Sensex, Nifty hover near highest point of the day

Indian equity benchmarks added strength and continued their firm trade hovering near the highest point of the day in the afternoon session, backed by index heavyweights Reliance Industries, L&T, GAIL, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. Sentiments remained up-beat with the report that activity in the country's manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in five months in March 2017 as output and new orders accelerated. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 52.5 in March, from 50.7 in February. This is the third month in a row that it has been above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction. Some optimism also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that economic reforms will continue to gain momentum in coming years as the country looks to push growth and attract investment in the infrastructure sector. Besides, firm Asian cues and sustained foreign fund inflows too buoyed investor sentiment. In scrip specific development, Axis Bank was up by over two percent after signing an agreement with GUS Holdings BV to sell 1.40 crore equity shares or 10% of total outstanding shares of Rs 10 a share face value of Experian Credit Information of India.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading in green, cheered by a positive report on the Japanese economy, as players awaited a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart later in the week. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29818.43, up by 197.93 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 29705.72 and 29828.85. 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 0.64%, while Small cap index was up by 1.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 2.36%, Energy up by 1.73%, Industrials up by 1.59%, Consumer Durables up by 1.15% and Basic Materials up by 1.10%, while Telecom down by 1.77%, TECK down by 0.96% and IT down by 0.84% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 3.92%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.44%, GAIL India up by 2.28%, Axis Bank up by 2.20% and ICICI Bank up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.27%, Wipro down by 1.61%, Infosys down by 1.19%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.91% and HDFC Bank down by 0.66% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, concerned over high level of non-performing assets (NPAs) in the banking sector, the industry body, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has said that NPAs are the biggest challenge facing economy and has suggested that in upcoming meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the Reserve bank of India (RBI) for the time being should focus on resolution of the mounting problem of NPAs.

ASSOCHAM has stated that despite relatively benign interest rates, the credit offtake has remained at historic lows and this is clearly pointing out that the biggest problem the economy is facing is stressed assets, which are estimated to be around Rs 7 lakh crore. It further said that even though it may not be politically easy to allow banks to take haircuts along with promoters of the troubled projects, the fact of the matter is such hair cut is already being taken by way of huge provisioning in balance sheets of the banks quarter after quarter.

Noting that there is no point living in a denial mode, the industry body has suggested different solutions for different cases and added that there would be cases where part of debt would have to be converted into equity; there could be cases where ownership, if necessary, of the projects could be changed. It further said that by delaying resolution of the problem, the country should not allow this asset to further lose value.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9214.55, up by 40.80 points or 0.44% after trading in a range of 9192.40 and 9220.65. There were 25 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 3.88%, Larsen & Toubro up by 3.76%, GAIL India up by 2.25%, Axis Bank up by 2.24% and ICICI Bank up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.37%, Wipro down by 1.69%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.52%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.52% and BPCL down by 1.51% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading in green; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI increased 3.14 points or 0.18% to 1,743.23, KOSPI Index was up by 7.28 points or 0.34% to 2,167.51, Jakarta Composite surged 36.72 points or 0.66% to 5,604.83, Nikkei 225 added 73.97 points or 0.39% to 18,983.23 and Hang Seng rose 99.44 points or 0.41% to 24,211.03.