Markets trade near highs of the day supported by realty, consumer durables

Indian markets recovering from the initial choppiness have turned firm and the major benchmarks were up by over a quarter percent, near their high points of the day, equally supported by the bluechips and broader markets. Though, it was the earnings reaction that were keeping the markets buzzing but the major strength was coming from the global markets following the results of the French presidential vote where the landslide victory of Pro EU Emmanuel Macron in the French polls. On the domestic front, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ruling out any surprises in the tax rates in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that is proposed to be rolled out on July 1, has supported the markets to some extent. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that US firms may become sluggish if cheaper products and efficient services are cut off to them due to protectionist policies. The exports oriented stocks were showing some action, as Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 will be announced ahead of schedule to ensure its parallel roll-out with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in July.

The positive trade in the Indian rupee too has supported the sentiments. Back on street, on the sectoral front realty and consumer durables have taken the lead, while some profit taking was being seen in the metal and FMCG counters.

In scrip specific movement, ACC has surged around 5 percent after the company said that it was exploring the possibility of a merger with Ambuja Cement. ACC said that its board had decided to “commence an evaluation” so as to combine the strengths of both businesses in a manner that will benefit all stakeholders. Ambuja Cements too was up by over 9 percent.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 29968.28, up by 109.48 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 29877.41 and 29975.18. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were in more jubilant mood; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.63%, while Small cap index was higher by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.19%, Consumer Durables up by 1.17%, Telecom up by 1.12%, Auto up by 0.98%, Bankex up by 0.95%, while Metal down by 0.79%, FMCG down by 0.31% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 2.63%, ONGC up by 1.74%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.35%, SBI up by 1.20% and Lupin up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.13%, ITC down by 0.74%, Tata Steel down by 0.69%, Power Grid Corporation down by 0.57% and GAIL India down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has urged the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to reduce the time required for approving a proposal along with the time lag between approving and disbursing loans, as the developing countries in the Asian region need to build their infrastructure and increase social sector spending. He also stressed that speedier financing would help lend an edge to the ADB.

Jaitley also insisted the bank to establish a regional hub in New Delhi, so that it could expedite lending to development projects across the region. In addition, the finance minister also asked the multilateral lender to focus more on social infrastructure like health and education besides climate resilient agriculture, better farm production technologies, improved value chain management and creation of better marketing infrastructure for the farm produce since a large number of rural population of developing countries depends on agriculture.

Referring to the ADB’s avowed objective of eliminating poverty from the Asia-Pacific region, the Minister said that in addition to sectors like energy, urban development and transportation, there was need to focus more on affordable renewable energy. In the area of urban development, especially in the sector of drinking water and sanitation, he cited user charges and financial sustainability of urban bodies as the major challenges.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9324.05, up by 38.75 points or 0.42% after trading in a range of 9297.95 and 9326.80. There were 34 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Ambuja Cement up by 9.57%, ACC up by 4.88%, Eicher Motors up by 2.63%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.49% and ICICI Bank up by 2.46%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 1.75%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.32%, Tata Steel down by 0.85%, ITC down by 0.79% and GAIL India down by 0.76% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets were trading in green, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 2.16 points or 0.12% to 1,764.90, Taiwan Weighted gained 6.5 points or 0.07% to 9,906.44, KOSPI Index increased by 20.45 points or 0.91% to 2,261.69, Jakarta Composite was higher by 39.1 points or 0.69% to 5,722.48, Hang Seng added 91.93 points or 0.38% to 24,568.28 and Nikkei 225 surged by 443.98 points or 2.28% to 19,889.68.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite declined by 28.8 points or 0.93% to 3,074.23.