Markets remain steady; Sensex above 31,400 mark

Indian equity benchmarks held their earlier gains to remain steady in late morning session, with the Nifty trading above 9,800 mark. Traders remained optimistic with Asian Development Bank’s statement that the goods and services tax in India will benefit the lower and lower-middle income class as it is likely to reduce the tax rate on goods. Some support also came with the report that the loan portfolio of micro-finance institutions (MFIs) increased by 26 percent to Rs 35,045 crore in the first quarter ended June 2017. Investors shrugged off rating agency ICRA’s latest report which has estimated that India’s gross value added (GVA) growth is likely to slow down to 6.3% in April-June quarter (Q1) of fiscal year 2017-18 from 7.6% in the same period of pervious year.

On the global front, Asian market were trading mostly in green after overnight gains on Wall Street as geopolitical risks and turmoil at the White House that have dented investors’ sentiments in the past few weeks abated, while investors eyed the annual gathering of central bankers. Back home, in scrip specific development, Cambridge Technology Enterprises (CTE) gained after the company acquired a new client in AI as a Service (AIaaS). Based in North America, the client has a strong focus on the BFSI vertical. Under the AIaaS model, CTE benefits from receiving a share in the incremental revenues of it client’s business by deploying its proprietary algorithms, differentiating CTE from industry peers.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31434.19, up by 142.34 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 31379.25 and 31460.38. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index, while 1 stock remained unchanged.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.76%, while Small cap index was up by 0.97%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.74%, Telecom up by 1.22%, Utilities up by 0.96%, Healthcare up by 0.84% and PSU up by 0.82%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.42% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.62%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.96%, NTPC up by 1.94%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.78% and ICICI Bank up by 1.36%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.06%, TCS down by 0.46%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.30%, Reliance Industries down by 0.21% and Coal India down by 0.04% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) comprising market regulators that met under the chairmanship of finance minister Arun Jaitley, weighed in on issues and challenges facing the Indian economy. Also, the Council highlighted the need to keep constant vigil on them and be in a state of preparedness of handling any external and internal vulnerabilities. Besides, it pointed out that the country has macro-economic stability today on the back of improvements in macro-economic fundamentals, structural reforms with the launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), action being taken to address the Twin Balance Sheet (TBS) challenge and extraordinary financial market confidence.

The Council, in its 17th meeting, pointed out that market confidence by investors is reflected in high and rising bond and especially stock valuations and long-term positive consequences of demonetization. It also took note of the progress of Financial Sector Assessment Program for India, jointly conducted by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It directed that the assessment report should be finalized by the end of this calendar year. 

To strengthen cyber security, the apex-level body reviewed developments and progress made in setting up of the Computer Emergency Response Team in the Financial Sector (CERT-Fin) and the Financial Data Management Centre and discussed measures for time-bound implementation of the institution building initiative. Further, FSDC discussed on the Central KYC Registry (CKYCR) system and took note of the initiatives taken in this regard by the members and discussed the issues/suggestions in respect of operationalisation of CKYCR. It also deliberated on strengthening the regulation of the credit rating agencies.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9801.30, up by 35.75 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 9786.75 and 9816.70. There were 34 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 2.53%, GAIL India up by 2.37%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.81%, NTPC up by 1.79% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.50%, Eicher Motors down by 1.26%, Tata Power down by 1.25%, HCL Tech down by 1.25% and Bharti Infratel down by 1.16% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Shanghai Composite increased 0.36 points or 0.01% to 3,290.59, Jakarta Composite increased 1.52 points or 0.03% to 5,881.81, Taiwan Weighted increased 14.74 points or 0.14% to 10,406.81 and Nikkei 225 increased 45.01 points or 0.23% to 19,428.85. On the flip side, KOSPI Index decreased 1.5 points or 0.06% to 2,363.83 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 1.3 points or 0.07% to 1,772.92.