Markets maintain upbeat mood in afternoon session

Indian equity indices maintained the upbeat mood in the afternoon session, supported by positive global cues along with gains in Power, Utilities and Basic Materials sector stocks. Sentiments remained positive with World Bank’s report stating that India’s GDP is expected to see uptick from 6.8 per cent in 2016-2017 to 7.2 per cent by current fiscal year and rise further to 7.5 per cent in 2018-19 fiscal. It also said that timely and smooth implementation of the GST could prove to be a significant benefit to economic activity. Investors appeared optimistic ahead of quarterly earnings of some key companies, including IT major TCS which is scheduled to release its results later in the day. At present, Sensex and Nifty were trading above the crucial 29,600 and 9,200 levels respectively, with gains of over half a percent. Apart from blue chips, broader indices too participated in the rally with both mid cap and small cap indices trading up by over 1.00%. In scrip specific development, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda were trading higher on a media report that the government was working on next round of consolidation which could see both banks taking over smaller lenders.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, after U.S. stocks rose overnight as investors shrugged off geopolitical concerns, while the U.S. dollar strengthened following comments by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29635.63, up by 221.97 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 29487.78 and 29701.19. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.08%, while Small cap index was up by 1.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.79%, Utilities up by 1.74%, Basic Materials up by 1.43%, Bankex up by 1.28% and Industrials up by 1.27%, while there were no losing indices on BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.64%, ICICI Bank up by 3.14%, NTPC up by 2.42%, GAIL India up by 2.00% and SBI up by 1.67%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.59%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.66%, Sun Pharma down by 0.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.25% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.15% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, emphasizing on the growing importance of India’s services sector, the Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the sector need to gear up for taking the advantage of Industrial Revolution 4.0, which will open huge opportunities for Indian companies in the services sector as there is a ‘servicification’ of manufacturing. She also pointed out that the next level of industrial revolution includes use of robotics, artificial intelligence and increasing digitization in which there is a big role of services sector.

Sitharaman has said that a huge degree of services are involved in manufacturing of goods. She also said that the country is very strong in the segment and there is so much opportunity for India. Citing a World Trade Organization (WTO) report, the minister said that in the financial year 2014-15, there was a dip in global services trade but India recorded two-and-a-half times more growth during the same period. Adding further, she said that India’s share in the global services trade stood at 3.3 per cent and government is facilitating the sector with its policies.

Highlighting the importance of visa regime for the sector, the Commerce Minister has said that India has relaxed its visa regime from April 1 to facilitate movement of tourists, businesses and also students. She noted that obtaining a visa in the country today is a simple process through online. She pointed out that medical tourist visa numbers have increased to 96,000 during the first half of 2016 as compared to 1.34 lakh in 2015 and 75,000 in 2014.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9209.30, up by 70.00 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 9159.70 and 9217.90. There were 44 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports &SEZ up by 3.75%, Hindalco up by 3.66%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 2.89%, ICICI Bank up by 2.89% and NTPC up by 2.48%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 1.68%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.79%, Sun Pharma down by 0.46%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.31% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.29% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, KOSPI Index increased 2.7 points or 0.13% to 2,148.46, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 4.74 points or 0.27% to 1,738.67, Taiwan Weighted added 30.16 points or 0.31% to 9,746.56, Jakarta Composite surged 37.99 points or 0.68% to 5,615.47 and Nikkei 225 was up by 63.33 points or 0.35% to 18,418.59.

On the flip side, Hang Seng decreased 215.67 points or 0.89% to 24,045.99 and Shanghai Composite was down by 13.99 points or 0.43% to 3,208.17.