Benchmarks continue to trade in green

Indian bourses continued to trade in green in late afternoon session on back of healthy buying in Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and PSU counters. Sentiments remained optimistic with Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India remains on track to grow its trade and economy faster. She also hoped that GST will be rolled out maximum by July this year, saying it would be a game-changer on the taxation front. Some support also came with Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari’s statement that it’s the right time for investing in India. He added that the country is working on ways to improve purchasing power of common men as that will help to boost further opportunities. Traders took encouragement with Global rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) report that 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.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green as investors digested remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and wait to hear from President Mario Draghi of the European Central Bank. Asian markets were trading mostly in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Genesys International Corporation was trading in green on implementing of the prestigious Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) Property survey for the city of Mumbai on behalf of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). DB Corp surged after the company reported 6.42% rise in its net profit at Rs 118.63 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, as compared to Rs 111.47 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 27293.15, up by 35.51 points or 0.13% after trading in a range of 27219.89 and 27346.35. There were 12 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.42%, while Small cap index was up by 0.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.71%, Consumer Durables up by 0.83%, PSU up by 0.69%, FMCG up by 0.54% and Auto up by 0.32%, while IT down by 0.19%, Bankex down by 0.19% and Realty down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 4.24%, Tata Motors up by 1.82%, Adani Ports & Special economic zone up by 1.35%, ONGC up by 1.34% and ITC up by 1.24%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.14%, Wipro down by 1.05%, Lupin down by 0.65%, HDFC Bank down by 0.64% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, briefing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance about demonetisation, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel has said that discussions between the central bank and the government over the demonetisation issue began in early 2016. He also said that about Rs 9.2 lakh crore have been reintroduced in the economy since the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were demonetised on November 8, 2016.

The crucial meeting was held to discuss the demonetisation of the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and the impact thereof. During the meeting, Congress members of the committee asked questions like whose decision it was to withdraw high currency notes and also raised questions about the autonomy of the RBI. The questions put up by the panel ranged from the total amount of money that came back during the demonetisation period, the total amount of new bills of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 that were printed, what how much was sent to the banks for remonetisation.

However, Patel refused to answer the questions on how much money has been deposited in banks since the move was announced and said that calculations were still on. Therefore, the finance ministry has sought time from the panel to provide answers to the queries raised during the meeting in which the finance secretary made a presentation before the committee as the members seemed not too satisfied with the replies. Patel is also scheduled to appear before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on the same issue on January 20. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 8425.85, up by 8.85 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 8404.05 and 8439.90. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index, while one stock remained unchanged.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 4.02%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.02%, Idea Cellular up by 2.67%, BPCL up by 2.30% and Tata Motors up by 2.07%. On the flip side, Ultratech Cement down by 1.99%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.28%, Wipro down by 1.12%, Axis Bank down by 1.11% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 48.3 points or 0.21% to 23,049.96, Taiwan Weighted decreased 23.85 points or 0.26% to 9,318.12, Shanghai Composite decreased 11.71 points or 0.38% to 3,101.30 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 0.81 points or 0.05% to 1,664.21. On the flip side, KOSPI Index increased 2.25 points or 0.11% to 2,072.79, Jakarta Composite increased 4.29 points or 0.08% to 5,299.07 and Nikkei 225 increased 177.88 points or 0.94% to 19,072.25.

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 11.52 points or 0.24% to 4,864.92 and Germany’s DAX increased 15.49 points or 0.13% to 11,614.88. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.32 points or 0.11% to 7,239.29.