Markets at Day’s high

Reversing initial losses, Indian equity benchmarks added gains in late afternoon session to hover near intraday highs, as investors remained optimistic ahead of the two-day Good and Services Tax (GST) Council's meet that is scheduled to start on Thursday and healthy buying in metal, realty and automobile stocks also buoyed investors' sentiments. Some support also came with the report that India has overtaken the US to be at second place in this year's 'Renewable energy country attractiveness index' released by EY and this is primarily due to a combination of strong government support and increasingly attractive economics. Meanwhile, power stocks gained traction after the CCEA approved a new coal linkage policy to ensure adequate supply of the fuel to power plants through reverse auction. Shares of some steel companies were trading higher with India Ratings and Research’s report that the National Steel Policy 2017 announced by the Ministry of Steel will give a boost to the struggling Indian steel industry and is betting on higher spending on infrastructure and construction sector through government initiatives to push steel demand and increase utilization. The policy focuses on improvement in the efficiency parameters so as to reduce the cost of production and develop advanced steel products to reduce the dependence on imports.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red as investors reacted to fresh corporate earnings and ongoing political uncertainty in the US. Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories traded higher after the company received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to launch Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Liposome Injection, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Doxil (doxorubicin hydrochloride liposome injection), for intravenous use, in the United States market.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 30648.06, up by 65.46 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 30519.14 and 30692.45. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.17%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.51%, Basic Materials up by 0.65%, Realty up by 0.49%, Auto up by 0.40% and Power up by 0.38%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.91%, IT down by 0.34%, Healthcare down by 0.23%, TECK down by 0.23%, and Oil & Gas down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 8.46%, Tata Motors up by 1.93%, ICICI Bank up by 1.92%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.00% and Asian Paints up by 0.90%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.38%, HDFC down by 1.00%, GAIL India down by 0.95%, Infosys down by 0.78% and Sun Pharma down by 0.74% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, improving further in this year's 'Renewable energy country attractiveness index' (RECAI), India has overtaken the US to be at second place with China on top. According to the Ernst & Young’s (EY) RECAI, government’s strong support coupled with increasingly attractive economics helped the county to move up to second spot from third position which it held for the last two years.

The report has said that government's program to build 175 GW in renewable energy generation by 2022 and to have renewable energy account for 40 per cent of installed capacity by the end of 2040, have contributed most to the upward trend, noting that the country has also added more than 10GW of solar capacity in the last three years - starting from a low base of 2.6 GW in 2014.

The report also suggested that the government needs to increase compliance with the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) as well as ensure that country's distribution companies, many of which are financially distressed, have the capacity to continue to purchase renewable electricity, especially if bid prices level off or rise and the government could ease rules around tapping foreign debt to make capital available. Besides, it said that the government's additional emphasis on photo voltaic (PV) parks will help to plug the gap, but it needs to do more to encourage rooftop solar installations.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9527.15, up by 14.90 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 9486.10 and 9529.30. There were 28 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 8.64%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.96%, ICICI Bank up by 2.08%, Tata Power up by 1.73% and Tata Motors up by 1.67%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.54%, Bosch down by 1.69%, ACC down by 1.47%, Yes Bank down by 1.38% and Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.38% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 104.94 points or 0.53% to 19,814.88, Hang Seng decreased 42.31 points or 0.17% to 25,293.63, Jakarta Composite decreased 25.8 points or 0.46% to 5,621.20, Taiwan Weighted decreased 17.82 points or 0.18% to 10,013.67, Shanghai Composite decreased 8.52 points or 0.27% to 3,104.44, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.82 points or 0.33% to 1,772.33 and KOSPI Index decreased 2.25 points or 0.1% to 2,293.08.

European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 22.26 points or 0.17% to 12,782.27 and France’s CAC decreased 13.96 points or 0.26% to 5,392.14. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 6.15 points or 0.08% to 7,528.18.