Markets add gains on positive macro data

Indian equity indices added gains to trade on firm note in late afternoon session after India's inflation on wholesale level softened in the month of September. According to the latest data released by the government, the wholesale price inflation (WPI) stood at 2.60% in September as against 3.24% in the previous month and 1.36% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Higher opening in European markets along with firm Asian markets also contributed to the gains. The larger peers gained more than a half per cent each, while all the sectoral indices were trading in green on the BSE. Traders took some encouragement with the private report indicating that India’s economy will grow by more than 10% annually in the coming decade, buoyed by demographics, reforms and globalization. Besides, some support also came with Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that slowdown in India's economic growth that began in 2013-14 has bottomed out and GDP is likely to grow 6.9 to 7% in the fiscal 2017-18 and 7.5% in 2018-19.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green as investors monitored the latest in political news coming out of Austria, Spain and the U.K. Asian markets were also trading in green. Back home, in scrip specific development, SRS Real Infrastructure traded higher after the company commenced operations at Republic of Congo and to manage this it has also opened a branch at Congo.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32621.88, up by 189.19 points or 0.58% after trading in a range of 32445.43 and 32687.32. 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 0.42%, while Small cap index was up by 0.30%.

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.35%, Metal up by 1.70%, Realty up by 1.31%, Healthcare up by 1.12% and Auto up by 1.08%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.68%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.45%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.82%, Cipla up by 2.49% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.25%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.55%, HDFC down by 0.51%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.35%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.34% and Reliance Industries down by 0.33% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, after so much talk of a big stimulus by government in offing, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley cooling down the expectation has said that he never talked about any stimulus package for boosting economy. At the end of his week-long official visit to the US, Jaitley said that while interacting with media he said will respond to situations and the word respond was translated as meaning stimulus.

Finance Minister noting that his government had inherited a huge fiscal deficit just three-and-a-half years ago of 4.6 per cent, said that gradually India has been moving on a glide path, which will continue and further said that “What are the requirements on the economy? How steep is that glide path, You can decide on a year to year basis.” He also said that the Reserve Bank of India is a mature institution and it knows what to do.

Earlier after a sharp fall in latest key macro indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and industrial production, Jaitley had hinted at a package of measures to boost the economy. But he refused to divulge details, saying the measures would be unveiled only after consultation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jaitley further said that, we have taken note of all the economic indicators that are available. This has been a pro-active government on the reforms agenda. I have had a series of discussions with ministerial colleagues and various secretaries.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10225.65, up by 58.20 points or 0.57% after trading in a range of 10175.10 and 10242.95. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.48%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.49%, Vedanta up by 3.44%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.88% and Bosch up by 2.87%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.75%, Axis Bank down by 1.65%, Indusind Bank down by 1.53%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 0.71% and Yes Bank down by 0.65% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; KOSPI Index increased 6.43 points or 0.26% to 2,480.05, Jakarta Composite increased 15.81 points or 0.27% to 5,939.93, Taiwan Weighted increased 50.12 points or 0.47% to 10,774.21, Nikkei 225 increased 100.38 points or 0.47% to 21,255.56 and Hang Seng increased 216.37 points or 0.76% to 28,692.80. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite decreased 12.05 points or 0.36% to 3,378.47 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 5.13 points or 0.29% to 1,750.19.

All European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 11.04 points or 0.15% to 7,546.48, France’s CAC rose 14.84 points or 0.28% to 5,366.58 and Germany’s DAX was up by 26.57 points or 0.2% to 13,018.44.