Benchmarks extend gains; trade near intra-day high levels

Indian equity benchmarks extended early gains to continue firm trade in early afternoon deals, hovering near intra-day high levels on increased buying by funds and retail investors. Sentiments remained up-beat with Niti Aayog’s statement that India has good prospects of achieving over 8 percent growth within 2-3 years and the chances of massive cut in the poverty rate in the upcoming decade are excellent.  Adding the optimism among investors, the industry body ASSOCHAM said that biometric cards have facilitated disbursement of as much as Rs 83,184 crore to beneficiaries of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes without the notorious leakages of the past. All the sectoral indices edged up on the bourses with IT, TECK, and Capital Goods stocks rising the most. The broader markets also gained strength with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices increasing by 1.07% and 0.96%, respectively.  In scrip specific development, Meghmani Organics was up by around one and half percent after incorporating a wholly owned subsidiary company by name 'Meghmani Agrochemicals’ on August  23, 2017.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed, as investors remained concerned after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi refrained from providing clues on monetary policy outlook at the Fed's economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday. Back home, the BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31805.39, up by 209.33 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 31701.67 and 31805.76. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.07%, while Small cap index was up by 0.96%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.46%, TECK up by 1.32%, Capital Goods up by 1.28%, Realty up by 1.26% and Healthcare up by 1.18%, while there were no losers on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 3.90%, Sun Pharma up by 3.03%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.96%, NTPC up by 2.13% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.07%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.55%, Power Grid down by 0.70%, TCS down by 0.61%, Tata Motors down by 0.52% and ITC down by 0.44% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, suggesting a host of reforms to drive India's economic prosperity, the government’s premier policy think tank NITI Aayog has said that the country has good prospects to enter into a high growth trajectory of over 8%, within the next two-three years. It also noted that the chances of the massive cut in the poverty rate in the upcoming decade are excellent.

The government think tank in its 'Three Year Action Agenda, 2017-18 to 2019-20' has come out with an elaborate blueprint for reforms in the economy, judiciary, regulatory structure and social sectors. The Action agenda proposes linking central government expenditure to future priorities, these include shifting additional allocations to high-priority sectors which are more likely to promote development. The proposals also indicate substantial expansion in expenditures by 2019-20 on education, health, agriculture, rural development, defence, railways, roads and other categories of capital expenditure. Further, the agenda suggested ways to facilitate urbanization in the country and deal with key challenges include affordable housing, infrastructure development, public transport and promotion of Swachh Bharat.

The document also recommended host of actions to eliminate corruption and black money, and increase tax base besides recommending reforms in civil services and electoral process. It also called for strengthening and streamlining regulatory structure governing sustainability of environment. The suggestions for reforming the judicial system revolve around streamlining human resource availability and performance, increasing and strengthening avenues for dispute resolution and extensive use of ICT to improve efficiency.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 9924.00, up by 66.95 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 9882.00 and 9924.30. There were 38 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 3.97%, Sun Pharma up by 3.19%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.75%, Eicher Motors up by 2.62% and NTPC up by 2.25%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 1.63%, Power Grid down by 1.20%, TCS down by 0.63%, Tata Motors down by 0.60% and Bosch down by 0.53% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mixed; FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 2.15 points or 0.12% to 1,771.32, Taiwan Weighted rose 10.47 points or 0.1% to 10,525.98, Hang Seng added 17.93 points or 0.06% to 27,866.09 and Shanghai Composite surged 24.08 points or 0.72% to 3,355.61. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 10.67 points or 0.18% to 5,904.70, KOSPI Index was down by 8.21 points or 0.35% to 2,370.30 and Nikkei 225 dipped 2.71 points or 0.01% to 19,449.90.