Benchmarks trade with traction; Sensex recaptures 32K mark

Extending northward journey for fourth straight session, Indian equity benchmarks have made an optimistic start and are trading with traction in early deals on Wednesday, with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 32,000 (Sensex) and 10,050 (Nifty) levels. Sentiments remained upbeat with OPEC’s statement that India is experiencing some of the greatest structural changes as bold new reforms like note ban and GST have put the country firmly on a sustainable growth path. Traders shrugged off report that International Monetary Fund (IMF) pared India’s growth forecast for FY18, citing the lingering impact of demonetisation and disruption caused by the goods and services tax (GST), though it expects a revival as structural reforms bear fruit.

Global cues too remained supportive with most of the Asian counters trading in green at this point of time, taking cues from the US markets, though all eyes are on minutes from latest Federal Reserve meeting due today. The US markets despite choppy trade managed a modestly positive close in last session and with the gains on the day.

Back home, agri related stocks remained buzzing, as the Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari has said that the Centre plans to launch 285 irrigation projects covering a total of 1.88 crore hectares of farmland by next year. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was strong, with 1,406 shares gaining and 631 shares declining, while a total of 79 shares were unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32093.60, up by 169.19 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 31967.54 and 32098.46. There were 23 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.82%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.30%, Oil & Gas up by 1.15%, Energy up by 1.15%, Realty up by 1.07% and Utilities up by 1.06%, while there were no losers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.18%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.85%, Reliance Industries up by 1.58%, Axis Bank up by 1.49% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Coal India down by 0.61%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.48%, ITC down by 0.43%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.43% and Tata Motors down by 0.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, terming GST and note ban as bold reforms, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC’s) Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo has said that India is experiencing some of the greatest structural changes and added that these reforms have put the country firmly on a sustainable growth path. He also said that the country’s expanding middle class represents a growing source of demand, not just for energy but for goods and services from around the world.

Barkindo said that reforms, including demonetisation policy, the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and efforts to diversify the energy mix have all been designed to move the country toward sustainable growth and stability. He further said that with major growth in transportation sector, expansion in exports of numerous goods and services, world-renowned IT sector, a strong services sector and solid manufacturing base, India has undergone a great economic transformation and its role in the global marketplace, as well as involvement in international trading networks, are admired signposts.

OPEC’s Secretary General also said, Opec noticed that world oil demand growth is increasingly shifting to India and anticipated that India’s oil demand will increase by more than 150% to 10.1 million barrels per day (mbpd) from current demand of around 4 mbpd by 2040. The country’s total share of global oil demand is also rising to over 9% by 2040 from current 4%. He added that there are many factors helping to foster, strengthen and support the deepening relationship between Opec and India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10062.75, up by 45.80 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 10037.55 and 10065.05. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.03%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.95%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.49% and Axis Bank up by 1.49%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing down by 1.86%, Coal India down by 0.68%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.54%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.52% and ITC down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Hang Seng rose 0.41 points to 28,491.24, Shanghai Composite increased 11.29 points or 0.33% to 3,394.27, KOSPI Index gained 18.75 points or 0.77% to 2,452.56, Nikkei 225 added 55.35 points or 0.27% to 20,878.86 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 88.71 points or 0.84% to 10,621.52.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite decreased 41.39 points or 0.7% to 5,864.38 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 4.89 points or 0.28% to 1,756.24.