Markets trade with traction; Realty stocks surge

Going from strength to strength, local equity markets gathered further ground in the afternoon deals, as investors went for optimistic buying ahead of Reliance Industries’ (RIL) quarterly earnings amid firm Asian cues. Sentiments remained up-beat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that Indian economy will grow at a clip of 7.5% this fiscal, up from 7.1% in the previous year, and it remains resilient with low inflation, fiscal prudence and low deficit. Adding the optimism among investors, Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya has said that the Indian economy will see an over three-fold expansion at $7.25 trillion by 2030 and clock an average growth rate of 8 per cent over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, the rupee recovered 14 paise to 64.48 against the US dollar in early trade on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks amid a higher opening in the domestic equity market. In scrip specific development, Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) was trading in green after bagging another export order for supply of Steel wheels for EU Trailer & aftermarket.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in green, following the widely-expected results of the first round of presidential elections in France, with exit polls indicating that Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen would progress to the run-off on May 7. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29544.43, up by 179.13 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 29392.99 and 29544.51. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.55%, while Small cap index was up by 0.82%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.91%, Basic Materials up by 1.73%, Capital Goods up by 1.45%, Industrials up by 1.18% and Auto up by 0.73%, while Healthcare down by 0.64%, Telecom down by 0.44%, FMCG down by 0.20%, TECK down by 0.17% and IT down by 0.01% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 2.39%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.21%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 1.89%, GAIL India up by 1.77% and HDFC up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 2.76%, Cipla down by 1.38%, Wipro down by 0.78%, ICICI Bank down by 0.72% and Power Grid down by 0.58% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance minister Arun Jaitley has strongly raised concerns over the Trump Administration's move to tighten the H-1B visa programmes with US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. He raised the issue of H-1B visas for skilled professionals from India. He also outlined the significant contribution which Indian companies and professionals are making to the US economy and expressed the hope that the US administration will take this aspect into consideration while taking any decision. He also stressed that they should continue to do so, which is in the best interest of the two countries.

The minister has discussed the critical economic issues like Indo-US investment initiative, infrastructure collaboration and NIIF (National Investment and Infrastructure Fund), collaboration with the US for Smart Cities Development. He also highlighted the notable progress made in the India-US relations over the last few years and India's ambitious reform agenda which was creating new opportunities towards a deeper economic engagement between the two countries.

Last week, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its abuse and ensure that the visas are given to the most-skilled or highest paid petitioners, a decision that would impact India's $150 billion IT industry. The Indian IT industry expressed serious concerns over this as these visas were mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9178.95, up by 59.55 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 9130.55 and 9181.85. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ACC up by 6.99%, Grasim Industries up by 4.10%, Ultratech Cement up by 3.43%, Ambuja Cement up by 3.32% and HDFC Bank up by 2.50%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 2.65%, Cipla down by 1.55%, Zee Entertainment down by 0.94%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 0.89% and ICICI Bank down by 0.85% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Taiwan Weighted increased 0.54 points or 0.01% to 9,717.95, KOSPI Index surged 8.7 points or 0.4% to 2,173.74, Jakarta Composite added 69.17 points or 1.24% to 5,664.48, Hang Seng was up by 102.35 points or 0.43% to 24,144.37 and Nikkei 225 rose 255.13 points or 1.37% to 18,875.88.

On the flip side, Shanghai Composite was down by 40.54 points or 1.28% to 3,132.61.