Indian benchmarks continue to trade in green in noon session

Indian bourses continued to trade in green in the noon session on account of sustained and selective buying by funds and retail investors. Sentiments got some support with Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari’s statement that it is the appropriate time to invest in India and added that the country is also working on ways to improve purchasing power of common men as that will present further opportunities. Further, investors got some comfort with the private report indicating that strong domestic demand and cost competitiveness in exports will help Indian companies to overcome uncertainties from global geopolitical changes and domestic policy-making. According to report, faster economic growth as well as reforms will make India a good macroeconomic story and this, coupled with the stable credit profile of companies, bodes well for foreign currency bonds by Indian issuers. However, weak trend in Asian markets coupled with depreciation in rupee value against the dollar, weighed on the sentiments. Piling on yesterday’s loss, Indian rupee plunged by another 17 paise to 68.25 against the US dollar on Thursday on increased demand for the American currency from importers.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower on Thursday as investors turned jittery after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted that interest rates in the United States could rise quickly this year. With the US economy close to full employment and inflation headed toward the Federal Reserve's 2% goal, it ‘makes sense’ for the US Federal Reserve to gradually lift interest rates, Fed Chair Janet Yellen told the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on Wednesday. Besides, lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street and caution ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday also influenced the trading sentiments. However, Japanese market is rising, as the yen weakened against the US dollar.

Back home, stocks from Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and FMCG counters were supporting the markets’ uptrend, while those from Power, Banking and Metal counters were adding to the underlying cautious undertone. In scrip specific development, Hatsun Agro Products surged after the company reported a strong 64% year on year growth in net profit at Rs 28.81 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016. Furthermore, Hester Biosciences gained after the company reported 21.85% rise in its net profit at Rs 5.80 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2016 as compared to Rs 4.76 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The market breadth remained optimistic as there were 1291 shares on the gaining side against 1008 shares on the losing side, while 172 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27322.01, up by 64.37 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 27219.89 and 27337.95. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.41%, while Small cap index up by 0.36%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.68%, Consumer Durables up by 1.02%, FMCG up by 0.52%, PSU up by 0.47% and Auto up by 0.36%, while Power down by 0.31%, Bankex down by 0.25%, Metal down by 0.21%, Realty down by 0.10% and Capital Goods down by 0.01% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 2.65%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.49%, Tata Motors up by 1.96%, ONGC up by 1.31% and Adani Ports &Special up by 1.30%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 0.81%, Wipro down by 0.77%, Axis Bank down by 0.77%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.66% and Asian Paints down by 0.51% were the top losers.

Meanwhile,  global rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) in its latest report on Indian companies has said that to overcome uncertainties from global geopolitical changes and domestic policy-making, strong domestic demand and cost competitiveness in exports will help Indian companies. It also said that faster economic growth as well as reforms will make India a good macroeconomic story and this coupled with the stable credit profile of companies, bodes well for foreign currency bonds by Indian issuers.

In its 'India Corporate Outlook 2017', S&P said that healthy economic growth and falling interest rates should also benefit companies in the country. It added that while Indian companies are better placed than their global peers, they believe their ability to manage capital expenditure and quickly adjust to ongoing structural reforms in the country is crucial. However, it said that the key risk to revenue growth for the current fiscal is a short-term fall in demand due to the demonetisation-related cash crunch and the proposed introduction of a goods and services tax may pose a similar risk for fiscal 2018.

The report said that outlook for most of the 26 Indian companies S&P rates is stable over the next 12-24 months, but global companies are constrained by slow growth in the developed economy and global trade, rising protectionist measures and increasing interest rates. S&P said that it expects a revival in demand and completion of projects to support strong revenue growth and deleveraging for domestically-focused Indian companies (such as those in the utilities, infrastructure and telecom sectors) in the next 12-24 months. It also expects potential challenges in export-focused sectors such as pharmaceuticals and information technology (IT) services from increasing regulations, protectionism, and competition globally.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8434.80, up by 17.80 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 8404.05 and 8437.70. There were 23 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.19%, GAIL India up by 2.62%, Idea Cellular up by 2.45%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.42% and BPCL up by 2.24%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.42%, Wipro down by 0.98%, Hindalco down by 0.88%, Axis Bank down by 0.84% and Indusind Bank down by 0.79% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 0.56%, Taiwan Weighted shed 0.26%, Shanghai Composite slipped 0.38% and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 0.08%. On the flip side, KOSPI Index edged higher 0.13%, Jakarta Composite rose 0.14% and Nikkei 225 was up by 1.02%.