Benchmarks continue firm trade in morning session

Indian equity benchmarks continued their firm trade in morning session on account of buying in front line blue chip counters. The rupee appreciated against the dollar as rising risk appetite pushed back the US currency amid a higher opening in domestic equities. The risk-on approach pushed exporters and banks increasingly away from the dollar. Traders took support with Agriculture secretary Shobhana K Pattanayak’s statement that India is headed for a good rabi season despite below normal monsoon rains, thanks to a surge of rainfall in the last week of September that replenished soil moisture. The secretary added that the late rains will benefit planting of rabi crops such as wheat and chana. Auto stocks were buzzing on report that India’s commercial vehicles sales in September rose at the fastest pace in nearly six years, suggesting a recovery in the economy. According to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), manufacturers dispatched 77,195 commercial vehicles, 25.27% more from a year earlier, to dealerships in the past month.

The upsides was, however, capped after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released data that indicates pessimism reigns among consumers and there is less hope for improvement in general economic conditions compared to last year. The RBI’s results of the September 2017 round of the Consumer Confidence Survey, reflecting households’ perceptions and expectations on the general economic situation, the employment scenario, the overall price situation and their own income and spending, showed the Current Situation Index waned further into the pessimistic zone.  Realty stocks were under pressure on report that launches of new homes in top eight cities came down by 33% to 60,140 units in January- September, hit by demand slowdown, but supply of affordable homes rose 27%.  All cities, barring Mumbai, saw a decline in new launches, mostly due to the introduction of RERA and GST implementation.

Traders were seen piling up position in Utilities, IT and Healthcare stocks, while selling was witnessed in Realty sector stocks. In scrip specific development, Infosys was trading in green with shareholders overwhelmingly backed the return of Nandan Nilekani in postal ballot. The shareholders voted in favour of the appointment of Nandan Nilekani as non-executive chairman of the company. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was trading in green as the company is in talks with the Karnataka government for further investments in the state as it looks at expanding capacity in its electric vehicles division Mahindra Electric.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated that the central bank’s resolve to maintain its massive stimulus program until inflation moved stably above its 2 percent price target. He also said inflation was likely to gradually accelerate towards 2 percent due to improvements in the output gap and inflation expectations. Back home, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty were trading above the psychological 31,900 and 10,000 levels respectively. The market breadth on BSE was positive in the ratio of 1469:755, while 84 scrips remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 31940.04, up by 93.15 points or 0.29% after trading in a range of 31898.20 and 31957.61. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.81%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.96%, IT up by 0.87%, Healthcare up by 0.82%, Energy up by 0.81% and Power up by 0.67%, while Realty down by 0.34% was the sole losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 2.52%, Reliance Industries up by 1.34%, Infosys up by 1.30%, Coal India up by 0.83% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.69%.

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 0.77%, ITC down by 0.41%, Tata Motors down by 0.36%, HDFC down by 0.34% and Tata Steel down by 0.32% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its bid to make communication networks during disasters to be more robust and reliable has released a consultation paper on “Next Generation Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) communication networks”, inviting comments from the stakeholders by 20th November, 2017 and counter-comments by 4th December, 2017. The move will enable faster decision making and handling of disaster relief operations in times of crisis, such as the 2004 Tsunami.

The regulator stated that keeping in view the need to have a robust policy framework for the introduction of an advanced, reliable, robust and responsive PPDR communication system in the country, the Authority has floated this consultation paper. It further elaborated on the issues and shortcomings with existing PPDR networks, features of Next Generation PPDR networks, technical specifications and spectrum availability and future requirements.

It said that India with its geo-climatic conditions, high density of population, socioeconomic disparities and other geo-political reasons, has high risk of natural and man-made disasters. One of the most significant impact of natural disasters is the breakdown or interruption of traditional communications networks. It added that in the immediate hours and days following a disaster, the demand for communication networks increases. During that time, it is critical that rescue workers and government officials synergises their efforts to provide relief and support to those affected.

TRAI further said that interoperability issue can be overcome in broadband PPDR if the broadband PPDR network operates on a common standard nationwide. For this purpose, it has issued a consultation paper on public protection and disaster relief, and sought for views from stakeholders on the features, requirements and technical specifications for creating a response system based on next generation networks.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10013.10, up by 24.35 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 10002.55 and 10023.00. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 2.49%, Reliance Industries up by 1.37%, HCL Tech up by 1.28%, Infosys up by 1.20% and Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.04%.

On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 0.95%, Vedanta down by 0.76%, Ambuja Cement down by 0.52%, Bosch down by 0.52% and HDFC down by 0.40% were the top losers.

The Asian markets were trading mixed; KOSPI Index increased 39.25 points or 1.64% to 2,433.72, Hang Seng increased 42.76 points or 0.15% to 28,369.35 and Nikkei 225 increased 108.68 points or 0.53% to 20,799.39.

On the other hand, Shanghai Composite decreased 9.87 points or 0.29% to 3,364.50, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.66 points or 0.21% to 1,760.37 and Jakarta Composite decreased 1.66 points or 0.03% to 5,913.27.

The markets in Taiwan are closed for the National Day holiday