3% to 4,907.93. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.22 points or 0.14% to 7,348.03.